Lots of people have family pets, but have you ever considered having an emotional support animal, ESA? Many counselors recommend emotional support animals because of how animals can assist with ongoing issues with mental health. Animals can be loyal, offer companionship, and even help your own personal routines.
How Can Pets Help Your Mental Health?
Animals offer a variety of solutions for many health issues. According to Professor of Counseling Cynthia Chandler, “These benefits include calming and relaxing, lowering anxiety, alleviating loneliness, enhancing social engagement and interaction, normalizing heart rate and blood pressure, reducing pain, reducing stress, reducing depression and increasing pleasure” (Chandler, 2015). Animals assist in combating these health issues simply by offering their nurturing company. These symbiotic relationships also tend to hold people accountable. For example, if you are feeding your pet and you are an individual who struggles with eating, this may be a perfect reminder to grab yourself something to eat as well.
How Can I Get a Certified ESA?
In order to acquire an ESA certification for your pet, you will need to see a licensed counselor and receive their recommendation with specific documentation. This documentation is typically in the form of a letter from the counselor informing who the ESA would be for, citing an emotional disability and their recommendation. There is no need to worry about having too much information regarding your disability, as the details would still remain confidential (Chandler, 2015).
It is also important to note that emotional support animals are not service animals, and there are certain federal rights that are not the same. However, having a certified ESA still allows you some rights, such as waiving pet fees for housing. If you are looking for a holistic approach to your emotional disability, trying a furry friend may be a powerful healing method!
References
Chandler, C. K. (2015, April 20). Confirming the benefits of emotional support animals. https://ct.counseling.org/2015/04/confirming-the-benefits-of-emotional-support-animals/#
