For those who haven't met my canine co-therapist, let me introduce you to her: Meet Fender. She's a two and a half year old Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix. She's small, but has a HUGE personality. She's imperfect. She barks during session when someone walks by the door. She struggles with boundaries because she loves to give clients kisses. And she gets away with it because she's so cute (most of the time, anyway). So, why do I have a dog as my co-therapist? Because she brings something to the table that is uniquely powerful. She invokes a relationship between human and animal that is disarming and healing. Let me explain. Animal Assisted Therapy is an evidenced-based treatment modality in which animals are included in an intentional manner for the purpose of therapeutic benefit (ie, Fender's not just there because she's adorbs, she's there for a reason--because it's shown to be therapeutic). Many studies have shown the benefits of utilizing Animal Assi...