When is it appropriate to snuggle with your therapist?

When they have four legs and a tail. 

Some people might achieve mental clarity through a yoga class or an afternoon run, but for others spending quality time with an animal can be just the antidote to a difficult day. Just ask Martha Stewart (MSO). The morning following her 2005 release from prison, the domestic diva took a long walk with her dog, Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow Chow. (Yes, you read that correctly.) On April 12, after 13 years doing television appearances, print ads and providing companionship, “Paw Paw” left the kitchen for good. In an extensive blog memorial to the “spectacular dog,” Stewart said she was “heartbroken.” 

Of course not everyone can reap the rewards of pet ownership (they can be expensive and time-consuming), but sometimes they’re the segments of society who could use a furry friend the most. Enter pet therapy. As the $16 billion a year U.S. market for antidepressants like Zoloft (PFE)  and Prozac (LLY) continues to thrive, alternative or complimentary treatments like animal assisted therapy are also gaining momentum.

Not just any canine with a wet nose and a warm paw is qualified to be a “therapist.” Professionally trained therapy dogs are required to pass a structured eight week course that screens for temperament and obedience. Four weeks of the course focuses on adjusting to a new environment, “simulating situations that the handler and dog might find in a facility, like wheel chairs, IVs, beds and peculiar noises and screams and outbursts because they all actually happen,” says George Berger of the Good Dog Foundation (GDF), a dog therapy non-profit based in Brooklyn, N.Y. that has trained more than 200 teams of therapy dogs and owners. 

It costs $375 to certify a therapy dog with the GDF, but for patients the treatment is free. Dog therapists usually visit facilities like hospitals, homeless shelters, rehabilitation clinics, jails, schools and supportive housing, although Berger says if an individual sought the GDF’s services, it could be arranged. “It’s an opportunity for them to get their mind of their immediate surroundings," he says, of the time patients spend with a therapy pet. "It’s a distraction and a comfort.” 

And it seems to be working. A recent study published by the American Psychiatric Association examining the effects of animals on hospitalized psychiatric patients found significant reductions in anxiety after animal-assisted therapy sessions. “The reduction in anxiety scores for patients with psychotic disorders was twice as great after animal-assisted therapy as after therapeutic recreation,” the study says. “This finding suggests that animal-assisted therapy may offer patients with psychotic disorders an interaction that involves fewer demands compared with traditional therapies.” And the benefits are reportedly physical as well. Research has shown that touching and interacting with animals can lower blood pressure and other stress-induced symptoms. 

Interaction with animals is especially beneficial for seniors (sorry Martha, technically this includes you), increasing activity, health and morale in older adults. The homemaking maven may have bid farewell to Kublai Khan Paw Paw Chow Chow Chow, but she still has her donkeys, horses, and French bulldogs Francesca and Sharkey to keep her at peace. Luckily, for those people who don’t own a 152-acre estate in upstate New York, pet therapy is a viable way to reap similar animal-related rewards.