Research statement and research question

Faith Wahlers

Professor Erika Patillo

INLS-151

September 9, 2014

                                     I chose this topic for many reasons.  The first is that I couldn’t do a research topic on my dog, so I had to reframe that idea into an academically acceptable one.   The second is that I very much believe that dogs do help those with emotional distress.  When I was young my mother was thought to have Breast Cancer, fortunately it was a false positive, and during this time my dog was always there to comfort me.  When it all felt too overwhelming, my dog would make me smile and show me unconditional love.  While this is a relatively small instance of emotional stress, my dog’s companionship aided me immensely. 

                                    

                                     I plan to research this question from a primarily psychological perspective.  Understanding PTSD and all its forms, and how companionship could aid the lessening of PTSD symptoms.  I also plan to look to dog trainers for insight to the training method and what types of dogs are used.  Finally I plan to see what types of organizations approve this form of therapy, during a cursory browsing I noticed that there was a page about therapy dogs for PTSD patients on the US Army web site. 

How do therapy dogs benefit those with PTSD?