The Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy at the University of North Texas was established in 2002 to support the field of animal assisted therapy. The Consortium promotes human and animal welfare through the partnership of people and pets.
Cynthia Chandler
Cynthia.Chandler@unt.edu
University of North Texas
1155 Union Circle #310829
Denton, TX 76203-5017
Donations are welcome to this scholarship. You can make a donation with your credit card. To make a donation visit the Giving to UNT website.
To provide scholarship funds for graduate students training to be counselors who desire to work as a team with their pets (dogs, horses, cats, etc) to provide animal-assisted counseling services to clients in the community. Clients who are served by animal-assisted counseling may be struggling with any difficult life situation, such as, grief from loss, addictions, domestic violence, depression, family struggles, veterans with trauma, child abuse, or other concerns.
This scholarship was established by Dr. Cynthia Chandler to honor her dog Rusty who served as a therapy dog. Dr. Chandler and Rusty were the first team from the University of North Texas to assist with providing counseling and educational services. Working as a team over the years, Dr. Chandler and Rusty volunteered thousands of hours of counseling services for many clients in the community. They also trained hundreds of university students to become counselors to work with their own pets to provide animal-assisted counseling to clients in the community. The work of Dr. Chandler and Rusty lead to the establishment of the Consortium for Animal Assisted therapy at the University of North Texas which furthers the development of the AAT field by providing counselor training, and counseling research. Dr. Chandler is an award-winning, international leader in the field of animal-assisted therapy. She is author of the classic book, Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling, now in its 3rd edition (published 2017). Her wonderful dog Rusty passed away in his elder years, but Dr. Chandler still works with her pets providing services to clients in the community and training students to become a counselor with their pets.
×Animal Assisted Therapy Training - Distance Learning Program
15 Contact Hours of Training Including Professional Counselor CEUs.
Work from your home at your own time and at your own pace.
Sponsored by: Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy, Counseling Program, Department of Counseling & Higher Education, College of Education, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas USA
Program Instructor: Dr. Cynthia K. Chandler, Professor, Counseling Program Instructor
Contact Information:
Personal cell phone: 940-267-4189, department office phone: 940-565-2910
Email: cynthia.chandler@unt.edu
Content: This training program uses the textbook, Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling, 3rd ed., authored by Dr. Cynthia K. Chandler. You must use the 3rd edition or later of this book (any edition published 2017 or later). You must obtain a copy of this book before you order the training program. One source for rent or purchase of the textbook is Amazon.com.
This entire training program consists of an exam made up of 7 quizzes that cover 14 chapters in the textbook, there are 170 items total for the exam. You must get 80% or more items correct to pass (136 items correct). This exam is open book, untimed, and self-paced. You have up to one year to complete and return your answer sheet. Return the completed answer sheet to the instructor by email. You can take the exam multiple times to pass. You will receive a completion of training document once you have passed verifying 15 contact training hours including 1 hour of ethics training. The contact hours will also count as CEUs for those who hold a National Certified Counselor (NCC) certification from NBCC, and/or Texas LPC licensure. The exam will be emailed to you after payment is received.
Cost and Payment Information:
$150.00 (U.S.)
Payment by personal check or money order only. Make payment to: University of North Texas Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy (UNT-CAAT). Memo: AAT Distance Training Program.
Include with payment your following information (your information is not shared with anyone else):
Name
Email
Address
Contact
Phone Number
Mail payment and your information to: Dr. Cynthia K. Chandler, Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle, #310829, Department of Counseling and Higher Education, Denton, TX 76203-5017 USA.
Please allow up to 3 weeks after receipt of payment for delivery of the exam via email. Feel free to contact the instructor at any time. Information on the instructor follows.
About the Program Instructor:
Dr. Cynthia K. Chandler is a professor in the Counseling Program of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education, in the College of Education at the University of North Texas, which is located in Denton, Texas where she has taught a variety of graduate courses in counseling since 1989. She is a licensed professional counselor and supervisor and a licensed marriage and family therapist and supervisor. She has been involved with animal-assisted therapy practice, supervision, and research since 1999. She is author of the classic book, Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling; the 3rd edition was published in 2017. She is also author of the book, Animal-Assisted Interventions for Emotional and Mental Health: Conversations with Pioneers of the Field, published in 2018. For her work in animal-assisted therapy Dr. Chandler received in 2016 the American Counseling Association’s Professional Development Award, and in 2009 the Thelma Duffey Award for Vision and Innovation from the Association for Creativity in Counseling.
Want to be able to volunteer or work with your pet? Completing a Pet Partners Handler Training Workshop and Team Evaluation will make this possible. The training and evaluation is designed for volunteers, professionals and students with their pet.
Before you and your pet can participate in a Pet Partners Handler-Animal Team Evaluation you must have completed the Pet Partners Handler Training which is available through the Pet Partners organization either online or through an in-person workshop. See the Pet Partners website for online training or their calendar of events for in-person trainings held near you: petpartners.org.
Pet Partners Handler-Animal Team Evaluations are offered on the UNT campus on a Saturday three to four times per year and are facilitated by Dr. Cynthia Chandler, usually around April and September. The Handler-Animal Team Evaluation is a 40-minute appointment and can only occur after you have completed a Pet Partners Handler Training on a prior date. Continue reading to see how to register for a team evaluation appointment.
The team evaluator, Dr. Cynthia Chandler, is a leading expert in the world on animal-assisted activity and therapy. She has practiced since the year 2000, won professional awards and has published a leading book titled "Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling." She has evaluated hundreds of teams for Pet Partners across 20 years.
There is no cost for the team evaluation, it is sponsored by the UNT Consortium for Animal Assisted Therapy directed by Dr. Cynthia Chandler.
You must have completed Pet Partners Handler Training before the Team Evaluation.
For more information: Call 940-367-4189 or e-mail Cynthia.Chandler@unt.edu.
For more information about being a Pet Partner Team see the Pet Partners website: petpartners.org
Location of Handler-Animal Team Evaluation
The campus of the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas.
Register for a Handler-Animal Team Evaluation
To register for a Handler-Animal Team Evaluation visit the Pet Partners’ website (petpartners.org) and select Volunteer, then from the drop-down menu select Calendar of Events to find an exact date. Look for evaluations in Denton, Texas (facilitated by Dr. Cynthia Chandler). You would have already established a Pet Partners account when you previously signed up for a Pet Partners Handler Training, which has to be completed prior to attending an appointment for a Pet Partners Handler-Animal Team Evaluation.
Pets evaluated by Dr. Chandler include dogs, horses, cats, and rabbits.
After registering for a Handler-Animal Team Evaluation on the Pet Partner’s website, participants will be contacted by Dr. Chandler to confirm registration, to set an exact appointment time, and receive complete location directions.
To pass the team evaluation, a dog must sit, stay, come, down, walk politely on a leash and be calm and friendly during all required tasks. Other types of pets must be friendly and well mannered. Information on team evaluation exercises is available on the Pet Partners website: petpartners.org
Dr. Chandler volunteers her time and takes no personal revenue from Pet Partners Team Evaluations.
Important Information About the Pet Partners Team Evaluation
For the team evaluation, bring the pet that you want to work with along with a copy of your current Pet Partners registration or a photocopy of the Pet Partners Handler Training completion certificate. Also, bring a photocopy of the rabies vaccination certificate (if dog or cat), and bring a soft grooming brush the pet is familiar with and one treat the pet is familiar with. Information on what the Handler-Animal Team Evaluation involves will have been provided to you when you previously took the Pet Partners Handler Training.