The Healing Power of Emotional Support Animals: An Encore Episode

Dive into the transformative world of Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) with Erin and Tanya in this enlightening episode. 

Discover the profound impact of therapy animals on mental health journeys, from reducing stress to boosting self-esteem. 

Explore the unique roles of ESAs and Service Animals, uncovering insights into equine-assisted therapy and the magic of therapy cats and rabbits. 

Gain clarity on legal distinctions and regulations while hearing heartwarming anecdotes that highlight the powerful connection between humans and their furry companions. 

Don't miss this engaging conversation that unveils the healing potential of Emotional Support Animals in mental health therapy.

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Transcript

0:00

Hi, welcome to Wicked Psychotherapist. This is Erin Gray. Today's episode, we are going to have a re release of an episode we did a few months ago about emotional support animals. Tanya and I thought it would be a great time for a re release because April 11th is National Pet Day. In the episode, we talk about Emotional support animals, and we just thought it would be a fun tie in. We hope you enjoy the episode and let us know what you think. Enjoy.

Tanya: 0:30

You are listening to Wicked Psychotherapists, a podcast where two psychotherapists show you that taking care of and learning about mental health doesn't have to be wicked hard. Hi everyone. This is Tanya. Hi, this is Erin, and we are the Wicked Psychotherapists. If you are new here, welcome, and if you've been listening, welcome back. We have a fun topic today. I think we could just jump right into it. What are we talking about today, Erin? We talked

erin: 1:17

during our question and answer how we both love animals and how we're really big animal lovers. And we thought it'd be fun and interesting to discuss animal therapy or service animals and some of the ins and

Tanya: 1:28

outs. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it really kind of sparked up this, you know, do people really understand animal assisted therapy and what are the differences between a commonly asked question that I think we probably both get and we hear about a lot, which is service animals versus emotional support. animals, and we just wanted to talk about that, make some distinctions, and talk about some personal anecdotes. The first thing that we wanted to get into is that difference in emotional support animals versus service animals, and I'm going to talk a little bit about service animal, and then we'll get into that. How that differs from an emotional support animal. A service animal is something that I don't want to say is a little more official, but it is a little bit more official in terms of regulations for what would be considered a service animal. It is something that's protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA. So, it's any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual. Or other mental disability. That's the official definition of a service animal. And service animals are protected if they are officially, in that capacity, deemed a service animal. To go to different places and be able to attend those places and go with their owner. Two different public outings, public places like hotels, go on airplanes, restaurants, any place with a public gathering, basically. They're protected under that. There is an exception to that. It's not just easy access all across the board. It's not just something where a restaurant is just like, oh, we don't want that dog here, kind of thing. It is something that is protected there, but however, if I don't know, I'm trying to think of an example of say, if the dog is seemingly very aggressive, is like foaming at the mouth and they have reason to believe that the dog will bite someone or the animal will bite someone, that could be a likelihood for denying the entrance to that place. Similarly, if it were like going on a flight, that would have to be something that would be considered a reasonable accommodation. However, if there is something that a service animal has noticeable, I don't know, fleas or something, and there's like a public health. Risk or something that might be something that they could deny depending on the public place that is accepting the animal or not. So that's kind of a matter of judgment and seeing that for each place for themselves. But emotional support animals are different. I think this is probably something that we come into contact with a lot more for requests and everything. What is an emotional support animal?

erin: 4:09

An emotional support animal is any animal that provides emotional support. Alleviating one or more of the symptoms or effects of a person's disability. This is the official diagnosis. Definition. Definition. And emotional support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities. Emotional support animals are not limited to dogs, which is different than what Tanya was saying. While emotional support animals are not protected under the ADA, They may represent reasonable accommodations under the federal housing. So some people may be allowed with a letter or some other information to their apartment or their house, say, where they rent or where they live. If they need permission to have an animal, they sometimes will get a letter from their doctor or someone saying that they need it.

Tanya: 5:02

Or even, I guess, us too, you know, in terms of, I've had, I know you said you've had clients that have requested that. And it is something that. There is not so much regulation on the actual writing of letters unless you are working for an organization and they have a stance on that, they may say, no, you can't do that, but as clinicians, it's up to our own personal judgment, unless there are particular laws or different stipulations in your state, because it is different per state and it's still in this influx mode being regulated to who can write them, what is in the letters. Emotional support animals are very different from service animals because institutions or places, public places, don't have to recognize the legitimacy of it. Even if you have a letter from your MD, from us, even if they are saying we may allow emotional support animals, however, it's up to their own discretion, their own judgment. Well, there's

erin: 5:58

also a big difference with emotional support animals and service animals where service animals have extensive training for both the animal and the handler, and that is something different with emotional support animals. There typically isn't training for the animal or the owner of the animal.

Tanya: 6:16

Yeah, that's for sure. I'm not 100 percent certain, but I believe I was reading about some service animals usually trained through official organizations. Say, for example, if someone has a service animal because they are visually impaired and learn certain tasks such as guiding and retrieving and various other commands that would be helpful to that person. So that by the time they are in the owner's care, they would be able to say, okay, we can start to work together as a team. But they already have some of those commands and understandings. I don't want to say tricks because I don't think they're tricks. They're more like commands and training for them. Something that is to help with part of that person's everyday life. Right. And not to say that emotional support animals are not a part of that person's life, but it is not something, to be clear, it's not something that is protected by the ADA. It's not regulated by anything. Instead, it, just like Erin had said, that possible protection through HUD or the housing authority. And even then, that differs state to state, that also differs in terms of what type of housing it is. So it's not necessarily guaranteed. Right. Absolutely. Right. And I think a lot

erin: 7:28

of times people think if they have the letter from their therapist or doctor, they'll automatically be allowed to have their animal because it's an emotional support animal, but each apartment or housing has the right to say yes or no, if it's a emotional support animal.

Tanya: 7:43

Yeah, I have gotten requests from clients and even if they were going into HUD housing, the letter has to be formatted in a particular way. Certain things need to be included. Your client has to sign off on a release. For For that, it has to be stipulated as only something that is for that particular purpose for housing. And still they can choose to deny it. It does have some protections under the Federal Housing Administration, but again, that's more on a case by case basis. And it depends on where you're located and what the housing is. Like Erin was saying, if we get a request for that, it's not necessarily something that A, they have to recognize or B, that we necessarily even have to, depending on what our policies are, whether it's through a private practice or through different organizations that we may work for. That's a key distinction. That's something we get a lot of questions about. I hear about a lot. People mix up service animals versus emotional support animals. I heard

erin: 8:41

Tanya mention, you might not always be allowed to go into a restaurant or have your animal go on a flight, where if they, they're service animals,

Tanya: 8:49

they would be. Yeah, it would definitely be an approved thing unless they're deemed a threat to public safety. I would think that would have to be something that is very apparent and very, you know, kind of threatening, obviously threatening to around. So let's move on to, sorry, go ahead. I'm sorry, I was

erin: 9:07

just getting the giggles. I was just. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I was just picturing, like, all these

Tanya: 9:12

attack service animals. Yeah, and, you know, I actually don't know, are service animals only dogs? Is that the only recognition? I actually don't know. There's a couple of

erin: 9:21

places I've heard of, and usually it's dogs. I mean, I know for emotional support and therapy assisted, which we're going to talk about in a, in a little bit, it's other animals. But, um, I have only ever heard of service animals that are dogs, but I could be, I could be, I could be wronged. And if we are wrong, please let us know. I know I have, I have only heard of dogs that are specifically service that have been trained for their

Tanya: 9:48

job. Yeah, me too. I just was curious. I wasn't really sure. Well, let's move on to some of the benefits of animal assisted therapy and having animals in therapy. So, kind of a part of the therapy process. So, these types of animals that would be animal assisted therapy, it would be labeled as that. Some people may have had, you know, that are listening may have had therapists that there's an office where they go into and there's, The office therapy dog, that is not a service dog. It's not to say that it's not right. It's not to say that this is an emotional support animal. Although I would think it probably would qualify as a good candidate if you're having the animal in the office and seeing as how that's not an official title, really an emotional support animal, it's not like an official kind of thing that's regulated by anything, they would probably fall under more of the emotional support animal if they're in the office. What are some of the benefits that we can see from animal assisted therapy? It's

erin: 10:44

been reported improved heart health. They say that petting an animal, it doesn't matter if it's a dog, a cat, a bunny, it could affect your heart rate and blood pressure by lowering it and also can help release endorphins. So this can help your heart, which is a

Tanya: 10:59

really great benefit. Yeah, for sure. Gets that kind of decreased hormone levels and stress relievers, those cortisol hormones, and gets people feeling better. How many times have

erin: 11:10

you had a stressful time and you're hugging Lucy? I know if I'm stressed, sometimes I'm like, okay, let me pet Paige so I can understand why they say it hasn't breaked

Tanya: 11:19

heart health. Daily. Daily, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I would also say it gives people maybe a sense of purpose, feeling like they have a connection, there's someone that misses them, someone that they have a bond with, that's a huge thing. Creating connections, being able to feel like there is that interaction with another being, another creature, that's huge. And, you know, connection is huge in mental health for stability.

erin: 11:46

It's also really good with a given sense of purpose when I know when I've had clients and are heightened anxiety or in a sense of depression, having that animal that you have to take care of really seems to help them have that sense of purpose. I've, I have to walk my dog or I need to make sure I fed my cat or whatever the tasks are. It really helps because sometimes people might neglect their needs, but taking care of the animal will help them in multitude

Tanya: 12:12

of ways. Yeah, kind of keeping up a routine and, you know, that can be big if you're experiencing depression, you know, or overwhelming stress, kind of getting back to a routine and keeping somebody maybe held to that and saying, Oh, well, there's this little creature that depends on me. It gives more of an incentive to doing that. So, yeah, absolutely.

erin: 12:31

So also another benefit of having animals or having animals in therapy or emotional support animals that can help create a happy environment. As we mentioned earlier, just even petting your animal can have a common effect. I know whenever I go anywhere or come back inside and all of a sudden Paige is super excited to see me. It's very fun to be treated like you're the celebrity or someone very exciting for them. And it's, it definitely a happy experience that can create a happy environment for people having an animal.

Tanya: 13:04

For sure. Yeah, absolutely. I also think there's the overall creation of a relationship, right? It's a reduction of loneliness for some people, whether you're seeing the animal. In the office, you're also getting that companionship of an animal that loves you unconditionally. It reduces kind of loneliness. Or if you have a pet yourself, you have that relationship with you that doesn't hold stipulations toward, well, this animal is mad at me, or I have to think about this or that there's just kind of that unconditional love. So it really does reduce. I think loneliness and creates a feeling of better relationships overall, if you have something happen, like you get a scary diagnosis or if you figure out something in your life is changing, if you lose your job, you know, animals and therapy can be used to kind of soften the blow a little bit because you still have, it's a stability factor, you know, it's still there. Yeah, and so those are definite benefits

erin: 13:59

towards that. Yes, and I think another one, this might be a good one, as therapists, and also that we always try to help other clients is to help improve their self esteem. So having animals can help your self confidence, and as we mentioned earlier, going out more, having a sense of independence, and being productive, taking care of someone else, or something else, can really be empowering, and that can help people. Your self esteem, there's a lot of benefits for having an animal that you have as your pet, but also maybe as part of your therapy practice that can be very

Tanya: 14:35

therapeutic. Yeah, for sure. And I think there's a lot of studies out there, you know, showing that the, the healing and the wellness benefits of animal that really push that feeling of, okay, well, this can really help out my, my client, my patient. And so I think the effects are, you can't dispute them, right? They're there. Okay. So, well, let's move on to, this is a really kind of fun point and a point that I think we, we weren't really anticipating some of these things in the research, but what are some of the animals that can be used for animal assisted therapies? And there's, it's more than just dogs, actually. We thought we'd get into that and kind of discuss some of the animals that can be used for animal assisted therapies. Okay. Great. Thank you. The first one, therapy dogs, I think we all know that those, certainly the dogs that would be in office would have a friendly demeanor, a calming demeanor, those would hopefully be chosen, right? You know, that's kind of the ideal, right? You know, they, they give unconditional love. There's, something towards even just the motion of petting a dog and, you know, seeing their reaction to it, the way they, they lick you, or they just kind of, you know, give you that look of they're connecting with you, bonding with you and dogs can calm and relax people. I do think that it does say that larger breeds such as like Labradors and golden retrievers are most often seen as therapy dogs, probably because of their friendly demeanor, their calm demeanor in their breeds. So I think. Breeds tend to be a big consideration, of course, in, as well as individual temperament because you certainly can have, I don't know, a rowdy Labrador or something, you know, that would be too kind of, I guess, overwhelming for some clients. Yeah. The

erin: 16:14

tail might, the tail might hit you

Tanya: 16:16

a lot. You know, it might bother some clients and I think that if, you know, there might be some people who are not a fan of dogs, right? If you are in an office, I think it's of course different if you have a dog like Paige who is doing the telehealth therapy with you. She's just sitting there quietly providing a nice presence that can be added in. You can like turn the camera over if, you know, clients are interested and they just kind of want to see what she's doing. But if you're actually in an office setting, some people may be afraid of dogs, right? There may be some people that have

erin: 16:47

that. Yeah, especially Paige, she's a Doberman. So I think some people get that instant fear because she is a big dog and they have that reputation.

Tanya: 16:56

Yeah, that's a big consideration of the temperament. I think it's important to have a discussion with your client and to ask if that is okay because you really don't know how someone feels about that. The dog in the office and they may have fears or they may just not really care for the dog. Right. Or it may be activating them in different ways that maybe therapist isn't aware of. They would have that conversation though. I do know just as a personal aside, when I was growing up, I was afraid of dogs. I was definitely afraid of them because in my neighborhood, we had some just, I don't know, like very untrained dogs, dogs that if they were let off their chains in the backyard and grew up in the best neighborhood that they would, you know, I mean, they would attack people, you know, so I always thought that was like my approach or my, not my approach, my introduction to dogs. So I thought dogs were all like that. And then as I got older, I got to realize, oh, wait, most dogs are not at all. So when I was younger, if I had gone to therapy, I mean, I would have been deathly afraid if someone had. Yeah, that

erin: 17:52

would have been really traumatizing for you. It would be re triggering your fear every time you went

Tanya: 17:58

to your therapist. How horrible. Yeah. Yeah. And what if you, you know, your parent was making you go to therapy and then it was actually making things worse. I mean, there's, there's a lot of considerations with animals in general in, in animal assisted therapy, but I'm just saying for, for dogs, you know, that's just kind of what we're focused on. But of course there are other ones.

erin: 18:16

Yeah. So another emotional support or therapy animal is horses. So obviously horses are a lot larger than dogs, so you can't have them inside the office. They're not going to jump on the couch. And a lot of times they'll have facilities that help people with addiction, with trauma. A lot of times they'll do veteran groups or veterans will utilize equine assisted therapy. It's usually facilitated by a licensed therapist or other people who have extensive training. A lot of times they'll groom the horse, they'll walk with it, talk with it, and it'll be part of their therapy. It's more of an outside, almost like a walk and talking therapy. Some people do, but with a horse, which sounds like it'd be very Nice. Well, especially if you like horses or maybe if you haven't been exposed to them before, it's probably a really nice way to be exposed to something so large and realize how gentle

Tanya: 19:13

they can be. Yeah, horses are very empathic. They're, they sense human emotions and they can mimic human emotions very well, which makes them such a great candidate for that. I got to say that was another animal that I just didn't have experience with horses at all growing up. And I would imagine that would be nerve wracking to go here and be like, Oh, this big animal. And then to realize how gentle and empathic they are was, it would be. Really great and really therapeutic. Yeah. It's funny. I used to

erin: 19:40

always ride horses to the trail rides and stuff. And my kids did horseback riding when they were little and found out that I developed a fear of horses. And so that, yeah, it was like having them go for the lessons. I would help them groom the horses because that was part of before they'd get ready. So then I started to realize like, okay, I really like horses and they're really beautiful. So then that helped me get over my fear of them a little bit, just by helping them groom it and going each Saturday or whenever they did their lessons was very therapeutic for myself, just doing that, just helping me get over my fear because they

Tanya: 20:15

are huge, they're huge. Yeah, they definitely can. It can be intimidating. Yeah. For sure. Well, that's, that's, that's good. I mean, that's a really good point to keep in mind. You know, along with all, this is a less obvious choice, and this one makes me really laugh, but we do have therapy cats. Mm hmm. So, I know some people are not big fans of cats. I often hear people are like, ah, I hate cats, they're, you know, this or that. I love cats. Me too. I think they're great. But cats can be a good, a good choice. You know, and again, depending on temperament, depending on allergies, I think that can be a big thing. A lot of times. They can be a good choice in group settings, like nursing homes or doctor's offices. Like at my vet office, there is a therapy cat that kind of just, you know, is there for calming, I think more the owners, you know, in terms of they're bringing in their animals and they're kind of distressed. And so I think just seeing the cat there just kind of calmly watching, I get to pet the cat. It's very nice. I find that very soothing. And cats can learn to walk on a leash, depending, again, on the individual temperament. Some cats will not have that, but it may be, you know, some cats may be kind of trainable, is basically what I'm saying. Yeah. That one's really kind of dependent on the environment and the type of cat that you have. Yeah. I mean,

erin: 21:25

I would be very happy if my therapist had a therapy cat. Me too. The next animal is, one of my favorite animals, is rabbits. I absolutely love bunnies. I love all animals, but something about bunnies are just the cutest. So sometimes when a quiet therapy animal is needed, a rabbit might be really good. I'm picturing like a floppy eared bunny with a child or someone like that, or maybe an elderly person or someone who has high anxiety. Bunnies are just usually very mild tempered, and they say that the rabbit or bunny needs to be calm, socialized, and used to being handled by people. And oftentimes, if they're trained on a harness or a leash, even better. And it is possible to do that. I had a bunny growing up that I trained to walk on a leash. Oh, really? Yes. I am a big nerd. But yes, I did teach him to, I can't imagine what a dork I am. This is in middle school, and I would. Walk my bunny around the neighborhood. I had a dog and cats, but I would, I would take my

Tanya: 22:23

bunny for a walk. There's the girl that she takes her bunny for a walk. I think people probably like that. Let's, let's

erin: 22:30

not be friends with her.

Tanya: 22:34

Or let's be friends with her. I don't know. Again, it depends on your, your human temperament. I don't know. It's true. But you know, again, rabbits, it depends on their, their temperament, if they're litter box trained or whatever and stuff like that. But well socialized, but it all depends on if it fits the setting and the individual animal that can fit your practice or you have to be aware of the liability of it, right? You do have an animal that will be interacting with the public and knowing that. So those are just the things Some consideration as well as who's going to look after the animal throughout the day if you're all working and in terms of if it's in person, right? Right. And what if someone is very scared of that animal? What can you do? Can you have a place to put them? I think we kind of discussed some personal examples that we had, but are there any other experiences that you have as a therapist or going to therapy thing? Well,

erin: 23:25

I've been exposed to equine therapy actually in two different realms. I used to work for people with disabilities and there was a place near where I live that would help the people learn how to ride. And it was a place that had equine therapy and it was very great for people with disabilities. And there's also a place near me that has equine therapy. They actually do a Halloween thing usually each year. So that's how I was introduced to it, but they do therapy for veterans and people with PTSD, teenagers, they do group therapy, it seems pretty neat. We go for the candy and seeing the horses dressed up for Halloween, it's fun. Yeah. And it helps that it's a non profit and you can donate money to the non profit. I'm familiar with a lot of therapists bringing animals, and of course I have Paige here, but it's virtual, so it's

Tanya: 24:20

not A little different, but still effective. Yeah, it's

erin: 24:22

a little different. Yeah, how about you? Have you ever used a dog in therapy or seen

Tanya: 24:27

it work? I have not. I've worked at an office where somebody brought in their dog and said it was kind of the office emotional support animal or that type of thing. That's awesome. He was nice. He was cool. We just, we had to be aware if kids did not want that option and we would have a place to put the dog. I've been to some trainings with equine therapy and primarily equine therapy, but it was two different farms that I've been to where they had a bunch of different animals, but primarily equine therapy. And I just thought it was amazing. The people that do this and the work that they do and seeing how it works. The population was primarily children. So I just thought it was really great and a little known fact I learned I just remembered was that horses can actually feel and sense a human's heartbeat up to, I think it's five to ten feet or something. Wow. That's how in tune they are with, like, kind of. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah, and that's probably why they

erin: 25:25

always say horses know

Tanya: 25:26

which people to approach. Yeah, and I think there's a similar, maybe not exactly the same, but a similar kind of mechanism involved with other animals that are intuitive, like dogs, you know, they run up to certain people or if they growl at certain people, they may be sensing, it may not be that the person is terrible if they're growling at them, but it may just be that they're sensing their fear or, you know, other factors, like maybe they don't really like dogs too much. My husband is a person who, if there's a dog around, it will come up to him and it will, like, literally, we just, we went on a motorcycle ride yesterday and there was a dog and he was saying, Oh, look at that dog. And the dog just like, almost like it was speaking, it heard him, or I want to say he, he heard him and, and he just went right up to him and there were five of us and he was the only one that he wouldn't. Wow, that's

erin: 26:13

amazing. So he's very in tune

Tanya: 26:14

with dogs. Yeah, they love him. They love him. My Lucy is, she is a daddy's girl. She loves me, but that's her number one. It's her daddy. Yeah, that's for sure. So animal assisted therapy is recognizing the differences with emotional support animals and service animals. It's all good stuff to know about and we just thought this would be really good just to kind of put out there just so that people are aware of some of these things that maybe are not really distinguished and we can kind of clarify that but then we can also bring up some fun things. about therapy, like a, like a therapy rabbit, because Erin likes to walk rabbits on a leash. So, you

erin: 26:48

know, I still probably would if I had some, I can't

Tanya: 26:52

convince my husband. Well, you guys will, we'll come up with that ad to your farm. Yeah. Many animals, but this was, this was fun. And we hope that you guys continue to listen to us and we hope that you follow us on Instagram. It is at Wicked Psychotherapist, and if you could subscribe and write us a review, it helps out a lot. We would really, really appreciate it. So don't forget to stay wicked. And keep your mind well. All right. Take care, guys. Bye.

erin: 27:25

Bye

Tanya: 27:26

bye. I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm going to do it anyway.