What is animal-assisted therapy?
Animal-assisted therapy is a safe, legal and ethical way to integrate animals in goal-directed physical and psychological treatment sessions for human patients. At Husson University, our nine-credit hour certificate program offers three courses designed to help you better understand human-animal
relationships and how animal-assisted therapies can make a difference in the mental and physical well-being of the patient.
How to become certified in animal-assisted therapy?
Animal-assisted therapy is a tool mental and physical healthcare practitioners can use to help patients reach designated goals. However, not every companion animal activity requires certification. Certifications are offered by organizations such as the American Association for Veterinary State Boards and the Animal Behavior Institute. Requirements may vary by state.
Programs such as the Animal-Assisted Therapy Certificate at Husson University are designed to provide the tools to better understand human-animal interactions and how to integrate companion animals safely, ethically and legally into a treatment plan.
What is the difference between pet therapy and animal-assisted therapy?
Both animal-assisted therapy and pet therapy can involve incorporating companion animals into a treatment plan to help improve the mental or physical well-being of a patient. Because animal-assisted therapy is goal-oriented, often documented and well planned, it could be considered the more structured of the two. Pet therapy could involve the same, or it could be as simple as adopting an animal companion to fill a need to nurture in the patient’s life.
What do you learn in animal-assisted therapy programs?
Animal-assisted therapy offers a number of benefits for the patient, from helping boost self-esteem, improve social skills and foster nurturing skills to simply motivating movement. A program focused on animal-assisted therapy (AAT), such as the certificate program at Husson University, will provide insight into how to structure programs to help patients enjoy those benefits. At Husson, you’ll explore the human-animal bond, therapeutic applications, service animals in general and how to safely, legally and ethically integrate animals into relevant treatment plans.
What is an AAT certificate?
An AAT (Animal-Assisted Therapy) certificate is marketable proof of an education focused on the study of human-animal interactions and how they can be implemented into a treatment plan for mental or physical needs. Husson University offers a 9-credit, three-course certificate program designed to help you learn understand the human-animal bond and learn techniques for working with therapy animals.