AAT Competencies and Multicultural Considerations

Description

When animals enter the therapy room, everything changes. The therapeutic alliance expands into a triadic relationship, the risks and ethical responsibilities multiply, and multicultural perceptions can shape a client’s experience in unexpected ways. For clinicians incorporating Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), specialized knowledge and competencies are essential—not optional.

This self-paced online course provides foundational guidance for behavioral health professionals who want to ethically and effectively integrate therapy animals into clinical practice.

Dr. Christina Strayer—Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor, AAT Interventionist, and educator—leads this training with warmth and deep expertise. With years of experience integrating dogs, goats, birds, and even crustaceans into the therapeutic process, Dr. Strayer equips clinicians with practical tools grounded in best practices and compassion.

Her approach is holistic, client-centered, and rooted in cultural humility. She trains clinicians to view animals as active partners in care, to screen clients with intention, and to honor diverse perspectives about animals and healing.

Participants will explore the ACA and Pet Partners Core Competencies for AAT-C, key multicultural considerations for working with diverse clients, legal and ethical risks of AAT, and essential elements of the therapeutic triad. You’ll also learn how to advocate for your animal’s welfare while protecting the safety and dignity of your clients.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the core competencies: Gain clarity on the professional standards outlined by ACA and Pet Partners for ethical, effective AAT practice.

• Navigate multicultural dynamics: Learn how cultural and health considerations shape client interactions with therapy animals.

• Advocate for your co-therapist: Learn to protect your therapy animal’s physical and emotional wellbeing in clinical settings.

Why this course?

• A trusted expert guide: Dr. Strayer brings real-world experience, academic depth, and cross-species fluency to help you build a competent and ethical AAT practice.

• Essential foundations for ethical care: This course ensures you're not only confident with animals but clinically prepared for AAT's unique responsibilities.

• From a nationally respected provider: Telehealth Certification Institute offers accredited, accessible continuing education trusted by thousands of clinicians nationwide.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the ACA and Pet Partners Core Competencies for AAT-C

• Describe various ethics, laws, risks, and multi-cultural considerations that must be factored into the practice of AAT

• List the key elements of triadic relationships and being your animal’s best advocate in an AAT setting

As you consider your next steps in AAT, this course offers a thoughtful, evidence-informed foundation for deepening your work with both clients and therapy animals.

Add to cart to begin learning instantly.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. It consists of 60+ minutes of video instruction, reading assignments and written responses, a post test and an evaluation.

*This course is part of the Animal Assisted Therapy Interventionist (AAT-I) certification series and includes essential competencies required for all AAT practitioners.

Please note: Textbooks are required to complete the learning content. Reading materials are not included with course enrollment and must be purchased separately through retail booksellers. See the “Requirements” tab for specific titles.

Course Details

Requirements:

This course provides a syllabus listing its specific requirements.

1. Video Instruction
2. Reading Assignments

Textbooks are required to complete AAT-I learning content. This reading material is NOT included with course enrollment and must be purchased separately from retail booksellers, such as www.amazon.com (search title and/or author of the book).

• Fine, A.H. (2019). Animal Assisted Therapy: Theoretical Foundations and Guidelines for Practice-Fourth Edition. London, UK.
• Parish-Plass, N. (2013).  Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy Theory, Issues and Practice.  Purdue University.

3. Written Assignments demonstrate an understanding of the material. This includes responses to prompts given in an online forum and submitting reflections and research papers that vary in length in length from one paragraph to up to 4 pages. Reflections and papers require grading by the instructor.
4. A post-test is given to demonstrate understanding of the material. An 80% is required to pass and you can retake it if necessary.
5. An evaluation is required once all previous steps have been completed.  (Psychologists seeking APA hours are requested, not required, to complete the evaluation.)

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have twelve months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Dr. Christina Strayer, Ed.D, LCMHCS, AAT-I, THTC, CYT-200, NLC-P

Dr. Christina Strayer 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. 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.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of 3 continuing education hours of credit.

The AAT-I credential program is designed to provide a high level of competency, therefore, the courses requires multiple assignments in addition to the video lectures and required reading. No additional CE hours are provided for the time spent on the writing assignments.

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.

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 your licensing board would accept this course.

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 marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 3 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.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

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.

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.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 180 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.

This is a non-interactive, self-study course.

How to Complete the Course and Earn Your CEs

To receive your certificate of completion you must complete the course in its entirety.

To complete an Online Self Study Course, one must register, log in, select the My Courses option from the menu items, click the Course Title, complete all of the requirements, complete and pass the post-test(s), and complete the course evaluation.

Psychologists and other professionals seeking CE credit through our approval with the American Psychological Association are asked, but not required, to complete the course evaluation before obtaining their certificate of completion, however passing a post-test for online self-study courses, and submitting one's attendance for live on-site and live webinars is required.

You can download or print your certificate of completion by logging into your account, navigating to the course by selecting the My Courses option from the menu items, clicking the Course Title, scrolling to the Certificate of Completion section, and clicking on the Certificate of Completion link to either download it or print it.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Directions for completing a course can be found by clicking here.

How to obtain the AAT-I Credential

Hold an approved license or certification. Click here to view the full list of approved clinician types.

In order to earn the Animal Assisted Therapy Interventionist (AAT-I) Credential, you are required to complete the full program. Details and enrollment options can be found here.

The AAT-I program consists of eight online, self-paced courses that are a mix of didactic presentations, videos, articles, textbooks, and written assignments. The courses are:

1. The History of AAT and AAT Principles

2. AAT Competencies and Multicultural Considerations

3. Animals as Co-Therapists: Selection, Behavioral, and Training Considerations

4. Introduction to Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy

5. Animals as Co-Therapists: Blending Animal Interventions with a Range of Professional Theories

6. Animals as Co-Therapists: Exploring Animal-Assisted Interventions Across Professions, Settings, and Populations

7. Developing Treatment Plans and Tracking Outcomes

8. Animal-Assisted Therapy Overview and Experiential Examples

Upon completion of all 8 online courses, individuals will earn the AAT-I and can begin using the credential AAT-I.

An optional opportunity to expand your training and attend a 2-day live intensive (in North Carolina) with experiential exercises is also available. Please review the website and/or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details on this event.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement