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Using the VSW Experience to Close the “PAWS Gap” in Social Work Training and Practice

Room A

Hybrid
1.5 CE Hour
General

Presented By

Description

The VSW experience has made remarkable progress. But fewer than 3% of U.S. Schools of Social Work include human-animal interactions in the curriculum, and VSWs represent only .05% of the total U.S. social work profession; these figures are undoubtedly even lower in other countries. We need to close this “PAWS Gap” by having more social workers and schools address People and Animals’ Wellness and Safety. We can do this through nine emerging opportunities based on the VSW model that can make pet-inclusive social work training and practice more widely accepted. By using the lessons learned from VSW, social workers can apply “the 3-Rs” – Recognition, Response and Referral – to address The Link between animal abuse and human violence and other human-animal considerations impacting clients’ well-being, risk and resiliency factors, decision-making, and quality of life. This presentation will describe six reasons why all social workers should be cognizant of human-animal relationships. It will discuss ways to put these concepts into practice in such fields as child welfare, domestic violence, animal shelters, clinical practice, public policy advocacy, and social work with older populations and individuals who are disabled or homeless. Species-spanning social work – in the veterinary clinic and beyond – holds tremendous promise for expanding the profession’s legacy in social and environmental justice, advocacy, facilitating collaborative community change, and protecting the most vulnerable members of society.

Target Audience
  • • Social Worker
  • • Counselor
  • • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • • Veterinarian
Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to increase knowledge about the significance of human-animal interactions in pre- and post-professional training, utilizing the existing experience of the specialized Veterinary Social Work Field.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Explain how including human-animal relationships within the family genogram in social work training and practice can better enhance assessments and interventions to identify barriers and strengths impacting clients decision-making, quality of life and well-being.

  • Review 9 potential social work career opportunities that build upon the VSW experience to expand human-animal relationship awareness throughout social work education and practice.

  • Explain 6 reasons why addressing human-animal relationships should be implemented more widely as part of social work’s commitment to social justice and fighting oppression and as opportunities for research, practice, advocacy, and advancing public policy.

References

  • Arkow, P., & Hoy-Gerlach, J. (2024, in press). Closing the “PAWS” Gap in Social Work Training and Practice: Nine Career Opportunities that Incorporate Human-Animal Relationships to Recognize, Respond and Refer. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Journal.

  • Hoy-Gerlach, J., Ojha, M., & Arkow, P. (2021, Nov. 10). Social workers in animal shelters: A strategy toward reducing occupational stress among animal shelter workers. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8:734396. Doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.734396

  • Arkow, P. (2020, Sept.5). Human-animal relationships and social work: Opportunities beyond the veterinary environment. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 37(6), 573-588.

  • Hoy-Gerlach, J., Delgado, M., Sloane, H., & Arkow, P. (2018). Rediscovering connections between animal welfare and human welfare: Creating social work internships at a humane society. Journal of Social Work. DOI: 10.1177/1468017318760775.

  • Arkow, P. (2014). Form of emotional blackmail: Animal abuse as a risk factor for domestic violence. Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly,7(1),7-13.

  • Arkow, P. (2013). The impact of companion animals on social capital and community violence: Setting research, policy and program agendas. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 40(4), 33-56.

  • Arkow, P. (2023). The links between animal cruelty and domestic violence/abuse. In G.M. Ferreira & J. Williams (Eds.). Understanding Animal Abuse and How to Intervene with Children and Young People: A Practical Guide for Professionals Working with People and Animals. Routledge.

  • Arkow, P. (2019). The social capital of companion animals: Pets as a Catalyst for Social Networks and Support… and a Barometer of Community Violence. In A.H. Fine, (Ed.). Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy: Theoretical Foundations and Guidelines for Practice, 5th ed. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

  • Arkow, P. (2018). The “dark side” of the human-animal bond. In L. Kogan & C. Blazina (Eds.), Clinician’s Guide to Treating Animal Companion Issues: Addressing Human-Animal Interaction. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 319-346.

General
Social Worker

TPN.health, #1766, 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. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 03/31/2022 – 03/31/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 1.5 General continuing education credits.

TPN.health is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (Provider #1000101) to sponsor continuing education for LCSWs. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. Course meets the qualifications for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit for LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Trusted Provider Network, 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-0654.

Counselor

TPN.health is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (Provider #1000101) to sponsor continuing education for LPCCs. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. Course meets the qualifications for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit for LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Trusted Provider Network, 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-0220.

TPN.health has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7267. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. TPN.health is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Marriage & Family Therapist

TPN.health is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (Provider #1000101) to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs. TPN.health maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. Course meets the qualifications for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Trusted Provider Network, 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-0097.

Veterinarian

This program has been approved for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE approval.

CE Policy
This course is fiscally sponsored by International Association of Veterinary Social Work . There may be potential biases or conflicts of interest inherent to this relationship, and it must be disclosed to participants. These conflicts of interest have no bearing on the course content and have been resolved.
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Phil Arkow

Internationally acclaimed lecturer, author and educator Phil Arkow is President & Secretary of the National LINK Coalition – the Global Resource Center on The LINK between Animal Abuse and Human Violence – and edits the monthly LINK-Letter, with over 5,500 subscribers. He chairs the Latham Foundation’s Animal Abuse and Family Violence Prevention Project. He teaches at the University of Florida and Harcum College. He has presented over 400 times in 17 countries, 38 states and 9 Canadian provinces, and has authored over 100 key reference works on human-animal interactions and violence prevention.

 

He co-founded the National Link Coalition, the National Animal Control Association, and the Colorado and New Jersey humane federations. He has served with the American Veterinary Medical Association, the ASPCA, American Humane, the Delta Society, the Animals & Society Institute, the National Sheriffs Association’s National Coalition on Violence Against Animals, the National District Attorneys Association, the Academy on Violence & Abuse, and the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from New Jersey Child Assault Prevention.

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