What Clinicians Should Know Before Writing An Emotional Support Animal Letter
As clinicians, it may be jarring to have a client ask us to write them an emotional support animal letter. This isn’t a topic that is discussed in grad school (at least not the one I attended), and it can leave us feeling confused. I know when I was first asked by a client, I was genuinely confused. Was I even allowed to write these letters?
It turns out, I am!
We’re in a rather unique position as clinicians to be able to support our clients’ autonomy and desire to receive treatment that aligns with their beliefs. The client populations I have worked with that have benefited the most from ESA letters are military members and their families, survivors of sexual assault and abuse, and Indigenous populations who have a bond with animals that surpasses Eurocentric understanding of animal-human connection.
Before starting the letter-writing process for ESAs, clinicians need to be trained in understanding what they are assessing and looking for. They also need to reach out to their ethics board, as well as their malpractice insurance, to see if both agree that they can write this letter. Once a clinician knows what they are looking for, knows they are covered to provide the service, they can start incorporating this specific niche into their practice.
I was interviewed by Elizabeth “Beth” Irias, LMFT, of Clearly Clinical, to help therapists learn what to do before writing an emotional support animal letter. This including learning the difference between the four types of assisted animals: an emotional support animal, a service animal, a psychiatric service animal, and a therapy animal. When taking the course, clinicians will have access to worksheets and supplemental material I created to help understand the difference between the assisted animals, as well as what is needed in an ESA letter.
Clearly Clinical is an online behavioral health Continuing Education podcast, with an accompanying online course. Anyone with a membership can obtain CEs for this specific course, as well as access to their catalog for a variety of podcast CE episodes.
I hope that hearing this podcast will give you the guidance, support, and framework you’re looking for when taking on ESA assessing and letter writing work.
Listen to the podcast below:
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