Justice Heals believes in the capacity for healing: for survivors, animals, and the MSU community, and we strive to engage and support survivors and animals on a mutually beneficial healing journey.
Project Title: A One Welfare approach to animal-assisted interventions for survivors of sexual assault on the campus of Michigan State University: Justice Heals
Background: While the Michigan State University (MSU) community has been particularly devastated by sexual misconduct and institutional betrayal, U.S. campus statistics reflect a national crisis of sexual assault. One in five women and one in 16 men experience sexual violence during their college career.
The "Wicked Problem"
We wondered...What if we could pair survivors of sexual assault with anxious shelter dogs and improve outcomes for both survivors and the dogs?
What is AAI?
Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) have been evaluated as therapeutic or supportive modalities for health-related issues, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) falls under umbrella of AAI but involves a human healthcare provider.
Proposed Plan: Our team will develop an animal assisted intervention (AAI) program to offer an additional healing modality for the MSU survivor community, while concurrently serving shelter dogs from our greater Ingham County community.
The term One Welfare has emerged to acknowledge the interconnectedness between human and animal wellbeing; this is a novel approach that evaluates outcomes for both human and animal participants.
Our team is developing a One Welfare AAT program Justice Heals to serve both our survivor and shelter dog populations. The animal behavior team has developed a screening protocol intended to identify dogs who may be both capable and comfortable working in AAT, based upon the following candidate attributes:
A pilot project is underway:
Justice Heals will pair survivors and dogs for 6-week, skills-based AAT programming. Our animal behavior and human mental health teams collaborated to create curricula for both survivors and dogs:
The trauma-informed content for survivors will include skill building and psychoeducation with the intention of empowering participants.
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Twitter: @JusticeHealsMSU
Facebook: @JusticeHeals
Dr. Hopfensperger is a board-certified animal behaviorist in the State of Michigan and assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. Her clinical interests and expertise include animal welfare, humane handling of cats and dogs, and management of canine and feline behavioral disorders. Dr. Hopfensperger is active within the Michigan animal sheltering community. She is a consultant for Michigan Humane Society and is vice chairperson of the Ingham County Animal Control Shelter (ICACS) Advisory Board. ICACS is committed to collaborating on this program. Dr. Hopfensperger screens the shelter dogs for appropriateness in the program and studies the emotional, physical, and behavioral outcomes of the dogs’ experiences in the therapy sessions. This is to ensure the program is truly mutually beneficial for both dogs and survivors.
Tana Fedewa is a licensed clinical social worker and the Director of MSU’s Center for Survivors. In addition to her Director duties, she is appointed to the Michigan State University Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct Expert Advisory Workgroup.
JUSTICE HEALS was inspired by Justice, the career-change canine advocate with the MSU Center for Survivors, who lives with generalized anxiety. As Justice has learned to navigate her anxiety with a behavioral health plan, the survivors seeking services in the Center were part of her treatment and recognized themselves in her experience.