Journal of College Counseling

Barker, S. B., Barker, R. T., Schubert, C. M. (2017). Therapy dogs on campus: A counseling outreach activity for students preparing for final exams. Journal of College Counseling, 20, 278-288.

A university counseling center engaged a therapy dog program for an outreach activity to reduce stress as students prepare for final exams at a large culturally diverse, university.  This article describes the rationale, planning, and implementation of the activity, a brief evaluation summary, and provides recommendations and implications for counselors interested in providing a similar activity. A large and diverse student population attended the activity and gave primarily positive feedback for this low-cost group activity.