The Human-Animal Bond in Clinical Social Work Practice

Katherine Compitus, DSW, LCSW, MSEd, MA is a doctor of clinical social work and a licensed clinical social worker. Her research focuses primarily on social policy, mental health, and the human-animal bond. Katherine is the founder and chairman of Surrey Hills Sanctuary, a non-profit organization providing veterinary social work services to trauma and abuse survivors in New York State. She has lectured extensively on Animal-Assisted Therapy, Grief Counseling for Pet Loss, Suicidality in Veterinary Professionals, and Crisis Intervention for People with Pets. Katherine is currently a lecturer in the graduate social work schools at Columbia University, Fordham University, and New York University (NYU), where she developed and currently teaches the Human-Animal Bond course at NYU's Silver School of Social Work. Early in her social work career Katherine provided bilingual animal-assisted therapy at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, helped establisha therapy animal program at an AHRC preschool, and was a grief counselor for pet loss at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. Born and raised in New York City, she now spends most of her time in upstate New York with her husband and the 30+ animals at the sanctuary, including chickens, potbellied pigs, pigeons, cats, dogs, and two naughty steer (bulls).