Why Will This Help?

The biophilia hypothesis states that humans have an innate desire to interact with living organisms in the natural world.  Due to this innate desire, contact with plants and animals can positively influence cognition, health, and well-being.  Studies have shown that exposing children to natural surroundings decreases ADD symptoms, increases cognitive functioning, and decreases aggression after ostracism.  

Additionally, research has demonstrated that children who spend more time in nature report less stress and quicker recovery from stress than those who spend less time in natural surroundings.  

People with higher nature connectedness (i.e., affective, cognitive, and physical associations with the natural world) have been shown to have higher levels of overall emotional and psychological well-being than those less connected with nature, and higher nature connectedness results in part to increased nature exposure as a child.  

Dolphins have been strongly linked to psychological healing. Dolphins are highly social animals that provide the desired interaction in a natural environment and appear to enjoy contact with humans. Interactions with dolphins have been linked to reductions in mental health problems such as depressive symptoms and increases in socio-emotional competence, self-confidence, increased communication, and perceptions of social support. Indeed, dolphins have been shown to react differently to various human emotions, such as anger, fear, and joy, which can help increase awareness of one’s emotions and how they impact others. This provides natural incentives to engage in emotion regulation processes, which increase social competence and decrease impulsiveness.  

In fact, a case study of Water Planet's therapy program found lower stress, increased comfort, and calm, and increased positive emotions (as reported by caregivers) after participating in the five-day program. Examinations of one-day interaction programs also demonstrated that dolphins could provide a sense of social support to children, and could increase the sense of support children felt from those around them. 

There are a few theories as to why dolphin interactions can be psychologically healing. 

Sense of Awe:  Significant interactions with wildlife (such as dolphins) prompt feelings of awe that often lead to reflections aimed at making sense of the emotional encounter, starting a learning process that may result in increased self-awareness, prosocial behaviors, and emotion regulation skills.  Experiencing awe has also been linked with perceptions of increased time, increased patience and prosociality, and a decreased sense of self.  This decrease in a sense of self may also lead to increased integration into social groups and has been found across cultures.

Activation of the Amygdala: The right amygdala is a component of the neural circuits in the brain that are related to attachment and can be activated by the sight of an animal. The right amygdala is also involved with internal emotional experiences, including emotional pain. Working with an animal may thus activate the right amygdala, allowing a child to better connect with and work on emotional pain, and leading to more effective emotion regulation. 

Integration of the Body and Mind: Processing through difficult experiences can be overwhelming, particularly for children. However, interactions with dolphins may help children process and make meaning of difficult experiences through the integration of the body and mind.  While more traditional therapies used for adults may cause children to disconnect from their environment, disconnection is much less likely when swimming with dolphins, both due to the positive emotions evoked by seeing dolphins and by the need to move your body and be aware of your surroundings. The movement and awareness evoked by swimming with dolphins can help children start to face things that initially caused discomfort while maintaining an awareness of bodily responses and learning techniques to help calm themselves and their bodily reactions.