International Institute for Animal Assisted Play Therapy

TWO NEW ONLINE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES NOW AVAILABLE! 1. As discussed recently in my Animal Assisted Play Therapy group (where I shared an example), and thanks... to the response to the idea, I've now scheduled the Therapeutic Writing By Animals webinar. It'll be held May 20 and May 25 for 2-3 hours each day. See the link below and in the first comment to see the full flyer! 2. The Proceedings from our very successful International Animal Assisted Play Therapy Virtual Conference are now available to purchase, and optional CE credits will be available. The link below and in the first comment takes you to a description where you can download the full flyer for the Proceedings (recorded). REGISTRATION LINK: https://risevanfleet.com/sh/product-category/onlinecourses/

The inaugural International Animal Assisted Play Therapy Virtual Conference is a wrap. 3 days with 12 presentations showing the rigor, uniqueness, and power o...f AAPT, along with a heavy and equal focus on animal well-being. Thank you to our wonderful presenters: Jacque George , Cyndie Brashear Kieffer, Tara Moser, Marina Gates Fleming (keynote), Sheli Brown, Lisa Evans, Lisa Mink McGowan, Teri Holamon, Jodi Smith, Tracie J Faa-thompson (and me). It was exciting to hear the varied presentations by people certified in AAPT showing the flexibility, consistency, value, and potential of the approach. It was a lot of work by all, and my Zoom skills didn't go too far astray to keep it rolling. I'm tired but very pleased. We sold out with 200. Over 100 in attendance at the live conference for 5 hours each on the last 3 days, and the rest to attend by the recordings. 18 countries represented. An enthusiastic group with excellent questions, comments, and resources. Thank you all!

https://www.frontiersin.org//10.33/fpsyg.2021.568935/full

One of the major figures in Animal Assisted Play Therapy shows us that even at 17 (very old for a dog, especially of her size), play is the spice of life!

Another blogpost today on a commonly-asked question. This one points to a variety of resources we have developed. Finding and Preparing a Dog for Canine Assisted Play Therapy.

Have you heard of the Slow Dog Movement? Some of my friends are involved in creating and moving it forward. Here's the website. There are some nice blogs on the site. I like these concepts a great deal!

Very happy today that my blogpost, "Do We Sell Them Short? Supporting "Agency" in Animals, has been named a finalist in the Dog Writers Association of America's 2020 Competition in the Online Article or Blog Entry category! I'm very pleased about that and have the link below for that article. I want to thank Pat Tagg for allowing me to share one of her stories in the article, and also Kate Titus's work was mentioned in it. I further congratulate quite a few of my friends here who are finalists nominated in several categories as well!! My nominated blog: http://risevanfleet.com//do-we-sell-them-short-supporting/

https://www.sciencealert.com/your-dog-is-a-precious-angel-a

A very useful thing to teach a dog. Many uses. In AAPT, we call this Kiss Me.

Very excited that we will have this great educational experience online! Save the dates!! More into to come in mid-late December.

More awareness of the needs of the horse! Yay!

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article

Due to many requests, the recorded webinars from this series will go on sale as a package in the very near future. Worth 8 CE/CPD credits. Topics: Enhancing Our Human-Animal Skills (Risë VanFleet) Resilience 2.0: The Rest of the Story (Val Miraglia) What Does "Choice" Really Mean? (Tracie Faa-Thompson)... Socialization: Preparing Dogs & Beyond (Jodi Smith) All presenters are either founders, certified supervisors, and/or certified instructors of AAPT. STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO! See more

PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE: Tracie Faa-Thompson and I, as cofounders of the field of Animal Assisted Play Therapy (including Canine Assisted Play Therapy and Equine ...Assisted Play Therapy) are very pleased to announce the individuals who have attained Certification status in the past year. These certifications are awarded by the independent Animal Assisted Play Therapy International Certification Board and are based on demonstrated competencies focusing on quality of practice, a reciprocal human-animal relationship, and advocacy for animal well-being at all times. In most cases, each credential takes approximately 2 years of multidisciplinary study, supervision, and hands-on practice to achieve. A hearty congratulations to everyone for all the hard work and dedication to this exciting field! You can see their information, as well as those certified in prior periods in the Directory at www.iiaapt.org. CAAPTs and CPP-AAPTs (THERAPISTS, in order of acceptance): Stephanie Bridgehouse Tracie Turner-Bumberry Leah Corrigan Wendy Pringle Yvonne Leong Sheli Brown Lisa Evans Karla Hartlep Ana Dasilva Certified AAPT SUPERVISORS: Lucy Llewellyn Val Miraglia Jacque George Certified AAPT INSTRUCTORS: Lucy Llewellyn Certified ANIMAL ETHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR SPECIALISTS: Diane Dioguardi Kirsty MacQueen