It may bring out a child's personality, can teach them self-control and responsibility, and is an experience that can bring them unconditional love. Boys have a tendency to be more violent because they are conditioned to believe that anger is the only emotion that is okay for them to share. AAT can help teach them at an early age that compassion is also okay, and this may help to eliminate some of the violence that happens everyday. Nursing homes can be a very desolate place for the residents and many feel that they are useless because they have no one to take care of anymore, including themselves. A successful AAT program can bring the residents to be more interactive with staff and each other, as well as give them unconditional love and a sense of being needed by an organism that is dependant on others.
Mental patients can become more caring and socialized.
They can also learn how to communicate with others and participate in more activities. The patients sometimes will help the less fortunate patients handle the animals, causing interaction between the two. Patients hospitalized for physical reasons are less stressed when visited by animals and the visit can relieve some of the homesickness one might feel because they left their pet at home. It also lets the patient, for a moment, forget that they are in a hospital hooked to tubes and needles, and escape to a better place. The program also helps the physically challenged to do their exercises.