Therapeutic Presence in Play Therapy With Sexually Abused Children and Adolescents

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) continues to be a worldwide concern, compounded by the scourge of sex trafficking, which is also internationally a lucrative financial form of exploiting children. Therapeutic presence is a multidimensional key factor in any form of psychotherapy and is especially critical in therapy with children who have experienced sexual abuse. The ability to create safe therapeutic spaces for children who have not experienced safety in their living environments and to the contrary have been abused and exploited by adults is critical. This chapter discusses the enlistment of facility dogs to augment and strengthen therapeutic presence, thus creating a more robust sense of safety in the therapy context for children who need that extra facilitation of safety the most. Facility dogs are sometimes able to offer both therapeutic presence and safety to abused children than even the best trained therapists.