Learning From the Beyond-Human Animal: Wildlife Encounters in Veterans With PTSD

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are a type of interaction between humans and other species with a goal of advancing human health. Native American teachings provide a lens of human relations with nature in which beyond-human animals can provide important teachings for human persons. As part of a larger study, Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were introduced to a series of nature and wildlife immersion experiences. In this paper, we report on the use of a journaling exercise in which participants were asked to identify a meaningful animal at a wildlife sanctuary and describe what they learned from that animal. Thirteen participants completed journal reflections during two separate sessions at the sanctuary for a total of 25 journal entries. Data were analyzed qualitatively yielding three themes: self-affirmation: "have more confidence in myself"; calm attentiveness within one's environment: "don't be afraid to check out new situations"; and strength and perseverance: "do not give up." The findings support Native American teachings that other species can provide guidance for humans and also extend the field of AAI through providing potential avenues for therapeutic approaches that can be evaluated with different populations.