UWC cat gets his claws into therapy to help staff and students

• Published date: 04 May 2024
• Author: Weekend Argus Reporter
• Publication title: Weekend Argus

In January, Zeus travelled from Gauteng to Cape Town with his owner, Cayla Bergman-Ally, when she was appointed as an intern psychologist at the Centre for Student Support Services (CSSS) at UWC. Bergman-Ally is completing her Master’s degree in animal-assisted therapy research, and Zeus has played an integral role in that research

“The basis for animal-assisted therapy is twofold: cats and animals. There is physical symptom relief for people with panic attacks and anxiety. Zeus will sit on them, and his purring decompresses patients. This helps by decreasing their stress levels and heart rate,” Bergman-Ally said.

Since his arrival on campus, his client base has increased. His human, Bergman-Ally, said he has helped patients who were not fans of cats.

“He comes without judgment, so my clients often prefer to engage with him, and I will write my notes. That is amazing because I had clients coming in who were terrified of cats, and once they met Zeus, their attitude and approach changed.”

The 23-year-old said there were added benefits to animal-assisted therapy, especially for patients dealing with specific trauma.

“From the clients that I see dealing with a lot of grief, Zeus pacifies intense loss. Students who have been sexually abused don’t want to be touched, but stroking Zeus helps them.”

The five-month-old cat assists with 45 minutes to an hour of treatment and sees up to four patients daily. This type of treatment is physically exhausting for the intern psychologist. And her furry sidekick Zeus needs plenty of time to ‘paws’.

“We both have to be therapy-fit. If we see four clients per day, we are exhausted. Zeus will then sleep the entire car ride home. We are now working on being therapy-fit as we aim to see more clients,” she said.

“Zeus’s way of decompressing involves taking his catnaps on my desk by the window, overlooking the campus between sessions.”

Animal-assisted therapy is a...