How To Become An Animal Assisted Therapist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an animal assisted therapist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

An animal assisted therapist is a health professional who utilizes animal interactions to assist with treatment for clients struggling with certain mental or physical health issues. They often help treat clients who are having problems with anxiety, PTSD, or those in need of developing social skills.

Animal assisted therapists most often use dogs in their therapy with clients, though they might also use other animals such as cats, horses, pigs, and birds. Some own their own therapy animals, while others work with organizations to connect therapy animals with their clients.

Common tasks for this role include scheduling client sessions, assessing client's conditions, developing and coordinating care plans, performing therapy sessions with clients and animals, supervising animals during sessions, traveling to therapy session locations, and maintaining therapy training and certifications for animals used.

Animal assisted therapists must have animal-related experience, and have a deep knowledge of the strategies that may be employed during animal therapy. Other common skills include interpersonal skills, active listening, compassion, empathy, problem-solving, and communication.

All animal assisted therapists have at least a bachelor's degree in psychology, social sciences, or another related field. Although not required, some also have master's and certifications to help further their careers. Animal assisted therapy certificates are available online and at graduate-level certification.

ScoreAnimal Assisted TherapistUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,672

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.9

Growth rate 24%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.40%

Asian 8.10%

Black or African American 6.84%

Hispanic or Latino 12.64%

Unknown 4.77%

White 67.25%

Gender

female 69.32%

male 30.68%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress level

6.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.1

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an animal assisted therapist

Explore animal assisted therapist education requirements

Most common animal assisted therapist degrees

Bachelor's

53.9 %

Associate

17.8 %

High School Diploma

11.7 %

Start to develop specific animal assisted therapist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	29.90%
PET	15.21%
Patient Care	9.61%
Physical Therapy	5.12%
Behavioral Issues	4.58%

Complete relevant animal assisted therapist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New animal assisted therapists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an animal assisted therapist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real animal assisted therapist resumes.

Research animal assisted therapist duties and responsibilities

Lead aftercare/community resource groups to provide education and awareness to patients regarding post-discharge follow up.
Administer traction to relieve neck or back pain, using intermittent and static traction equipment.
Operate electrical muscle stimulation machinery, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and the neck traction machine.
Observe physical therapist while providing comprehensive education, caregiver training for family members of patients prior to discharge to ensure safety.

Prepare your animal assisted therapist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your animal assisted therapist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an animal assisted therapist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable animal assisted therapist resume templates

Build a professional animal assisted therapist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your animal assisted therapist resume.