Tamworth Paws for Thought counselling therapy dog Tilly and social worker Karen Clark-Dickson help patients with pup therapy

In what's still a niche market in Tamworth, accredited mental health social worker Karen Clark-Dickson and therapy dog Tilly offer a cute and cuddly service that's long been offered to our metropolitan counterparts.

Most psychological tools are based on material evidence, but what a therapy dog evokes in patients isn't strictly measurable because of its emotional impact, Paws for Thought owner Ms Clark-Dickson said.

"But, there have been studies where they'll link you up to a blood machine or a pulse oximeter and there were consistent findings that therapy dogs lowered blood pressure and heart rate," she said.

"It's hopefully a developing area, I know how valuable it is as part of therapy particularly for people dealing with kids.

"People feel comfortable with me because the dog is here and therapy often happens faster when you have a dog in the space because it removes so many barriers."

Ms Clark-Dickson's first introduction to therapy dogs was learning about the Pups in Prison program in the US, immediately she saw the value it could have for people who had experienced trauma, lived with anxiety or suffered depression.

"I'm passionate about trauma because of the lifelong impact of it, the sooner we can get in after a traumatic event the less likely it does turn into a lifetime of trouble, as well as loss and grief," she said.

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The more she read about it, the more she learned about how much of an understudied area it is.

"I worked as a sexual assault counsellors for a couple of years at community health and I couldn't take the dog, but that was a space where they desperately needed it because of the amount of trauma," she said.

"She just takes the clinical element away from the space and I definitely noticed how much less time it takes for me to build a rapport with people.

"I would say 90 per cent of the people who come here come for her, I'm happy for her to be the drawcard because if it means you're coming here to get help that's a win-win."

Now, Ms Clark-Dickson trains other people to teach pups to become therapy dogs, so that more people in the region can reap the benefits.

Obedience and manners are really important, but a lot of the time it comes down to the temperament of the dog.

"The connection I have with Til is what makes this work," she said.

"She trusts me 100 per cent and she knows I have her back."

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