ABSTRACT
This chapter will explore the emerging field of Animal Assisted Play Therapy® (AAPT), which fully integrates play therapy, animal-assisted therapy, animal science, ethology, and ethics with a number of other contributory fields. The chapter will describe how this is different from other interventions, why it is of great value to children and families and even older clients, the competencies required of practitioners, research on the method to date, and examples of the breadth and depth it offers to mental health practice. The importance of the human-animal relationships as well as the therapeutic relationship is emphasized, along with full attention to animal welfare and well-being. The chapter will discuss the involvement of dogs, horses, and cats in this work.
