The Comprehensive Guide to Interdisciplinary Veterinary Social Work

This book responds to the needs that arise at the intersection of people and animals, focusing on human-animal interaction, human-animal studies, the emotional work of caring for animals, and animal-assisted interventions and therapies. Unlike many works that focus primarily on issues at the micro level, such as animal-assisted interventions, this volume is unique in its focus on issues arising at the micro, macro, and mezzo levels, encompassing human-animal issues and interactions at the level of individuals and family, groups, institutions, and communities. Accordingly, this comprehensive guide addresses the need to better prepare practitioners to work in interdisciplinary environments, whether in the context of theory, research, practice, or advocacy. The authorship of the volume reflects the interdisciplinary foundations of veterinary social work, with contributions from social workers, psychologists, veterinarians, physicians, anthropologists, and bioethicists.

The volume is divided into five parts that examine, respectively:

• the foundations (history and scope) of veterinary social work (Part I); 
• the practice of veterinary social work with individuals, in the context of community programs, and in social work practice (Part II); 
• veterinary social work and the veterinary setting, including veterinary well-being and conflict management (Part III); 
• veterinary social work education (Part IV); and 
• the future of veterinary social work (Part V).  

Importantly, the volume addresses not only practice issues in the veterinary, clinical, and community settings, but also examines ethical concerns in the clinical and research contexts and the implications of cultural and societal variations on the practice of veterinary social work.

The Comprehensive Guide to Interdisciplinary Veterinary Social Work is the definitive resource for social workers and psychologists new to practice issues relating to animals, social work and psychology students at the graduate and undergraduate levels, veterinarians and veterinary students, hospital administrators (human hospitals), and veterinary hospital managers.

Sana Loue, JD, PhD, MPH, MSSA, MA, LISW-S, CST-T, AVT is a professor in the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds secondary appointments in Psychiatry and Global Health at the School of Medicine and in Social Work at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at CWRU. Dr. Loue served as the School of Medicine’s inaugural Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity from 2012 to 2020. Dr. Loue holds degrees in law (JD), epidemiology (PhD), medical anthropology (PhD), social work (MSSA), secondary education (MA), public health (MPH) and theology (MA). Her past research in both the domestic and international contexts has focused on HIV risk and prevention, severe mental illness, family violence, and research ethics. Her current research addresses the interplay between religion, society, and bioethics; the integration of cultural humility into clinical care and research settings; and past and current formulations of eugenics. She has authored or edited more than 30 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles.  Dr. Loue served on the Board of the International Association of Veterinary Social Work and was the organization’s inaugural Director of Education. 

Pamela Linden, MSW, PhD, earned her MSW and PhD at Stony Brook University. Dr. Linden holds a certificate in Veterinary Social Work from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where she is an instructor in the Veterinary Social Work and Veterinary Human Support Certificate programs. She is the founding President of the International Association of Veterinary Social Work. She administered programs for individuals with serious mental illness, conducted research problem solving courts for both juvenile delinquents and veteran’s and, as a research scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, studied mandated outpatient psychiatric treatment. Dr. Linden is the Director of Veterinary Social Work for the AlignCare Healthcare program, a part of the Program for Pet Health Equity at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Linden also administers a nationwide research project that explores experiences of veterinary medical students with diverse social identities and to improve mental health and wellbeing among veterinary students in the U.S. Dr. Linden lives in Long Island, New York with her husband, Steve, and dogs Dove and Lily.