Clinician’s Beliefs, Practices, and Attitudes Regarding Emotional Support Animal Recommendations

ABSTRACT

The landscape regarding the public’s use and mental health professionals’ recommendation of emotional support animals has recently undergone significant changes. This study analyzes current practices for emotional support animal (ESA) recommendations among mental health professionals and aims to explore best practices for compliance with ethical and legal standards when using emotional support animals in treatment. The researchers surveyed 106 mental health professionals using a Likert-style questionnaire to determine their beliefs, practices, and attitudes regarding ESAs. Participants included LPCs/LMHCs, LMFTs, social workers, psychologists, and student interns. Results showed that most participants believed in the healing power of human-animal interactions and were well versed in legal requirements regarding ESAs. Results also indicated that many mental health professionals recommend ESAs without appropriate continuing education or coursework. Results also showed discrepancies between practitioners’ purported knowledge about ESAs and actual procedures regarding ESA recommendations. These findings yield important information for clinicians, counselor educators, and clinical supervisors who are likely to face inquiries about ESAs.

KEYWORDS:

• emotional support animals
• ethical practice
• mental health assessment
• animal assisted therapy
• counseling
• therapy
• creativity in counseling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).