{"id":114937,"date":"2023-11-29T07:00:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T12:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?p=114937"},"modified":"2023-11-28T15:35:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T20:35:18","slug":"chicken-coop-for-the-soul-therapy-chickens-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/chicken-coop-for-the-soul-therapy-chickens-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Coop For The Soul: Therapy Chickens At Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>hen Tanya Bailey was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, she already knew that animals could have a big impact on mental health<\/a><\/strong>. As a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in animal-assisted therapy, Bailey has spent her career finding meaningful ways for people and animals to interact. It wasn\u2019t until that cancer diagnosis, though, that Bailey got to see in action just how important the animal-human bond can be in the most acute situations. Bailey had always loved her chickens<\/a><\/strong>, she says, but during her treatment, they gave her a reason to keep going. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have cats, and we have dogs,\u201d she says. \u201cSo it\u2019s not like I didn\u2019t have other beings in my life, but [the chickens] really required me to go to them, which meant I had to be intentional<\/a><\/strong> about doing that. I would go out and sit outside with them and just be there, because otherwise, I would just go back to bed and sleep the whole time. They were motivators for me to stay engaged with life a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going outside and being with her chickens was one of the few things during a chaotic and frightening time that she had control over. Every time she went outside to spend time with them, she regained agency in her life, little by little.<\/p>\n

Bailey\u2019s story helped reinforce for her the reasons why she believes in the power of animal-assisted therapy. In her therapy <\/span>practice and in her current role as the animal-<\/span>assisted interactions coordinator of the PAWS (Pet Away Worry & Stress) program at the University of Minnesota<\/a><\/strong>, she had seen the magic that different animals could have on people who needed a little furry (or, in the case of chickens, feathery) affection. She also has always loved chickens and thought they had a special place in therapeutic work. Now, with her own story in tow, she gets to see that magic continue every day.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not the only one. More and more ani<\/span>mal- assisted therapy programs are including chickens and other poultry animals in their practice. And as many clients begin to see when they start working with a chicken, preconceived ideas about birds are starting to fly the coop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"therapy<\/p>\n

Chickens Can Make a Change<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to the American Psychological Association, animal-assisted therapy is \u201cthe therapeutic use of pets to enhance individuals\u2019 physical, social, emotional or cognitive functioning. Animal-assisted therapy may be used, for example, to help people receive and give affection, especially in developing communication and social skills.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Any animal can be used in animal-assisted therapy, but dogs and horses are the reigning favorites in the mental health kingdom. At Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado (AATPC), therapists work alongside 11 species of animals\u2014including chickens\u2014on a 3 1\/2-acre ranch in suburban Arvada, Colorado, to serve anyone who can benefit from the comfort of a critter during mental and behavioral health services.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For Becki Taylor, the development director at AATPC, the question isn\u2019t why chickens. It\u2019s why not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe that any animal has some therapeutic lesson to provide,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cAn animal doesn\u2019t have to be sitting in your lap, super cuddly and kissing you all the time to be a therapy animal. Each animal provides their own unique impact to therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their small flock of chickens exists alongside goats, alpacas, horses, miniature horses, donkeys, guinea pigs, rats, rabbits, cats and dogs. Therapy clients at AATPC\u2014frequently children\u2014can do their therapy alongside different animals at each session, and their therapists often help them navigate the challenges of their lives by observing and interacting with the animals.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For example, some children need to do their therapy sessions with animals that are more personable or familiar, such as a dog or a cat. Some children, on the other hand, can better relate to the attitudes of the farm animals, such as alpacas or chickens. In any of the interactions, therapists can use the animals\u2019 temperaments and exchanges with not only the clients, but also with other animals, as entry points into conversation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal-assisted therapy has a really special way of connecting people to emotions and feelings and discovering new elements about themselves,\u201d Taylor says. \u201cAnimals kind of have this way of being able to unlock things in us that a traditional counseling setting may not be able to approach.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When therapy clients work with chickens, they can confront any fears they may have around birds, as well as rethink some of their biases. This often allows therapists to ask questions about the relationships in a client\u2019s life, and the ways they feel misunderstood or judged. Some clients watch the birds and make observations about the pecking order within a flock, and then therapists can use that as an opportunity to talk about bullying.<\/p>\n

In addition, chickens can be used to help children better understand themselves and their families.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA flock of chickens can be a beautiful example of a blended family for those that have been adopted, are children of divorce or are creating their families by adopting,\u201d says Kim Dennis, a master\u2019s level intern at AATPC who frequently works with chickens and also used to keep chickens.<\/p>\n

\u201cChickens have unique personalities that clients can observe and come to know, which speaks to the uniqueness of all people. I love seeing clients develop loving relationships with their favorite chicken and being excited about that bond, as for most, it\u2019s their first time interacting with a chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis also points out that chickens can help children learn regulation and how to calm themselves in order to be able to interact with the chickens without scaring them. Chickens are also great to help her clients ground themselves by using a 5-4-3-2-1 exercise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are five colors I see on this chicken?\u201d Dennis says. \u201cWhat are four textures? What are three things I\u2019m hearing from this chicken? And so on. Chickens also seem to enjoy being held while a person is meditating, so I have definitely done this before as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about what the chickens can teach, though. It\u2019s also about the comfort a chicken can provide just by being there. Kathy Hulley, a licensed professional counselor and co-founder of the Mane Mission in Sedalia, Colorado<\/a><\/strong>, never expected to see the kind of profound interactions between her clients and chickens that she has now seen. The first time she saw a chicken making an impact, it was with a client who was a sex-trafficking survivor. This client had grown up on a farm with chickens, and when she came out to the Mane Mission for animal-assisted therapy, she gravitated toward the farm\u2019s small coop.<\/p>\n

She and one of the chickens bonded instantly, and she walked around with the chicken in her arms, even eating her lunch sitting right next to the bird and placing it on the back of a horse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hulley is the first to admit that she isn\u2019t a chicken expert. But while she can\u2019t tell one breed from the next, she can tell when something is working to benefit the mental health of her clients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn animal will choose you,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen [that client] went out there with the chickens, that one chose her. It was such a beautiful moment for me, because I didn\u2019t expect that, and the look of healing on her face was just crazy. I think all animals sense your calmness, and the chickens are no different. They just know who is hurting. You never know when somebody comes out here what animal is going to touch their heart.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"therapy<\/p>\n

The Right Therapy Chickens for the Job<\/b><\/h2>\n

Bailey is wild about Rhode Island Reds. There\u2019s something special about the breed. To this day, after years of spending time around chickens, when she walks onto a farm, a Rhode Island Red is the first to approach her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, this breed was one of the first she worked with in a therapeutic capacity. She learned quickly, though, that due to breeding for production, the genetic features of the Reds led to shorter lifespans and less time she could spend nurturing and bonding with an animal she loved. So her research on longer-living chicken breeds pointed her back to the drawing board, and led her to her current birds of a feather\u2014silkies. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe how cute they were,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cWhen I do work with people with sort of the \u2018regular\u2019 chicken, a lot of people are really hesitant. The wonderful thing about silkies is they don\u2019t look like a chicken. They look like puff balls.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the things she loves most about silkies is how they help break down people\u2019s defenses. The students she works with at the University of Minnesota consistently tell her that they never would have thought petting a chicken would be so comforting and that they never expected a chicken to be so personable or smart. Those qualities\u2014plus the ease of training and inherent sweetness of the breed\u2014are what gives them a claw up in Bailey\u2019s book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But even though silkies are her go-to therapy chickens now, Bailey is quick to point out that they are far from the only breed suitable for the job.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny chicken can do this work … if they want to and … if they have the right partner that also wants to do the work with them,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the right hands with somebody that knows birds, they probably could pick up any chicken and make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes down to personality and traits, according to Dennis at AATPC. If a chicken is comfortable around people and can be safely handled, it has the potential to be a good therapy chicken.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With Great Impact <\/b>Comes Great Responsibility<\/b><\/h2>\n

Just like it is a therapist\u2019s job to ensure the safety and well-being of their clients, it\u2019s important that any humans working in animal-assisted therapy create spaces and environments that are safe for chickens and other animals involved. This not only means paying attention to cues and not pushing past boundaries, but it also means recognizing therapy animals as coworkers and partners in therapy, rather than just as tools to do the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call them literally my co-therapists, my co-educators and my-co facilitators because they are frankly doing just as much, if not more of the work than what I\u2019m doing,\u201d Bailey says.<\/span><\/p>\n

She pointed to an ethical dilemma currently at play in the animal-assisted therapy world, in which the field itself is working to recognize the impact it has on the animals within it. That impact isn\u2019t always positive, and that\u2019s why her focus is on a sort of parity between herself, her clients and her furry and feathery co-therapists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At AATPC, there is a practice-wide emphasis on ensuring the animals always have an out. \u201cAt the ranch we make sure that all animals are able to say \u2018no\u2019 in the way they can to being in a session, which emphasizes the importance of consent and respecting the wishes of others,\u201d Dennis says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Heart of the Matter<\/b><\/h2>\n

Animal-assisted therapy is for everyone, and any person can benefit from the love of an animal, the Mane Mission\u2019s Hulley emphasized. The universal nature of it comes from the fact that every animal has its own unique personality, just like every person who comes to their farm. There are people who gravitate to the horses or those, like the trafficking survivor, who find solace in the company of a chicken. Even the Mane Mission\u2019s resident grumpy goose finds love with some of the farm\u2019s visitors, now and then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It comes down to the walls that animals can help humans break down. That\u2019s why animal-assisted therapy works, and, as Bailey knows better than most, that\u2019s why chickens and other animals can make life just a little more worth living.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are with an animal, you can\u2019t be disengaged from your gut,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t be disengaged from your heart, because an animal makes that connection for you. I think we, as humans, think things have to be hard and difficult in order to work, but [chickens] really solidified for me the power of simple\u2014the power of the little things. <\/span><\/p>\n

“You don\u2019t need to have this big, raging horse running full steam or a backyard full of llamas. [Chickens] are such a beautiful teacher of being present, finding the humor and finding the joy.<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in the Nov.\/Dec. 2023 issue of\u00a0<\/em>Chickens\u00a0magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chickens are waddling their way into more hearts through animal-assisted therapy. Check out these stories of chickens helping people in times of need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16960,"featured_media":114939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[424,10726,10458,10725,402,10456],"tags":[654,11807,11806],"class_list":["post-114937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animals","category-chickens-101","category-farm-garden","category-flock-talk","category-news","category-poultry","tag-chickens","tag-therapy-animals","tag-therapy-chickens"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChicken Coop For The Soul: Therapy Chickens At Work - Hobby Farms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chickens are waddling their way into more hearts through animal-assisted therapy. 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