Animal Assisted Therapy is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that provides information and techniques for working with animals to help clients meet their therapeutic goals.

In Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) the human-animal bond is utilized to reach individuals who are otherwise difficult to engage in therapy. AAT has been associated with improving outcomes in four areas: autism-spectrum symptoms, medical difficulties, behavioral challenges, and emotional well-being. At a fundamental level, pets can provide companionship, stress relief, emotional comfort, and a substitute for human company across age groups. Research shows that the beneficial effects of the human-pet interaction may include lower levels of depression, anxiety, and pain, as well as improved self-image, self-efficacy, mental function, and quality of life. By maintaining interest and attention, AAT works to support language and motor activities, encourages social interaction, provides sensory integration, and motivates students to do their best.

This course shares information on how to train and register in AAT with Pet Partners (an organization that helps people through positive interaction with animals) and is designed to provide therapists, educators, and caregivers the information and techniques needed to begin using the human-animal bond successfully to meet clients’ individual therapeutic goals.

Course # 21-53 | 2021 | 44 pages | 15 posttest questions