Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) 3-Day Live Intensive Program
Join us in the beautiful Outer Banks for a 3-day training event, 8:30AM-5:30PM EST Each Day
March 24-26, 2023
This course is being offered for $1600 and offers 21 CE hours.
In this experiential course at a therapy Farm, you will interact with AAT Instructors and various Farm Animals/Therapy Animals to learn about Animal Assisted Therapy and various Animal Assisted Interventions. Your Instructors will provide you with some of the foundational principles of Animal Assisted Therapy through presentations and handouts. In addition, your instructors will demonstrate Animal Assisted Interventions with various farm animals. You will then have an opportunity to practice and apply your knowledge in a live setting with the farm animals, receiving feedback and processing the experience. You will also have the opportunity to network with other professionals as you complete team-based case study activities. Our experiential intensives provide valuable tools to utilize as part of your training to become an Animal Assisted Therapy Interventionist (AAT-I). The farm setting provides an opportunity to learn AAT in a relaxed and natural setting.
Therapeutic Farm 30 Minutes From The Beach
Hosted on a non-profit therapeutic riding facility on a farm with a variety of animals including goats, a pig, a mini pony, and a herd of therapy horses! Mane and Taill (117 Buster Newbern Rd, Jarvisburg, NC)
- Identify your history and present experiences with animals, the emotions/cognitions that surface related to your history/present experience with animals and how this relates to your professional journey to become an Animal-Assisted Therapist in Counseling.
- Explain the Human-Animal Bond, the history of AAT, and the biophilia hypothesis in connection with AAT.
- Discuss the AAT-C competencies, ethics, and laws pertaining to the practice of AAT and the selection of your animal co-therapist.
- Describe key elements of the client, animal, co-therapist relationship and important multicultural considerations in AAT.
- Identify and understand various species of animals and their potential limitations in the practice of AAT, as well as the importance of animal training and animal advocacy in the practice of AAT.
- Describe the differentiation between Emotional Support Animals, Therapy Animals, and Service Animals.
- Identify the characteristics of breeds/animals you select as your co-therapist, their needs/stress signals, and how the animal best learns.
- Explain the topic of Zoonosis and its relevance to the practice of AAT.
- Report knowledge of how to effectively work as a team with a therapy animal, including training, socialization, and desensitization to the environment in which you will practice AAT.
- Explain the evolution of Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) and the differences between EFP, Therapeutic Riding, and Hippotherapy, as well as the training needed to practice EFP.
- List the reasons horses are suitable for therapy and discuss evidence-based research in the EFP field.
- Define the role of the mental health professional in EFP and any safety concerns the professional needs to be aware of in the practice of EFP.
- Explain how to match AAI’s with a variety of Counseling Theories, which can be incorporated with your theoretical orientation, and evidence-based research outcomes in the AAT field.
- Explain how AAI’s and AAT can be utilized across a variety of settings, populations, and diagnoses including, but not limited to, ADHD, Conduct Disorder, Trauma/PTSD, autism spectrum, grief/loss, substance use, depression, and anxiety.
- Explain how to secure training for Distance Counseling and how to have Animals as Co-therapists in Telementalhealth.
This course consists of 21 contact hours.
Counselors: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0048. Approval renewal date: 1/31/2026
Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations. You can check with your board to determine if this course would be accepted by your licensing board.
Social Workers: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2021 – 05/02/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 21 clinical continuing education credits.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0435. Approval renewal date: 2/28/2026
Addiction Professionals: Telehealth Certification Institute is an approved provider of continuing education by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, provider #193104. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.
Psychologists: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0128. Effective 8/31/2021 – 8/31/2024
Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists #CAT-0093. 7/21/2021 – 7/31/2024
Other Professionals: This course qualifies for 1260 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements
Course Instructor
Dr. Christina Strayer,
Lead Instructor
Ed.D, LCMHCS, AAT-I, CCTP, THTC, CYT-200
Dr. Christina Strayer, Ed.D, LCMHCS, LCAS-A, AAT-I, CCTP, THTC, CYT-200 is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Supervisor, Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist-Associate, Pet Partner Team Evaluator, Animal Assisted Therapist-Interventionist and Life Coach with her coaching practice Energy Coaching with Horses and Others (E.C.H.O.) in North Carolina. Her private practice is Animal Assisted Therapy of the Triangle. She is trained in a variety of Integrative Therapies including Art, Yoga and Mindfulness. Her theoretical approach is Client-centered and Holistic. Along with her mini goats, avian, equine, canine and crustacean helpers, Christina combines her study of the power of the Human and Animal Bond in healing with proven counseling theories and techniques to guide clients in reaching their goals.
She has a diverse background in counseling and teaching. She is the Lead Instructor for the Animal Assisted Therapy Interventionist (AAT-I) certification course. She has served as an adjunct professor at Campbell University in the Counselor Education department. She has traveled and conducted AAT seminars for PESI, a national continuing education organization and conducts Seminars/Workshops/Groups locally on a variety of Mental Health/Wellness topics. She primarily works in the areas of PTSD, Panic Disorder, Crisis Intervention, Compassion Fatigue, Stress, Trauma, Grief and Loss, Anxiety, Addictions, Depression, Goal setting, Consultation, Self-Esteem, Conflict resolution, Social Skills, Team Building and Life Balance/Transitions.
Christina graduated from the Doctoral program in Counselor Education and Supervision through Argosy University in Sarasota, FL. She obtained both a Master of Science in Counseling and Human Development with a concentration in K-12 School Counseling and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Radford University in Radford, Virginia. She completed her Doctoral dissertation in AAT with Dooli, a rescue English Bulldog/Boxer mix, who was a dear family member and a beloved therapy dog to many over the years.
Earn your Animal Assisted Therapy - Interventionist (AAT-I) Credential
By ALSO completing the AAT-I online course bundle, you can earn your AAT-I credential.
The AAT course bundle consists of 7 courses providing 64 total CE hours for an investment of $1800.
The Animal Assisted Therapy Interventionist Credential (AAT-I) is a distinction awarded to qualified clinicians who have successfully completed the comprehensive AAT-I program.
The AAT-I International Program consists of a series of seven online, self-paced courses and an in-person 3-day experiential intensive (virtual/remote options for the intensive are under development) which, provides professionals with in-depth theoretical knowledge regarding the practice of animal-assisted therapy across a variety of settings with various populations. This combination of the online courses and the experiential learning course allows professionals to apply and practice their knowledge gained through the online courses in a live setting with a variety of therapy animals, receiving feedback and processing the experience to gain their AAT-I credential. The experiential intensive is held in a variety of farm and nature settings to help professionals understand the breadth and depth of location options to practice AAT.
The AAT-I program is designed for licensed/certified professionals to learn how to utilize Animal-Assisted Interventions ethically and intentionally per the American Counseling Association’s AAT-C Competency Requirements. This program is developed by an instructor with a Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision, as well as a practicing Animal-Assisted Therapist with almost two decades of experience. The program content has been reviewed by an advisory board of relevant professionals (e.g. LPC’s, LCSW’s) to ensure quality and relevance to a breadth of professionals seeking AAT certification and/or CEU’s. Your instructors believe in the evidence-based healing power of the human-animal bond. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA, 2018), “The human-animal bond is a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors that are essential to the health and well-being of both. This includes, but is not limited to, emotional, psychological, and physical interactions of people, animals, and the environment.” This program teaches you how to be co-therapists in a triadic relationship with animals in a variety of settings to accelerate growth and transformation via the mind, body, spirit connection.
