Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Introduction To Animal- And Nature-Assisted Therapies: A Service-Learning Model For Rural Social Work, Laura J. Praglin, Linda L. Nebbe

Contemporary Rural Social Work Journal

This teaching note details the teaching philosophy and practices of an innovative university service-learning course in nature- and animal-assisted therapies. The course took place at a wildlife rehabilitation center, and students engaged as counselors, putting academic theories into action by facilitating an “animal camp” for 25 at-risk children. The course represented a “best practice” in rural social work given its intensive focus upon social work’s ecological and person-in-environment perspectives; multidisciplinary, collaborative community-based partnerships; and evocation of a rural schoolhouse model.