Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Guide For Professional Counselors, School Counselors, Social Workers, And Educators [Paperback]

Lynda King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

This book will provide the reader with a well rounded understanding of animal-assisted therapy, or "pet therapy." Animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic tool that is used to faciliate the client's treatment and recovery process. Some of the people who will benefit from reading this book include counselors, school counselors, social workers, educators, students, and anyone interested in animal-assisted therapy. Teachers may implement this book in their instructional materials. Authors, books, journals, articles, and resources have been consolidated into a descriptive designed graduate level thesis. There is a detailed table of contents that will allow the reader to quickly access the section he or she is looking for. A glossary consisting of animal-assisted therapy topics is provided. This book reads easily and will engage the reader. Ways to integrate land and marine mammals into the client's treatment will be shown, as well as kinds of land and marine mammals to be utilized. Animal-assisted therapy may be utilized with many clinical diagnoses and therapeutic issues. There are many types of facilities that may benefit from animal-assisted therapy. Examples and further explanation will be given addressing these topics. Basic tenets, ethical issues, and certification will be explained. Within the helping professions, ethics are vital and certification has become mandatory in many states. The needs of the client, the clinician, and the animal will be discussed. Benefits of animal-assisted therapy will be included.Resources that will facilitate the implementation of animal-assisted therapy will be shown. The reader who would like to pursue animal-assisted therapy in further detail will be given additional resources. The goal of this descriptive designed graduate level thesis was to consolidate many good works into one book. As time advances, the material presented in this book will continue to be useful.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynda M. King went to Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. She completed an experimental psychology project on the interaction between humans and the guinea pig, implementing her guinea pig Browny. She completed internships at an elementary school, nursing home, and mental health center. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.Ms. King attended graduate school at Ottawa University, in Phoenix, Arizona. She completed a Master's research project that compiled several good authors and animal-assisted therapy topics into one book. Ms. King interned at a domestic violence shelter and at an adolescent residential treatment center. She graduated from Ottawa University with a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling, and obtained licensure in the state of Arizona in 2004. Ms. King worked as a therapist at a mental health center in Arizona. She worked with children, adolescents, and adults. She incorporated her Holland Lop rabbit, named Cody, into the counseling sessions. A child who was working on issues of both defiance and hygiene related well to Cody. Cody purposely tipped over his water bowl. The child appeared amazed when Ms. King corrected Cody appropriately. Cody would display acts of good hygiene, and the child would observe him. Cody also served as a positive reward system when the child had appropriate behavior. Ms. King was able to correlate Cody's behavior with the children's behavior and incorporate animal-assisted therapy into their treatment goals. In 2006, Ms. King and Cody obtained certification through the Animals Benefit Club of Arizona/Pet Partners Delta Society and are now a registered pet partner's team. Ms. King has always had affection for marine and land animals. Ms. King especially enjoys dolphins, and participated in the "Trainer for a Day" program at SeaWorld in San Diego, California. Lynda King can be contacted at [e-mail] or at [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420886622
• ISBN-13: 978-1420886627
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #941,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time, May 29, 2008

By 

Trixie "Trixie" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Guide For Professional Counselors, School Counselors, Social Workers, And Educators (Paperback)

This book is not only extremely short with minimal information, it has illustrations that look like they were drawn by a nine year old. The cover picture of the puppy and kitten are clearly photoshopped (badly as well.) The only redeeming qulaities about this book are one or two cute anecdotes. It seems as though it was a college paper published on the basics of AAT. You can get much better and more information in other books. I reccomend Cynthia Chandler's Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Title is misleading, May 8, 2008

By 

K. Jennings "AAT Practitioner" (Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Guide For Professional Counselors, School Counselors, Social Workers, And Educators (Paperback)

This is a Master's research project masquerading as a guide book. You could find more information on AAT by surfing the Web. A waste of time and money, in my opinion.