FALKA – Dog-Assisted Social Skills Group

Detailed professional description

FALKA is a dog-assisted therapeutic group offering experiential support to neurodivergent children who may experience anxiety, adjustment difficulties, challenges with emotional or behavioural regulation, and difficulties in social communication.

The children and their families are supported from several perspectives. The dog-assisted group is a distinctive experiential part of this work, with a particular focus on emotional and behavioural regulation, social skills and communication. The dogs' presence and shared activities create a motivating and safe environment in which children can try out and learn new positive patterns of behaviour. Working with the dog can also help direct and sustain attention, develop problem-solving skills and strengthen self-regulation.

Dog-assisted therapy also offers distinctive opportunities for working with sensory-processing difficulties. A dog provides a wide range of sensory stimuli that may at times be intense for a neurodivergent child, yet the dog's natural presence can create a bridge between a stimulus-rich environment and the child's internal processes. The presence of animals can encourage children to explore and process unfamiliar sensory experiences without experiencing them as threatening.

Methodology: animal-assisted therapeutic techniques are integrated with emotion-focused, behavioural, play-therapy, dramatic and story-based elements to support children in coping with difficult emotions.

How the group works:

• Weekly dog-assisted therapeutic sessions.
• 75-minute sessions.
• Parent consultation and an initial interview take place before participation in order to assess suitability and group fit.
• Maximum group size: 6 participants per group.

Group leaders: Réka Isépy – clinical psychologist; Johanna Bagdi – dog handler; and Gizi, the therapy dog.