Animal assisted therapy is a novel practice in the mental health field that is rapidly gaining traction. Starting this year, animal assisted therapy will be available to Dickinson students at the Wellness Center. The Wellness Center’s newest employees are Otto and Dixie, two therapy bunnies from Luv-N-Bunns, a rabbit rescue and replacement center in Philadelphia.

For the past two years they have been working in hospice as emotional-support animals. Otto and Dixie are a bonded pair, meaning they do everything together, including eating from the same bowl, and are emotionally dependent on each other’s company. 

Lauren Strunk, the Executive Director of the Wellness Center, spoke with The Dickinsonian to discuss the additions of Otto and Dixie. They live on the second floor of the Wellness Center in their own room with engaging toys and everything they need for their care.

The bunnies have been at the Wellness Center since August 12, and have spent the past three weeks acclimating to their new environment. In turn, the Wellness Center has been adjusting to having Otto and Dixie on site. “We did a whole animal assisted therapy training, a two day training to make sure everyone was on the same level of understanding,” said Strunk.

Therapy animals help stabilize emotions and improve communication; Strunk described their role in group and individual therapy as “almost like… another therapist in the room” and says they are “often used as a way to get different concepts across in a non-intimidating way.”

Animals also teach patients a lot about socialization and effective ways to interact with others. “What’s neat about rabbits, especially for animal assisted therapy is that… sometimes they don’t want to go near you, and that’s a therapeutic conversation because sometimes you may meet a person that doesn’t want to go near you… and that’s okay, but how you respond to that is sometimes what impacts you the most” says Strunk.

The Wellness Center staff, in collaboration with other college officials, considered a variety of other animals before settling on therapy bunnies. Rabbits were a great choice for the Wellness Center because while they are not low maintenance animals, their feeding, cleaning and attention needs are manageable for a workplace. Strunk already had extensive experience caring for rabbits, but the rest of “the staff had to go through a whole training on rabbit care.” 

Otto and Dixie were selected from a host of other rabbits with care and attention to detail. Strunk said that she “vetted tons of rabbits” before settling on Otto and Dixie. Part of her reasoning was that, since Otto and Dixie are a bonded pair, they are fine to be with only each other for extensive periods of time. Additionally, “they’re a perfect balance because you have one that’s a little bit more reclusive and one that’s a little bit more social,” Strunk said about Dixie and Otto respectively. These varying temperaments can help convey different concepts during animal assisted therapy.

The Wellness Center’s mental health professionals now have the option of using animal assisted therapy with clients. Otto and Dixie are currently training for the job by meeting new people every day. In just a few weeks, they will be on the job and therefore need breaks and have a limit of sessions per day. All students will also be able to meet Otto and Dixie during “Bunny Breaks,” starting later this September. Sign-ups will be available on EngageD for 2-3 p.m. on Wednesdays.