Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) are thought to overcome some of the limitations of traditional therapies as they do not rely exclusively on language as a medium for change. One such Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) approach involves horses as a therapeutic medium. Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) comprises a collaborative effort between a licensed therapist and a horse professional working with clients to address treatment goals. The purpose of the present Australian-based qualitative study was to examine EAP facilitators' perspectives on the biospychosocial benefits and therapeutic outcomes of EAP for adolescents experiencing depression and/or anxiety. The findings suggest a range of improvements within adolescent clients, including increases in confidence, self-esteem and assertiveness, as well as a decrease in undesirable behaviours. The effectiveness of the therapy was thought to be due to the experiential nature of involving horses in therapy. The lack of understanding in the wider community about EAP was seen as a barrier to recognition and acceptance of EAP as a valid therapeutic intervention.
We examined the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction in 121 residents of Fukoku, Japan, and 139 residents of Melbourne, Australia, using the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1983) and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980). Australian subjects reported significantly less loneliness and significantly greater life satisfaction than Japanese subjects. A high inverse correlation was found between loneliness and life satisfaction in Australian subjects, with a much smaller inverse relationship observed among the Japanese, suggesting that loneliness in Japanese subjects did not emotionally translate into life dissatisfaction as it did in Australian subjects. Instead, the experience of loneliness in Japanese individuals may remain largely independent of general life satisfaction.
Objective: Poor sleep can significantly impact mental health. Despite this, sleep education is absent from the curriculum of many psychology training programs. The current study examined the amount of sleep education delivered within postgraduate psychology programs in Australia. It also developed a new survey tool to capture postgraduate psychology students' experience of sleep education. Method: Two cross-sectional sleep education surveys were emailed to postgraduate psychology programs across Australia via the Heads of Department and Schools of Psychology Association. The first survey explored sleep education from postgraduate psychology program coordinators' perspectives (n = 35; survey response rate = 73%), while the second custom-designed survey examined postgraduate psychology students' perspectives (n =152). Results: Program coordinators reported a median of 2.00 hours (range 0-9) of didactic sleep education delivered within postgraduate psychology programs. Postgraduate students, however, reported receiving a median of only 1.00 hour (range 0-40) of sleep education, with 47% of students reporting no sleep education. Most students acknowledged already working with clients experiencing sleep disturbances (68%), yet they disclosed low confidence and self-efficacy to manage sleep disturbances in psychology practice. Despite delivering minimal sleep education, thematic analysis indicated that program coordinators viewed sleep education as an important topic for trainee psychologists. Program coordinators preferred sleep education to supplement the postgraduate curriculum, preferably online (63%), whereas students chose clinical supervision (61%). Conclusions: Postgraduate psychology training programs deliver minimal sleep education to trainee psychologists in Australia. Enhanced integration of sleep education within the postgraduate psychology curriculum is required to improve mental health outcomes.
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