More and more support animals are making their way around college campuses. 
By Joycelyn Cabrera, April 2019

Photo of Kaitlyn Brooner and Einstein taken by Joycelyn Cabrera.
University students are beginning to house emotional support animals in their dorms at high rates to cope with mental stress. Additionally, universities are implementing weekly therapy dog sessions to relieve students of their stress during the school year.
The average student will be attending college between the ages of 18 – 24 years-old. That age bracket also happens to be around the time most lifetime mental health disorders will first appear in an individual through various symptoms, according to the American Psychological Association. 
In this current generation of students, 1 out of 3 freshmen attending a university will report symptoms of mental health disorders worldwide, according to the APA. This does not mean one-third of all university freshmen develop mental health disorders, only that 1 out of 3 have reported symptoms aligned with various mental health disorders.
Under the Fair Housing Act, colleges and universities in the United States must permit service and emotional support animals on campus dorms. 
Maryn Weeks, a freshman on the ASU downtown campus, houses her emotional support cat, Calypso, at her dorm to keep herself grounded. 

“The bond is definitely there, she’s definitely my cat,” Weeks said. “She’s helped me simply by being there, just being a friend there to come home to.”
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Weeks has had Calypso for approximately six months, getting her after the school year had begun. 
Meet Calypso!
​Video taken by Joycelyn Cabrera. Music from Bensounds.com under "Little Idea."
Weeks explained that the paper-work for registration had to be processed before she was able to officially adopt Calypso.  She said Calypso gives her a sense of responsibility as she navigates herself through college. While it may take a bit of jumping through hoops to get a personal emotional support animal on campus, universities actually make it easier for therapy animals to have weekly sessions on campuses with students. Therapy animals on campus are typically seen as part of an organization in communication the university in question to schedule allotted times for sessions with students. 
Therapy animals on campus are typically seen as part of an organization in communication the university in question to schedule allotted times for sessions with students. 
Advertisement courtesy of the University of Arizona.
The University of Arizona hosts weekly sessions with students and therapy dogs, partnered with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona and Pet Partners of Southern Arizona, the university sees regular and new students every week to unwind with the dogs. What began as a once-a-semester occurrence spread into a weekly session hosted by the UA dean of students. Dog Days with the Dean is an expected event held every Wednesday in the Nugent Building at 11 a.m. Chrissy Lieberman, University of Arizona Associate Dean of Students,  had the first idea to bring therapy dog sessions onto campus for the students. 
The program has since become a huge success among faculty and students alike.

“The element of self-care was something that seemed to be absent for our students and we were noticing that their resilience and self-efficacy was really struggling.” Lieberman said. 

About 60 – 100 students find themselves coming in to visit the dogs at around every session, according to Lieberman. The environment is meant to help students feel comfortable in the dean of student’s office, allowing them a space to vent, talk to the owners and feel a sense of home while interacting with the therapy dogs.

“The students suddenly melted away from being stressed out 20-year-olds to seeming like they were 6 to 8 years old, talking to puppies, it was just a relief because you could tell that their stress was just emptied.” Lieberman said.
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Dogs Days with the Dean has since assisted students feeling symptoms of anxiety and has eased the transition freshmen make from home life to college life and has allowed for a more positive relationship between academic faculty and the students.
ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus welcomes Jim Helman and his therapy dog, Einstein, who table outside of the Taylor Place dormitory every Tuesday morning during the semester. While Helman and Einstein are not necessarily affiliated with ASU, the university is aware of their program and encourages the tabling activity for primarily freshmen students. As part of the Downtown Phoenix Church, Helman brings Einstein to campus as a way to ease students throughout the day who interact with the therapy dog. Jim and other members of the church organize together as an alliance of therapy dogs in the city of Phoenix. 
Jim Helman & Einstein outside of Taylor Place. Photo taken by Joycelyn Cabrera.
“For students, there’s a lot of intensity in college, when you think about the kinds of decisions that have to be made in college, such as, ‘What do you want to do for the rest of your life?’ You’re paying a lot of money to try to figure that out really quick.” Helman said. ​

The goal of the organization is to relax students, invite them into a safe environment and talk about anything they might need as they continue through the semester. 
Photos taken by Joycelyn Cabrera.
Other therapy dogs will occasionally join Einstein as part of the alliance, such as Ginger, owned and trained by Jacqui Meyer. 

​While there has yet to be any sufficient evidence linked to student academic improvement due to the availability of emotional support or therapy animals, there is definitively a rise in university students seeking assistance for emotional and mental concerns through counseling and pursing emotional support companionship, according to the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment and the APA.
As the stigma around mental health has continued to shrink, counselors, universities and private therapy organizations encourage students to seek help if they ever feel it is necessary. 
Video shot and edited by Joycelyn Cabrera.
Jim Helman gave Joycelyn Cabrera a little bit of insight on Einstein's world and more information about their goals as an alliance of therapy dogs on the ASU Downtown campus.

​Take a look at what Einstein and Ginger do as therapy dogs while Jim explains what their purpose is on a college campus! 

Click here to see more about how ESA's and therapy dogs are impacting the lives of college students nationwide!
Infographic created by Joycelyn Cabrera.
Created February, 2019. Updated April, 2019. All pages are the sole responsibility of each individual editor, attributed by the corresponding by-lines for each page. Exceptions include the home page, contact page, and social media page.