Animal-Assisted School Counseling

Animal-Assisted School Counseling (AASC) is a hands-on resource that provides invaluable information for school counselors interested in partnering with a therapy animal on campus to help students meet social and emotional goals. This book presents a wealth of resources for school counselors and school-based mental health practitioners to incorporate animal partners on school campuses with individual students and groups and in classroom and schoolwide settings. Using the American School Counselor Association (ASCA)National Model framework, this book presents AASC interventions that can be implemented as part of the multitiered system of support to address students' mental health needs. The text also meets the important demand for accountability in school counseling by providing resources for assessing the effectiveness of AASC interventions for meeting student and school outcome goals. Addressing such issues as getting school district buy-in, choosing an animal partner, preparing the school for an animal partner, theoretical applications of AASC, and student-affirming AASC services, the book is organized such that each chapter builds upon the next so school counselors understand what steps to take to become an effective AASC team. Ideal for the school counselor, social worker, or psychologist who may not have specific training in AASC, this book will encourage school mental health practitioners to seek out training programs to become an AASC team.

Elizabeth Kjellstrand Hartwig, PhD, LMFT-S, LPC-S, RPT-S, is a Professor at Texas State University. She is the founder and director of the Texas State University Animal-Assisted Counseling Academy.

1.An Introduction to Animal-Assisted School Counseling 2.Getting School and District Approval for an AASC Program 3.Choosing an AASC Partner 4.AASC Competencies 5.Training in AASC 6.Preparing the School for an Animal Partner 7.Assessment in AASC 8.Theoretical Applications of AASC 9.AASC Classroom and Schoolwide Interventions 10.AASC Individual and Small Group Interventions 11.Student-Affirming AASC 12.Future Directions in AASC