ABSTRACT
I became interested in CAP after adopting a yellow Labrador named Paisley. Having completed my bachelor and master’s degrees in clinical psychology, I was working as a psychotherapist while finishing my doctoral program and didn’t want to leave her home every day. My employer let her come to work with me while she was going through Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dogs International training, and it quickly became evident that Paisley’s temperament and intuition made her a valuable addition to psychotherapy sessions. After an early career in community mental health, I moved into private practice, where Paisley and I worked together for almost a decade before she retired. Today, my group psychotherapy practice has four associates and one therapy dog in training, Paisley’s great-grandnephew Bodhi.
