What is Veterinary Social Work?

Introduction

When a professional colleague learned I was completing my Veterinary Social Work Certificate they asked, “So, what is it that you do with the certification?” I hesitated in my response, not because I was unsure how to answer the question, rather, how much time did I have to explain. One answer might be, as a certified Equine Therapist I work with horses which serve as a therapeutic intervention with clients who have experienced grief and loss, addiction, trauma, or a number of other behavioral health problems. But that answer would be insufficient, a Veterinary Social Worker, like the Social Work profession, is a broad category that encompasses so much more.

This article will explore Veterinary Social Work as a subspecialty of Social Work.

What is Veterinary Social Work?

The Founder and Director of the Veterinary Social Work program at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Elizabeth Strand, Ph.D., defines Veterinary Social Work as “an area of social work practice that attends to the human needs that arise in the intersection of veterinary medicine and social work practice.” [1] Veterinary Social Work encompasses four distinct categories beyond using animals as a therapeutic intervention.

• Animal Assisted Interactions

• Compassion Fatigue

• Animal Related Grief and Bereavement

• Link between Human and Animal Violence

The Four Areas of Veterinary Social Work

Animal-Assisted Interactions

The use of animal-assisted interactions includes the use of animals for persons with limited mobility, guide assistance for persons who are blind, emotional support, and mental health challenges. For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on the use of animals in animal-assisted interventions (AAI). AAI has a long history dating to the WW-II in the U.S. with one of the earliest examples occurring with U.S. Airforce Veterans, and continuing in the 1960’s and 70’s with Levinson’s work as a psychologist to the present day. [2-3]

Intentional Well-being

 In a previous MentorVet article, Compassion Fatigue in Veterinary Medicine, we discussed compassion fatigue or secondary traumatic stress to describe feelings of fatigue and job stress in healthcare professions, including veterinary medicine and animal shelter medicine.

Compassion fatigue in veterinary medicine presents itself in different ways. With euthanasia being more commonplace in both veterinary medicine and shelter medicine, feelings of guilt or blame, grief, anxiety, and conflict are likely to arise. The role of a Veterinary Social Worker takes on a different role than with AAT. Here the social worker is interacting directly with the veterinarian and the staff by teaching stress and conflict management skills and helping to identify practice changes if needed.

Grief & Pet Loss

In a recent MentorVet article, Understanding Grief in Veterinary Medicine, we discussed some of the challenges companion owners have with the loss of a pet. The Veterinary Social Worker takes on a more direct role with companion animal owners. For example, during the clinical encounter between the companion animal owner and the veterinarian, you may be asked to:

• Help support the companion owner during diagnostic testing and treatment;

• Help the companion as they are making difficult healthcare decisions;

• Offer assistance during euthanasia or the natural death of the companion animal;

• Offer psychotherapeutic services in the form of individual or family therapy; or,

• Form a pet loss support group.

The Link Between Human & Animal Violence

There is a link between human violence (child abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse) and animal abuse which predates Biblical times to more recently being added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1988. [4] A veterinary social worker may address animal hoarding and animal fighting through the appropriate social work interventions on both a macro and micro levels.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned a Veterinary Social Worker is a highly specialized and trained professional who works in various capacities supporting veterinary medicine, including animal shelter veterinarians. A VSW may find themselves working with veterinarians and their staff experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue or animal companion owners experiencing loss and/or grief.

 If anyone is interested in learning more, please click on this link: Veterinary Social Work Certificate offered by the University of Tennessee.

Endnote

[1] University of Tennessee. Veterinary Social Work: About Us. https://vetsocialwork.utk.edu/about-us/Accessed August 15, 2022.

[2] Netting FE, Wilson CC, New JC. The human-animal bond: Implications for practice. Social Work. 1987;32(1):60-64. doi: 0.1093/sw/32.1.60.

[3] Fine AH, Beck AM. Understanding our kinship with animals: Input for health care professionals interested in the human-animal bond. In Fine AH, ed. Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy: Foundations and Guidelines for Animal-Assisted Interventions. London: Elsevier; 2015:3-10.

[4] Unti B. Cruelty indivisible: Historical perspectives on the link between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence. In: Ascione F, ed. The International Handbook of Animal Abuse and Cruelty: Theory, Research, and Application. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University; 2008:7-30.