Veterinary Social Work

Have you ever noticed how calming it is to pet an animal? Or how affirming it is to tell your dog what an awful day you’ve had and receive an outpouring of their unconditional love? There is actually a lot of science behind this. The human-animal bond has a profound impact on us, and an emerging field of social work is dedicated to understanding this bond and other aspects of the role animals play in our lives.

You may have noticed that your local veterinary office now employs a social worker, or perhaps you are seeing therapists offer more services like animal assisted interventions. These roles, and more, are part of the practice of a wider domain know as Veterinary Social Work. In Nashville alone, we are seeing this field grow by leaps and bounds each year.

The University of Tennessee launched a joint program between the College of Social Work and the College of Veterinary Medicine to train social workers in four domains related to the human-animal bond:

• animal-assisted interventions

• the link between human and animal violence

• animal-related grief and bereavement

• addressing conflict, stress, and burn-out in the practice of veterinary medicine

I’ll describe more about these sub-specialities in a series of upcoming posts aimed at illustrating all of the ways veterinary social workers can support you. If you’re a person who works with, lives with, or loves animals, chances are VSWs have something unique to offer you. Social workers who are interested in studying veterinary social work can visit the UT Veterinary Social Work page or look them up on social media @vetsocialwork.

I’m excited to share more about each sub-speciality in the coming weeks and to provide insight on topics like therapy dogs and emotional support animals. Stay tuned for more, and send me an email if there is a particular topic you’d like for me to cover.