Trans-species psychology is the field of psychology that states that humans and nonhuman animals share commonalities in cognition (thinking) and emotions (feelings). It was established by Gay A. Bradshaw, American ecologist and psychologist. Trans-species psychology, often referred to as a "science of sentience", argues that existing scientific evidence points to a common model of brain, mind, and behavior for humans and nonhuman animals. Bradshaw claims the theory and data from neuroscience, ethology, and psychology, both current and dating back through the evolutionary biology research of Charles Darwin in the mid-1800s, shows that evolution conserves brain and mind across species. Humans and other animals share a common capacity to think, feel, and experience themselves and their lives. Some mammals have demonstrated the ability to experience empathy, culture, self-awareness, consciousness, psychological trauma, mourning rituals, and complex communication abilities. The knowledge that nonhuman animals have the ability to think and feel in complex ways has also brought the understanding of their capacity to experience psychological trauma and suffering. Trans-species psychology seeks to prevent and treat trauma in all animals through increased scientific understanding. The prefix trans is a Latin noun meaning "across" or "beyond", and it is used to describe the comparability of brain, mind, and behavior across animal species. In an interview, G.A. Bradshaw stated that the trans affixed to psychology "re-embeds humans within the larger matrix of the animal kingdom by erasing the 'and' between humans and animals that has been used to demarcate and reinforce the false notion that humans are substantively different cognitively and emotionally from other species".
Historical background: elephants suffering from PTSD In 2005, Bradshaw's research led her to the conclusion that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) existed in free-ranging elephant survivors of severely traumatic events, including mass culls (systematic killing), poaching, translocation, and other human attacks. Typically gentle and peaceful herbivores with complex social structures, tight-knit lifelong familial bonds, sophisticated cognitive capacities, and highly empathic responsiveness, traumatized elephants were displaying behavioral aberrations such as inter- and intra-species aggression, abnormal startle response, depression, and infant neglect. The unprecedented killing and assault of over 100 rhinoceroses by traumatized young bull elephants was documented in South Africa. Bradshaw integrated psychobiological and ethological principles, specifically the understanding that maternal and community loss lead to pathogenic right hemispheric neurological development, which often results in hyperaggression and socioemotional dysfunction. She found that violent human interference was leading to the breakdown of elephant culture and society, which was the focus of a report by Charles Siebert at the New York Times called An Elephant Crackup?. She also documented this in her book, Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach us about Humanity, which received multiple international awards and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and recommended as a book of the week on the Jean Feraca show, Jean Feraca recommendation. These findings and later studies confirming vertebrate commonalities led her to establish trans-species psychology as a theory and method for the study and care of animals (human-inclusive). She also established the non-profit organization, The Kerulos Center, which is dedicated to furthering scientific understanding and practical applications that promote animal well-being.
Species-common neuroanatomy and neuropsychology Cortical, limbic, and autonomic brain structures that govern emotion, consciousness, sense of self, and associated psychophysiological and behavioral traits (e.g., maternal behavior, facial recognition, moral development, play, sexual behavior, fear, aggression, affect regulation) are highly conserved evolutionarily. Importantly, the neurobiological structures and processes affected by trauma (i.e., cortical and subcortical areas of the right brain, including the right orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, amygdala, hippocampus, and posterior areas of the right hemisphere) are also conserved across species. Similar to humans, animals experience complex emotions and are psychologically susceptible to stress and the effects of violence. This understanding of the common neurobiology between all species, has provided the basis for the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in multiple species other than humans.
Trans-species psychiatry Through trans-species psychology and psychiatry, diverse applications of psychotherapeutic approaches to animal trauma recovery (e.g.,horses; elephants) are developing from existing knowledge of human mental health, with provisions for species culture, ethics, and diversity. For example, this research has been used to investigate Complex PTSD in chimpanzee biomedical survivors abused and traumatized and rescued into sanctuary. Chimpanzees who have been subjected to biomedical research often display symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of complex PTSD, a pervasive psychological disorder, common to human prisoners of war, genocide survivors, and victims of domestic violence. It is characterized by difficulties with severe mood dysregulation, impaired interpersonal functioning, loss of sense of safety and security, and disruption in the sense of self. As with humans who suffer from this condition, non-human primates have been documented to experience chronic affective instability, self-injurious behavior, repetitive movement stereotypies, difficulties with attachment, hypervigilance, and sleeping and eating disorders. Similar symptoms have been displayed in parrots in captivity who have experienced trauma. Significant similarities in the treatment needs of trauma survivors in animal sanctuaries and in human trauma recovery programs have been subsequently identified. Human and non-human animals need positive social bonding, a sense of safety, a healthy living environment, self-esteem, and an empathic caregiver presence to help overcome trauma.
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