Introduction
Aviva Vincent, Ph.D., LSW
What is Veterinary Social Work?
Veterinary social work is a specialized field within social work that focuses on the intersection of human and animal welfare. Interventions apply person-in-environment and biopsychosocial frameworks to address the psychological, emotional, and social aspects of the human-animal bond. Recognizing the significant impact animals can have on human well-being, and vice versa is important towards upholding pets as family members, as well as the challenges of pet ownership. Veterinary social workers are clinicians trained to provide support and counseling services to individuals and families facing various challenges related to animals, such as grief and loss associated with pet illness or death, animal-related trauma, animal-assisted interventions, and ethical dilemmas in veterinary medicine. As a practice, veterinary social work is often in collaboration with veterinarians, animal welfare organizations, traditional clinical practice, and other professionals to promote the welfare of both humans and animals.
- Social work at the intersection of Humans and Animals.
- Veterinary Social Work is an area of social work practice that attends to the human needs that arise in the intersection of veterinary medicine and social work practice.
- The four areas of veterinary social work are: Compassion Fatigue & Conflict Management. Grief & Pet Loss. Animal-Assisted Interactions. The Link Between Human & Animal Violence.
Citations and Permalinks:
| Bikales, G. (1975). The Dog As “Significant Other.” Social Work, 20(2), 150–152. |
| Cohen, S. P. (2002). Can pets function as family members? Western Journal of Nursing Research, 24(6), 621-638. |
| Faver, C, (2011) Seeing Ourselves in All: A Spiritual Perspective on the Unity of Life. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work, 30(2) 113–124. |
| Hanrahan, C. (2011) Challenging Anthropocentricism in Social Work Through Ethics and Spirituality: Lessons from Studies in Human-Animal Bonds. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work 30(3) 272–293. |
| O’Brien, G.V. (2003). People with cognitive disabilities: The argument from marginal cases and social work ethics. Social Work, 48(3), 331-337 |
| Poe, B., Strand, E, and Risley-Curtiss, C (2022). The Human Animal Bond. In Animal Cruelty: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding. Edited by Reyes & Brewster. Carolina Academic Press |
| Risley-Curtiss, C. (2010). Social Work Practitioners and the Human— Companion Animal Bond: A National Study. Social Work, 55(1), 38. |
| Wolfe, D. B. (2000). Social Work and Speciesism. Social Work, Jan2000, Vol. 45 Issue 1, p88-93 |
