SOAD8012 Loss, Grief and Trauma Counselling: Human-Animal Interactions

2020

4.5

1 x 4-day intensive workshop per semester
1 x 1-hour on-line exercises weekly

None

Elective

Two major assignments

Animals provide a great raft of benefits to humans, including humans in grief, managing diseases and disabilities, and those who have been abandoned, abused, traumatised and/or alienated. For practitioners across disciplines, roles, fields and modes of practice, human-animal interactions offer many exciting possibilities to connect with clients. For counsellors, there are many ways to think about animals and incorporate human-animal interactions into practice.

The aim of the topic is to advance the knowledge and skills of students from relevant professional backgrounds about human-animal interactions with those experiencing loss,

grief, abuse and trauma. This includes reviewing trends in human-animal interactions relating to loss, grief, abuse and trauma research and knowledge development, focusing on implications for counselling interventions.

This topic aims to:

1. Advance the knowledge and skills of students from relevant professional backgrounds about human-animal interactions with those experiencing loss, grief, abuse and trauma.
2. Highlight the diversity of human-animal related loss, grief, abuse and trauma experiences associated with various lifespan stages, different cultural perspectives, and specific life events.
3. Increase awareness among helping professionals about the prevalence and nature of loss, grief, abuse and trauma experiences of humans and animals.
4. Inform students about the connections and differences between loss, trauma and abuse theories, as they relate to human-animal interactions.
5. Review trends in human-animal interactions relating to loss, grief, abuse and trauma research and knowledge development, focusing on implications for counsellors.

On successful completion of this topic students should be able to:

1. Recognise the connections between the bodies of knowledge about loss, grief, abuse and trauma focusing on human-animal interactions
2. Articulate how to implement animal assisted strategies for assisting individuals or groups who have experienced loss, grief, abuse and/or trauma
3. Demonstrate how their counselling practice (knowledge, skills) can be improved in the areas of loss, grief, abuse and trauma, as they relate to human-animal interactions.
4. Identify and describe a range of practice models and approaches used in animal assisted interventions with persons experiencing loss, grief, abuse and/or trauma.
5. Use community resources relating to human-animal interactions available to assist with loss, grief, abuse and/or trauma issues
6. Respond in a more sensitive manner to a range of loss, grief, abuse and trauma experiences for humans and animals.