Clinician's Guide to Treating Companion Animal Issues: Addressing Human-Animal Interaction

A reference of best practices and practical guidance on how to integrate clients’ own pets into the counseling process

Clinician’s Guide to Treating Animal Companion Issues: Addressing Human-Animal Interaction is the first of its kind - a groundbreaking resource for mental health professionals desiring the knowledge, skills, and awareness to successfully work with pet-owning clients. The book trains clinicians across multiple disciplines to feel more comfortable and confident addressing companion-related issues—both when those issues are the primary reason for seeking therapy or a critical component in better understanding, supporting, and helping clients in other clinical areas. Clinician’s Guide to Treating Animal Companion Issues uses current human-animal interactions theories as the foundation to explore pet-related issues utilizing behavioral, cognitive behavioral, family systems, humanistic, and contemporary psychodynamic therapeutic orientations. The handbook addresses the many issues that arise during the lifespan of pet owners (e.g., children, young adults, elderly), as well as issues pertinent to specific populations (e.g., men, homeless, ethnically diverse). Additional topics include the violence link, pet death and bereavement, and behavioral issues.

This is the first book to approach human-animal interactions (HAI) from a multi-theoretical perspective and is designed to provide practical guidance for counselors working to minimize the suffering and optimize the growth of their clients. For clients with companion animals, the ability to appropriately acknowledge and incorporate relevant HAI issues within therapy is paramount to successfully meeting these goals.

Key Features:

? Provides practical information for immediate use in practice

? Focuses on common issues relating to companion animals

? Addresses bereavement, attachment, behavior and more

? Includes interactive readings, case studies, and therapeutic exercises

? Contains multiple theoretical orientations (behavioral, cognitive behavioral, family systems, humanistic, and psychodynamic approaches)