Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling

Cynthia K. Chandler, EdD, has been involved with animal-assisted therapy for more than 20 years and has been a professor at the University of North Texas and a licensed mental health therapist and supervisor for more than 30 years.

• 1. An Introduction to Animal-Assisted Therapy 2. Research in Animal-Assisted Counseling and Related Areas 3. Selecting an Animal for Therapy Work 4. Training a Pet for Therapy Work 5. Evaluation of a Pet for Therapy Work 6. Animal Communication, Risk Management, and Ethics in Animal-Assisted Counseling 7. Animal-Assisted Interventions and Counseling Theories 8. Animal-Assisted Counseling Practices 9. Equine-Assisted Counseling 10. A Variety of Animal-Assisted Therapy Applications 11. Sensitivity to Cultural Differences and Populations with Special Needs 12. Crisis and Disaster Response Counseling with Therapy Animals 13. Establishing a School-Based Program for Animal-Assisted Counseling and Education 14. International Considerations and Applications of Animal-Assisted Therapy Appendices

"The 4th edition of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling is a real gem. It is full of research and provides the reader with strong practical suggestions for implementation. This book is a great asset for any mental health practitioner interested in applying animal-assisted interventions to their practice."Aubrey H. Fine, EdD, professor, California State Polytechnic University, editor of Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy"This is a foundational resource for practitioners who want to include AAT in counseling practice. It is very well written, thorough, and approachable for novice and experienced AAT practitioners alike. Of particular value is Chandler's HART theory and SHARM concepts. From my perspective, HART is the first tool of its kind to translate this highly nuanced approach into concrete and descriptive elements that are irreplacable for teaching and learning the complex nature of AAT-C. Chandler's strategies for including AAT-C into well-established counseling theoretical orientations are highly specific to mental health providers and essential to developing one's own professionalized approach in AAT-C. It is the first book I recommend to my AAT students in my own program."Leslie A. Stewart, PhD, LCPC, C-AAIS, professor of counseling, Idaho State University, lead author of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling Competencies"This volume is comprehensive and well-written. I am most excited by the attention paid to understanding the variety of species who may be involved in counseling and how these species offer a unique contribution that is different from one another and different from their human counterparts. I think this beautifully nuanced book will offer a very useful perspective for any therapist interested in including animals in clinical practice."Leif Hallberg, MA, LCP, LCPC, author of Walking the Way of the Horse: The Clinical Practice of Equine-Assisted Therapy and The Equine-Assisted Therapy Workbook