Emotional Support Animal Information and Documentation
Diagnosis of a psychological disability resulting in a prescription for an emotional support animal is a complex process which requires several sessions to understand the presence, intensity and duration of various symptoms, degree of impairment and evaluation of how an emotional support animal (ESA) would mitigate symptoms and improve functioning.
Carruth Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CCCPS) does not prescribe Emotional Support Animals and will not issue letters of support for ESAs. We will, however, work with students experiencing symptoms of emotional distress or difficulty adjusting to their environment; our professional staff is available to assess and provide treatment.
We recommend students who are seeking documentation letters for an ESA contact a community provider for this service. Please note, CCCPS discourages using online resources that promise ESA support letters for a fee. These sources are usually fraudulent, and the Office of Accessibility Services may not accept letters from them. The best practice is to see a medical or mental health professional and work with the Office of Accessibility Services to determine what is needed for an ESA to be approved.
The following is a quote from the ACA Human-Animal Interventions in Counseling (HAIC) taskforce:
“It is the recommendation of the HAIC that professional counselors do not engage in the practice of writing letters for their clients, unless the counselor has specialized training and experience in working with human-animal bond in counseling such as would be outlined in the ACA AAT-C Competencies for Emotional Support Animals due to the potential risks involved for clients, the public, the counselor and the animal.”
Other professional guiding organizations, such as APA, have similar stances.