Animal assisted therapy in occupational therapy works to achieve goals through the involvement of animals (in this case dogs) and is reliant on the human/animal bond. Using animal assisted therapy would not be useful if you did not have an interest in dogs. Animal assisted therapy IS NOT simply patting the dog, however, this can be useful in some therapy sessions. Examples of animal assisted therapy used in our sessions include: if you had a phobia of leaving the house, we would encourage you to take Banksy for a walk, increasing the distance each time but still remaining in a distance that is achievable for you. This works through using the human/animal bond and we are generally more inclined to do something for another person/animal than for ourselves.