Dolphin Space

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Dolphin Space is a company headed by Helmut Diez , which has been offering therapies with the echolocation sounds of pilot whales since 1998, mainly in German-speaking countries . In contrast to the actual dolphin therapy , the animals are not present at all. The therapeutic concept developed on this basis for the treatment of disabled, developmentally retarded or behavioral children with the involvement of their parents in the form of their own mental coaching also bears this protected name. Until 2008, Dolphin Space, founded by Itay Peter Behr, Bianka Hofmann, Diez, Petra Reisch and Michael Scheer , worked primarily in Bremen , since then at various locations in German-speaking countries.

history

From 1997 onwards, in several expeditions, the echolocation sounds of dolphins were recorded with specially developed hydrophones and systematically recorded with the subjective impressions of the researchers. The starting point was the knowledge of the development team from field interaction research, particularly with pilot whales off Tenerife . The whales used echolocation sounds to identify the researchers. During exposure, they felt positive changes in mood as well as states of happiness and relaxation, which led them to suspect that the echolocation sounds caused changes in the nervous system , for example in the production of endorphins and hormones .

The concept was developed in 1997 by the founders of Dolphin Space - Itay P. Behr, Helmut Diez, Bianka Hofmann, Petra Reisch and Michael Scheer - for the treatment of children in special life situations ( metabolic disorders , autism , mental and physical limitations, vegetative state , etc.) developed and involved the patient's family. Since then, the range of treatments on offer has been expanded to include behavioral problems and learning disabilities in children, as well as senile dementia , with this part of the program also including caring relatives.

From April 2002, regular therapeutic treatments were carried out in the bathroom of the St. Joseph Foundation in Bremen , but the building was demolished in 2008. Until 2013, applications were carried out in various thermal baths in the city, subsequently also in a thermal bath near Nuremberg , baths in Bad Bevensen , the neuroclinic in Kipfenberg and Mallorca, and since 2010 in Zurich . Since 2005 there has also been a therapeutic concept for high-performance sport , which was carried out for example in Längenfeld in the Ötztal at the end of 2011 with the Austrian World Cup and Olympic teams in snowboard cross . This included Markus Schairer , world champion in snowboard cross in 2009, as well as Michael and Alessandro Hämmerle , Hanno Douschan , Susi Moll and Maria Ramberger .

As long as therapies were carried out at a fixed location, i.e. until 2008, public perception was quite high, as shown by articles in the local, but also in many national newspapers and contributions from television stations such as Das Erste , ZDF or arte . A renewed increase in public interest was based on the knowledge that the therapeutic use of captive dolphins raised questions about the welfare of the animals. From this point of view, dolphinariums increasingly met with rejection. Therefore, alternatives were sought, with which Dolphin Space, with its exclusive use of echolocation sounds, found renewed interest. The question of including parents in therapy with dolphin sounds, as advocated by Dolphin Space, was also discussed.

Process and basic assumptions

It is based on echolocation sounds that arose under specific conditions of contact with the researchers. Dolphin Space assumes “that the emotions of humans and animals address the same regions in the human brain on an unconscious level”, therefore “only sound sequences are used whose context was scientifically documented during the sound recording”. With loudspeakers that generate a very high frequency response and sound pressure, the appropriate echolocation sequences for the patient during the water Shiatsu treatment ( Watsu and Wata) are played or used for sound massage . The water therapy is used in various treatment concepts, takes place in 35 ° warm water and lasts 50 minutes each. The treatment of children in special life situations - severe disabilities, autism, vegetative state, behavioral problems and learning disabilities - extends over a week and takes place in therapeutic treatment baths. At the same time, most of the parental caregivers reflect on their situations and stresses in mental coaching . Parents receive short training in the Triple P - Positive Parenting Program - and instruction on how to independently monitor their development.

The communication and systems therapy starting point is based on the assumption that even unsecured prenatal diagnoses that suggest disabilities create future fears, social barriers and particular burdens for the family system, which in their entirety produce "disabilities" regardless of the objective findings . There is often a "masked communication" between the parents and the child, which is characterized by fears that the children will not receive the necessary therapies in time, and there are often blame for the reasons for the developmental and behavioral restrictions and a one-sided distribution of care tasks and disagreement about the effectiveness of therapeutic measures. In addition to the often self-chosen social exclusion of the family system, communication is often relieved of children with developmental and behavioral disabilities . This prevents the children from developing their communicative and social potential. This in turn results in an increased dependency on parents and caregivers, which leads to them being at their disposal, both physically and communicatively. In addition to the physical limitations, this creates a communicative isolation and a lack of self-awareness .

Scientific evaluation

Animal-based therapies have always been a controversial field, and this also applies to working with dolphins. A study published in the Florida Keys in 2003 showed that about 20% of dolphins behaved differently towards patients than towards other people with animal-based therapy, but it also showed that the duration of contact was insufficient for conventional ultrasound therapy. With the Dolphin Space approach, the animal-based part of the work is reduced exclusively to the echolocation sounds; the behavior of the animals is therefore irrelevant. According to a study also published in 2003, the effectiveness of these sounds on tissue is considered possible under certain circumstances, but there are prerequisites. This includes sufficient intensity, repeated use over several days or weeks and a certain duration of use per session. In many cases, this is obscured in the later literature by claiming that dolphin ultrasound therapy has no demonstrable effect on the therapeutic effect. A study from 2016 points in a similar direction. Eva Stumpf's work Concepts and effectiveness of dolphin therapies: A narrative review confirms dolphin therapies on the basis of thirteen controlled studies (of a total of 32 studies available worldwide on the effectiveness of dolphin therapies, 23 of them on the effects on humans alone under 30) "Effects on cognitive, motor, communicative, and social skills for children with disabilities". But the exclusive effect of the echolocation sounds does not play a role in this representation, because the said effects of the sonar system could hardly occur, at least with animal-based therapy. This has to do with the fact that "effects of the sonar waves on the patient are only to be expected at a short distance and frontal orientation of the dolphin".

In 2012 Nicole Lämmermann dealt in her dissertation Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy with the “Effect of echolocation of dolphins by means of ultrasound”. In studies, a "stimulation of the CNS (spinal and cerebral)" and an increase in "cerebral plasticity" have been brought into the field, also "influence on the brain waves " and analogous states to "deep meditation", then to the ability of dolphins to " Recognize and 'treat' neurological disorders with the help of sonar ”. However, according to the author, conclusive studies are lacking, even if there is a research project at the Curacao Dolphin Therapy and Research Center in cooperation with the German Society for Aerospace Medicine , dolphin aid and the Neurological Clinic Vogtareuth . The Aquathought Research Foundation believed it could show "that the brainwave frequency decreased after the interaction and that the hemispheres of the brain experienced more synchronization". The alpha state brought about by the ultrasound in turn has a positive influence on the immune system . Still others assumed that there was an increased release of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. "This leads to increased attention and better well-being in the child." The alpha state, which only occurs after 15 minutes, is regarded as "an optimal prerequisite for profound learning processes".

literature

  • Helmut Diez : dolphin space (PDF)
  • Junko Akiyama, Mitsuaki Ohta: Increased number of whistles of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, arising from interaction with people , in: Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 69 (2007) 165–170 (the presence of people causes significantly more and longer echolocation sounds).
  • Erwin Breitenbach, Lorenzo von Fersen, Eva Stumpf, Harald Ebert: Dolphin therapy for children with disabilities. Analysis and explanation of effectiveness . Würzburg: Edition Bentheim 2006 (a result of a collaboration between the University of Würzburg and the Nuremberg Zoo ).
  • Erwin Breitenbach, Eva Stumpf, Lorenzo von Fersen, Harald Ebert: Dolphin, a bearer of hope. Possible effects and factors of action of animal-assisted therapy in children with disabilities, shown using the example of dolphin therapy , Geistige Behavior 43,4 (2004) 339–357
  • Karsten Brensing , Katrin Linke: Behavior of dolphins towards adults and children during swim-with-dolphin programs and towards children with disabilities during therapy sessions , in: Anthrozoös 16 (2003) 315–331.
  • Nicole Kohn, Rolf Oerter: Dolphin Therapy Helps: Scientific Findings from Eilat and Florida , in: Kirsten Kuhnert (Ed.): Dolphin Therapy - Evidence of a Wonder , Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag, Munich 2004, new edition 2013, pp. 55–87.
  • David E. Nathanson: Reinforcement effectiveness of animatronic and real dolphins , in: Anthrozoös 20 (2007) 181–194.
  • Michael Scheer, Bianka Hofmann: The Dolphin Space Program , in: Krankendienst 1 (2004) 12–15. ( online, PDF )
  • Michael Scheer , Bianka Hofmann, Itay Peter Behr: Ethogram of selected behaviors initiated by free-ranging short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and directed to human swimmers during open water encounters , in: Anthrozoös 17 (2004) 244-258.
  • Michael Scheer: Can Dolphins Heal? New scientific findings on the topic of "dolphin-assisted therapy" , in: Krankendienst 7 (2008) 208–211.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Description on the page ( Memento from February 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) http://www.dolphin-space.de/ , archive.org, February 3, 2011.
  2. ↑ Disabled children physically feel the language of the pilot whales , in: Die Welt, August 2, 2002.
  3. ↑ Dolphin Sound Therapy ( Memento of February 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Weekly Whale News, June 24, 2002, cetacea.de, Wale, Delfine und Menschen.
  4. ↑ Snowboard crossers "loved" pilot whales , in: Vorarlberg Sport, November 30, 2011.
  5. ↑ Karsten Brensing, Katrin Linke, Dietmar Todt: Can dolphins heal by ultrasound? , in: Journal of Theoretical Biology 225 (2003) 99-105, speak of "speculations that the echolocation of dolphins may play an important role for the success of the therapy and the high publicity of this in the media".
  6. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, Westfalenpost, Straubinger Tagblatt, Neue Passauer Presse, Badische Zeitung, Ingolstädter Anzeiger etc.
  7. ↑ Picture from May 19, 2003, HörZu, medicine today, Hannoversche Allgemeine etc.
  8. ↑ S. Web links, also Q21 - Knowledge for Tomorrow Report on animal-assisted therapy: Research project in Nuremberg, Dolphin Space in Bremen, August 30, 2005.
  9. ↑ Michael Scheer: Can dolphins heal? New scientific findings on the topic of "dolphin-assisted therapy" , in: Krankendienst 7 (2008) 208–211, here: p. 211.
  10. ^ Eva Stumpf, Erwin Breitenbach: Dolphin-assisted therapy with parental involvement for children with severe disabilities: Further evidence for a family-centered theory for effectiveness , in: Anthrozoös 27 (2014) 95-109.
  11. ↑ Therapeutic sound reinforcement with dolphin sounds ( memento from 23 August 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
  12. ^ Healing Tones - Therapy with Dolphin Sounds ( Memento from November 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), arte.tv, February 24, 2005.
  13. ^ ZDF Ratgeber, broadcast on April 5, 2005.
  14. ↑ In 2007, an examination of the previous studies came to the conclusion that at best temporary brightening of mood occurred (Lori Marino, Scott Lilienfeld: Dolphin-assisted therapy: more flawed data and more flawed conclusions , in: Anthrozoös 20 (2007) 239–249).
  15. ^ "Based on publications in medicine, we will show that ultrasound emitted by dolphins could have an effect on biological tissue under some circumstances; such as sufficient intensity, repeated application over several days or weeks and a certain application duration per session. We recorded 83 sessions at the "Dolphins Plus", a fenced area with ocean water in the Florida Keys. Our observations demonstrate that only one out of five observed dolphins behave significantly differently towards patients compared to other humans and that the duration of the observed close contacts did not meet the requirements for common ultrasound therapies "( Karsten Brensing , Katrin Linke, Dietmar Todt: Can dolphins heal by ultrasound?, in: Journal of theoretical biology. Volume 225, number 1, November 2003, pp. 99-105, PMID 14559063 ).
  16. ↑ Karsten Brensing, Katrin Linke, Dietmar Todt: Can dolphins heal by ultrasound? , in: Journal of Theoretical Biology 225 (2003) 99-105: “We will show that ultrasound emitted by dolphins could have an effect on biological tissue under some circumstances; such as sufficient intensity, repeated application over several days or weeks and a certain application duration per session "(abstract).
  17. ↑ So claims Cynthia K. Chandler: Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling , 3rd ed., Routledige, 2017: "that there is no proof that dolphin ultrasound has an impact on therapy success" (p. 266), and thus sums it up Study by Brensing et al. inapplicable. The first edition of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling dates back to 2005.
  18. ^ Eva Stumpf: Concepts and Effectiveness of Dolphin Therapy : A Narrative Review , in: in Childhood and Development 25 (2016) 100–113 ( online , PDF).
  19. ↑ Nicole Lämmermann: Evaluation of the effectiveness of dolphin-assisted therapy , Munich 2012, p. 45 f. ( online , PDF).
  20. ^ Research Studies , Curacao Dolphin Therapy and Research Center website .