Ask About Pets! - A Trauma-Informed and Ethical Call to Action for Human Service Providers
71% of US households report having at least one pet, and over 90% of these call their pets family. Asking about pets is much more than small talk; it’s trauma-informed care! Pets can play a vital role in safety, stability, and healing for trauma survivors - yet are frequently overlooked in behavioral health care. Failure to recognize the importance of pets in people’s lives can leave related service barriers and risks unaddressed. Grounded in trauma-informed care, the NASW Code of Ethics, and related profession standards, this session offers providers practical tools to integrate three key pet-related questions into routine service delivery, ensuring the profound role pets can play in human wellbeing is recognized and supported.
Presented by
Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach, PhD, LCSW
socialwork@opendoorconsults.org
Director of Veterinary Social Work | Open Door Veterinary Collective (ODVC)
Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach is a licensed clinical social worker in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and Director of Veterinary Social Work at Open Door Veterinary Collective (ODVC) a national non-profit that works to improve access to veterinary care and related supports. In her role at ODVC and through her social work practice One Health People-Animal Wellness Services (OHPAWS), Janet collaborates with individuals, organizations and communities to advance supports for vulnerable and historically marginalized humans with companion animals, ultimately promoting both human and animal well-being. She has previously worked as a tenured social work full professor with a joint appointment in psychiatry; a community mental health outreach case manager with unhoused individuals struggling with addiction and mental illness; a community mental health center-based therapist and clinical supervisor; a crisis intervention clinician; a non-profit grant writer; a horse trainer; and a fast food worker.
Her research on Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) has been cited in national news sources such as Discover Magazine, Business Insider, the Guardian, Medscape, and Psychology Today. She serves as a subject matter expert on ESAs for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
Janet is the lead author of Human-Animal Interaction: A Social Work Guide –peer reviewed and published by NASW Press in 2017. This book is an evidence-supported call to the social work profession to recognize and respond supportively to human-animal bond issues encountered across social work practice settings and populations. Janet speaks and trains internationally on how to recognize and address human-animal relationship issues in human health and social service systems. She has provided expert testimony to state legislature on the need for cross-reporting of animal cruelty and child abuse to strengthen the safety net for children and animals.
Currently Janet lives in Pittsburgh with her family, which includes three dogs (two of which are “foster fails”) and three cats (two of which are “foster fails”). While she is currently not able to provide foster care for animals due to space constraints and her track record of “foster fails”, she is a passionate advocate for animal and human well-being!
*BestyBnB webinars are geared toward professional development and are not intended to be utilized for therapeutic or psycho-educational purposes. If you are a survivor of domestic violence seeking help please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline.