Please note that I refer to dogs in this article, but any animal can be a therapy animal. I also refer to pet owners, rather than guardians, pet parents, etc., because that is still the legal term used (with a few exceptions).

Emotional Support Animal? Therapy Dog? Animal Assisted Activities Therapy Dog? Service Dog? Animal Assisted Psychotherapist? You've probably heard a few of these terms and wondered what they mean. It can be confusing, but there are differences between these roles. This article addresses the additional training and experience a therapist who wants to bring their dog into the therapy office needs in order to comply with certain laws. But first, let’s describe the roles dogs serve in the field of mental and/or physical health that you’re likely to encounter, as they are not interchangeable.

Emotional Support Animal

An emotional support animal (ESA) is a pet who provides a high level of support to its owner. Most of us love our pet and consider them a part of our family, yet an ESA takes on an even bigger role in their owner’s life, such as helping to decrease loneliness or isolation, severe depression, high anxiety, or other mental health issues. The client most likely has a small and/or weak support system, and their pet provides that additional support.

The law specifies only two rights that owners with an ESA are entitled to: they are allowed to travel on an airplane with their pet and allowed in homes that otherwise don’t allow pets. They are not allowed in any other place that a dog/pet is not allowed.

The ESA pet does not have specialized training, but does need basic obedience training. Landlords and airlines are legally permitted to remove a pet that misbehaves or causes a disturbance or nuisance to other people. While there’s no certification process for the animal, the owner must provide a letter from a physician, psychologist, or psychotherapist stating that the pet is needed for a client’s emotional support.

Be very cautious about providing these letters, and know your client’s needs well. It’s against the law to provide a letter to a client who doesn’t really need their pet for this level of emotional support and who you haven’t already established a strong therapeutic relationship with.

Service Dogs

A service dog is a dog that is trained to perform a specific task for a person who has a verified disability, either physical or mental health related, as specified under the American Disabilities Act (see www.ada.org for more information). Guide dogs for the blind, diabetes or epilepsy alert and response dogs would be included here, as well as people dealing with panic attacks or PTSD.

These dogs are extensively trained, sometimes up to 12-18 months depending on the disability. I heard of someone with PTSD and was triggered in crowds. The dog was trained to detect when she was about to have a panic attack and bark so that she could leave the situation quickly - she just told people she had to tend to her barking dog. As a side note, many people don’t realize that it’s illegal for the public to try to pet or try to socialize with a service dog who’s in public, as the dog is working.

Therapy Dogs

Therapy dogs fall into two categories: certified therapy dog or pet-assisted therapy dog. My dog is a certified therapy dog who provides Animal Assisted Activities (AAA). We are contracted with one of the local therapy dog agencies, and join other volunteers on planned visits to schools, libraries, retirement homes, hospitals, and other places that would benefit from therapy dog visits. We are volunteers for the agency we’ve joined as part of a therapy dog team, and never make visits on our own.

There are several local organizations that provide pet-assisted therapy services, and the specific policies/requirements are different at each one. In general, your dog must be well trained in obedience and under your control at all times. Many organizations require your dog to have earned their Canine Good Citizen certification, a special obedience test given by certified examiners from the American Kennel Club. Your dog must be unflappable, even tempered, and predictable in any type of situation.

In addition to the obedience requirements, an animal behaviorist from the agency you’ll be working with will do a thorough assessment to make sure your dog has the right temperament. Just because your dog is friendly, doesn’t mean they are suited to be a therapy dog. My Newfoundland has had a curious toddler stick her finger up his nose, his tail has been run over by someone’s walker numerous times, 15 or more people often crowd around him all at once to pet him, yet he remains quite calm through it all. And he thrives on all of the attention, another essential component.

By contrast, my other Newfoundland is very friendly, loves people, but after a minute she’s ready to leave the people behind and is distracted by everything else going on - she reminds me of someone with ADHD! Although not essential, it’s a great idea to have this type of experience with your dog before deciding to bring them to work with you.

Getting Your Pet Certified

So you’ve read this far, and have decided that you want to take the next step to become a pet-assisted therapist, bringing your own dog to work with you to help some of your clients. This is considered a specialty of psychotherapy, so what extra training do you need?

It’s of vital importance to remember that one of the laws we as psychotherapists must follow is Scope of Competence. Have you taken the steps to be in compliance with this law? Have you received additional training, education, experience, and supervision? Why are you using the dog as a part of the treatment plan? What is the purpose and goal for the session? There must be a therapeutic reason. It could simply mean providing the calming and peaceful presence of your dog for your client. It could mean helping a child learn how to deal with frustration by learning how to be calm while interacting with your dog. Maybe it’s helping someone learn how to be more assertive, build confidence, or reduce fear. The list and the interventions are endless.

What additional training do you actually need and where can you get that training? There are several organizations and associations that can provide you with the additional education, training, and experience you will need to embark on this work. A few universities offer post-graduate programs for graduate level therapists. But before you pay thousands of dollars for the training, check their references and the training and education they actually offer. As with anything else online, there are some scams out there.

I’m currently pursuing my certification at Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado, www.animalassistedtherapyprograms.org. It consists of 6 semester-length classes and when done I’ll earn my Certificate of Education in Animal Assisted Psychotherapy. I’m learning about the Human Animal Bond, the Legal and Ethical Issues in AAP, Animal Behavior and Training, AAP and Theory, as well as Treatment Planning/Interventions. These are all requirements to earn this specialization. At the end of it all, I’ll write a publishable paper showing my original work using the concepts learned with one of my own clients.

You don’t have to go to this extreme, though. At this same website there are training videos that therapists can study to document that they’ve taken the time to get the additional training required to pursue this specialty.

Although it may be time-consuming and expensive, our very own Ann Tran-Lien, JD, at CAMFT wrote an article in the September/October 2017 issue of The Therapist about a California LCSW who had strong disciplinary action taken against her for incompetence and gross negligence when her dog bit a child client at the end of a therapy session. This article should motivate therapists who want to use their dogs in therapy sessions to get that extra training.

I’ve had so much fun over the years taking my dogs to obedience classes, seeing the joyful effect they have on the people we visit, and someday using my own dog to help clients. One last reminder - be safe, make sure you’ve got the extra training and experience, and make sure your dog is properly assessed by someone other than yourself. Even though I’ve taken many workshops and training classes over the years with my dogs, I like knowing that they’ve been assessed by a certified animal behaviorist who has put them through the ropes to make sure they’re as suitable for this work as I think they are.

Elizabeth Basile, LMFT, practices in Mountain View. She works with pre-teens, teens, adults, individuals, couples, and families, addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, trauma and PTSD, illness, and eating disorders. She also has a certification in eating disorders. She’s looking forward to integrating her dogs into her practice with some of her clients. Her website is www.elizabethbasilemft.com.