The positive impact of pet dogs on human wellbeing is well documented. Emerging evidence now highlights the role of therapy dogs in enhancing engagement with traditional therapies and promoting overall family wellbeing.

Guide Dogs Victoria has witnessed the success of our Wellbeing Labs program and continues to explore innovative ways to use therapy dogs to support positive client outcomes.

Wellbeing Labs offer far more than companionship. They can bring joy, connection, and motivation to families experiencing daily challenges, including school refusal, difficulties with morning routines, or resistance to therapy. The presence of a therapy dog can help establish routines, promote physical activity, and foster a sense of responsibility, which together support improved emotional and physical wellbeing for the entire family.

Guide Dogs Victoria practitioners are uniquely positioned to integrate Wellbeing Labs into service delivery. Research shows that therapy dogs can reduce acute stress and anxiety, increase client engagement, enhance motivation, and strengthen the therapeutic relationship between families and practitioners.

This presentation will use real-world case studies to illustrate how Wellbeing Labs have been a catalyst for improved family wellbeing and strengthened therapy outcomes, particularly for families navigating the impacts of childhood trauma.

In this presentation, I will share my lived experience with childhood trauma, highlighting the profound impact it has had on my journey as both a parent and a professional in the child protection sector. My narrative begins with my own childhood, where I faced challenges that shaped my understanding of trauma and its effects on emotional and psychological development. 

As a parent, I encountered significant obstacles, including losing custody of my two eldest children and grappling with the struggles of my middle child, who faced substance use challenges. These experiences were not only heart-wrenching but also enlightening, providing me with a unique perspective on the cyclical nature of trauma within families. I will discuss the feelings of guilt, shame, and hopelessness that accompanied these events, as well as the resilience and strength I discovered in myself along the way.

Drawing from both personal insights and professional expertise, I will explore effective strategies for navigating trauma, emphasising the importance of self-compassion, emotional regulation, and the power of connection. I aim to illustrate how understanding my own trauma caused significant issues, however after healing and support my trauma enabled me to better support my children and other families in crisis.

Attendees will leave with practical tools and a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between trauma and parenting. My hope is to inspire others to embrace their own narratives and to foster healing within their families, ultimately breaking the cycle of trauma and creating a brighter future for the next generation.

Our presentation aims to identify and explain how equine-assisted therapy (EAT) is an important part of the healing journey for many children who are able to access this form of therapy. We describe what happens when a young person who has experienced complex trauma is given the opportunity to get up close with, and build a relationship with a non-judgemental, non-verbal, affiliative animal, up to ten times their size. Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) is an interaction between horses and people, provided by registered mental-health professionals with specific training in the field. A central goal of EAT is to strengthen attachment capacities normally established in childhood which may have been significantly disrupted by the experience of abuse and neglect. This is possible because working with horses provides unique biopsychosocial experiences that tap into our social engagement and other neurobiology with positive effects. Synergistic co-regulation between horse, therapist and client encourages the remodeling of arousal pathways and the development of psychosocial skills at all brain levels to build capacity for healthy relationships. The intersubjectivity developed during this experiential, somatically influenced learning can be difficult to replicate in a clinical setting. However, if the inclusion of horses in the therapeutic context provides more than just a buy-in for disconnected young people, then there is an imperative to identify what factors are responsible for generating the significant human-horse relational moments responsible for the therapeutic impact. More importantly, how do we ensure this form of therapy becomes more accessible, affordable, and accountable?