Introducing your go-to source for animal-assisted speech therapy!

Animal-assisted speech therapy book Paws for Progress cover.

It all started with an idea…

Maybe I could combine my love of animals with my passion for helping speech therapy clients. The only question was, “How?”

I started down the rabbit-hole trying to find every resource I could about animal-assisted speech therapy and found...not much!

So five years later and having partnered with three very different therapy dogs, I compiled all I learned so other speech therapists and related professionals won’t have to start from scratch like I did.

I filled this manual with stories from actual therapy sessions to illustrate the power of the human-animal bond alongside practical application tips. Throughout I tried to keep the therapy dog’s welfare forefront to keep all parties feeing safe and joyful.

Included are:

  • step-by-step help for deciding if your companion is a therapy dog candidate and how to get started

  • essential components of safe and effective animal-assisted interventions

  • considerations for liability, multicultural inclusion, and practice management when partnering with a therapy dog

  • more than 50 activities for addressing common speech, language, literacy, and oral-motor goals

  • an appendix of dog-themed therapy materials,

  • and a list of helpful resources and organizations

Paws for Progress: Integrating Animal-Assisted Interventions Into Your Speech-Language Pathology Practice

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What readers are saying...

  • "Essential foundational information is clearly provided alongside highly applicable strategies and best practices...I will be recommending this book for years to come!"

    Dr. Taylor Chastain-Griffin, PhD, AAAIP Executive Director

  • “Sharlet Jensen has written the go-to manual for SLPs wishing to engage clients in canine-assisted therapy. Readers will especially appreciate her myriad examples of effective therapy sessions with a canine co-therapist."

    Betty J. Tedford, MS, CCC-SLP

  • “This is the book I wish existed before I started working with a therapy dog...I was yelling, "YES!" from the very first page to the last. This is a must-have resource for SLPs in AAI, by an SLP in AAI."

    Tamara Stroble, M.A., CCC-SLP

Get your copy today and start on your therapy dog journey!

Ready to dive in while you wait for your book?

Ready to dive in while you wait for your book?

Animal-assisted therapy course sample pages.

Learn how to bring more joy to your workplace with the addition of a therapy animal. In Talk to the Paw: Foundations for Therapy Animal Inclusion in a Professional Setting you’ll gain the confidence and know-how to:

  • minimize risks when bringing your animal to work

  • maintain your furry partner’s welfare

  • capitalize on an animal’s strengths to build bonds with your most difficult clients

  • understand how to include your therapy animal in session to help your clients regulate, focus, and engage…all leading to increased progress

7+ hours of in-depth content, online and self-paced!