Wild Dolphin Assisted Psychotherapy (DAP)

Hawaii Island Recovery has initiated an extraordinary Experiential Therapy program that interfaces our clients with wild Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. HIR is the first and only addiction treatment program to offer a non-captive dolphin encounter in a therapeutic modality. HIR believes an unscripted encounter with these remarkable mammals has a positive impact upon our clients and supports their recovery process.

Dolphins in captivity have been used with children with autism and adults with PTSD.  But what if these encounters happened in the wild? What if the dolphins had no fish incentive to engage with you? What if they COULD swim away, but CHOSE not to? Herein lies the power of this encounter- it happens in their environment and on their terms. It is unpredictable and uncontrolled. To many people in recovery, this is a metaphor for their own lives and serves as a launching point for reflection and actions that will guide them, not only through the dolphin encounter, but onward through their recovery.