Professional Speaking Engagement

Professional development presentations for employees in fields such as occupational therapy, psychology, speech-language pathology, social work, education, physical therapy, counseling, etc. 
Participants will explore how one creates an animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and/or animal-assisted education (AAE)  program within an existing educational and/or healthcare environment, with a focus on dogs. The session will be tailored to your discipline, population served, and interests, and include current evidence from the literature on animal-assisted interventions. You may opt to have an experienced therapy dog present.

Topics include:

--Industry standards for animal-assisted intervention professionals, including formal certification
--Procedures for selecting and training an animal for AAT or AAE
--Assessment of professional therapy dog/handler teams
--Becoming a professional therapy animal/handler team
-- Space/environmental needs, rest and exercise guidelines
--Triangle and diamond models of service provision (the choice to include volunteers or not)
--Examples of AAT and AAE in settings such as schools, hospitals, and clinics
-- Safety considerations and liability insurance
-- Animal and human welfare

Tilly’s Place is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Occupational Therapy as an approved provider of continuing competency for occupational therapists and occupational therapist assistants.