Animal Assisted Therapist
Snapshot
Animal assisted therapists provide support to individuals with cognitive, motoric, or social-emotional disabilities through animal assisted intervention. They involve pets and domesticated animals in a specific intervention plan such as therapy, education, and human service, and aim to restore and maintain the patients` well-being and recovery.
Animal assisted therapists work with individuals experiencing cognitive, motoric, or social-emotional difficulties. Your daily tasks involve carefully planned interventions using animals, often domesticated pets, to support patients' recovery and overall well-being. This requires a deep understanding of therapeutic techniques, animal behaviour, and the specific needs of each client. You’ll collaborate with other healthcare professionals and ensure the safety and welfare of both the patients and the animals involved.
- • Developing and implementing individualized animal assisted intervention plans.
- • Facilitating therapeutic sessions involving animals, monitoring patient responses and adjusting approaches as needed.
- • Assessing patient progress and documenting outcomes.
Where this occupation is in demand
Reported labour shortages and surpluses, by year. Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
Figures cover Health professionals — 68 jobs including this one.
In shortage: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia and 6 more.
Longest-running shortage: Belgium, 3 years.
Select a place on the map to see its figures.
About this source›
Source: ELA/EURES labour shortages and surpluses. Readings are published at occupation-group level, and cover Europe. Editions differ in annex layout and country coverage, so a change between years does not always mean the labour market changed. Countries in grey were not reported, which is not the same as being in balance.
What these words mean
The four things this section reports
- Reported demand
- Whether employers report needing people in this job — a judgement published by a national or EU body, not a count.
- Where it is heading
- Which way employment in this job is expected to move over the coming years, from an official projection.
- Openings
- Roughly how many openings arise — from growth and from people leaving the job.
- Typical pay
- What people in this job typically earn where the source publishes it. Blank does not mean unpaid; it means nobody publishes it for that place.
A measure is left out when nobody publishes it for that place, rather than shown as zero.
Which way the market leans for you
- In your favour
- More openings than people looking — employers are competing for candidates.
- Balanced
- Openings and candidates are roughly matched.
- Competitive
- More people looking than openings — expect to compete.
- Mixed evidence
- Sources disagree, or the same occupation group is short in one part and oversupplied in another.
Every source resolves to one of these four, so there is a single vocabulary to learn. What differs is the evidence behind it, which is printed underneath each verdict — a measured ratio of openings to jobseekers, or an assessment published by a national body.
How this job compares with other jobs in the same country
- Strong
- Among the strongest in that country
- Good
- Stronger than most jobs in that country
- Mixed
- About typical for that country
- Weak
- Weaker than most jobs in that country
This is a rank within one country, not a score you can carry across borders — the registers behind two countries count different people, so the same number means different things in each. It is also why a job can be among the strongest in a country and still show as Competitive: it leads the field in a market that is crowded overall.
Where these come from
Every figure is published by a national statistics office, a public employment service or an EU body, and each card names its source and the period it covers. Some places are counted monthly, others assessed once or twice a year, so two places on the same map can be describing different moments — the date is always shown.
None of this predicts one person’s chances. It describes a market.
Reported demand · Typical pay · Where it is heading (United States, Ireland, Australia, Malta, United Kingdom)
| Reported demand | Typical pay | Where it is heading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Not reported | $72,300 2025-05 | +19.2% 2024–2034 · BLS 2024-2034 |
| Ireland | Not reported | — | +16.1% 2023–2035 · Cedefop 2026 * |
| Australia | Shortage reported Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 * | — | — |
| Malta | Shortage reported ELA/EURES 2024 * | — | — |
| United Kingdom | Not reported | £37,201 2025-provisional | — |
* Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS)
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Open Government Licence v3.0
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Future Outlook for animal assisted therapist
The outlook for animal assisted therapist is exceptionally stable. While AI tools will assist with daily tasks, the core of this role relies on human judgment, resulting in a high resilience score of 72%.
How are these scores calculated?
The Resilience Score (0–100) estimates how structurally protected this occupation is from automation and AI disruption, based on task-level analysis. Higher scores mean more human-judgment-intensive tasks. AI Exposure shows the estimated percentage of task hours that current AI capabilities could affect. These are model-derived structural indicators, not predictions about individual job security.
How could animal assisted therapist change as AI adoption grows?
Human judgement, trust, and context remain strong protectors for this role.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Human judgement, trust, and context remain strong protectors for this role.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Model-based estimate. Use it as a planning signal, not a guarantee.
Compare this to your profile
How AI may change this role
Deterministic, model-based interpretation of current role signals — not a guarantee of replacement.
What still depends on people
- maintain healthcare user data confidentiality
- provide health education
- develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
Where AI may become a co-pilot
- assess the patient's therapeutic needs
- select therapy animals
- instruct animals for therapy purposes
Tasks most exposed to automation
No single task here is highly automatable yet.
Vital Signs & AI Vectors
AI Exposure Vectors
0-100%Exposure to content generation, creative augmentation, and large language model tools
Exposure to physical automation, robotics, and sensor-driven task displacement
Exposure to AI-assisted analysis, pattern recognition, and predictive modelling tasks
Exposure to workflow automation, decision-support software, and process digitisation
Technical Details
NexFuture v3.0 estimates automation exposure natively from ESCO essential-skill groups, weighted by skill mass and calibrated against expert anchors. Scores are probabilistic estimates, not guarantees. See the NexFuture Methodology White Paper for full details.
Measures automation exposure. It does not measure pay, demand, or how many jobs exist near you.
What people in this role usually do
Healthcare & Human Services
A typical day as an animal assisted therapist
09 09:00 · Morning assess the patient's therapeutic needs
10 10:30 · Mid-morning instruct animals for therapy purposes
12 12:00 · Midday recruit animal handlers
14 14:00 · Afternoon maintain healthcare user data confidentiality
15 15:30 · Late afternoon select therapy animals
17 17:00 · Wrap-up develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
Task order is illustrative. Individual days vary.
What you need to do this work
The skills, knowledge and tools this role calls for — and the traits and rewards that come with it.
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maintain healthcare user data confidentiality
Comply with and maintain the confidentiality of healthcare users` illness and treatment information.
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provide health education
Provide evidence based strategies to promote healthy living, disease prevention and management.
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select therapy animals
Identify the right animal with the right temperament appropriate for the therapy.
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instruct animals for therapy purposes
Control animals in order to provide therapeutic treatments for psychologically or medically ill patients.
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recruit animal handlers
Select and instruct animal trainers in order to integrate the animals in the therapy.
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listen actively
Give attention to what other people say, patiently understand points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times; able to listen carefully the needs of customers, clients, passengers, service users or others, and provide solutions accordingly.
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assess the patient's therapeutic needs
Observe and assess the patient`s behaviour, attitudes and emotions in order to understand if and how their therapeutic needs can be met with a specific kind of therapy, collecting and analysing information on how the client makes, responds to, and relates to artistic stimulae. Relate this information to other aspects of the patient`s life.
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interact with healthcare users
Communicate with clients and their carer’s, with the patient’s permission, to keep them informed about the clients’ and patients’ progress and safeguarding confidentiality.
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develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship
Develop a mutually collaborative therapeutic relationship during treatment, fostering and gaining healthcare users' trust and cooperation.
animal therapy
The involvement of animals in a treatment in order to improve the social, emotional or cognitive functioning of the patient.
animal behaviour
The natural behavioural patterns of animals, i.e. how normal and abnormal behaviour might be expressed according to species, environment, human-animal interaction and occupation.
behavioural therapy
The characteristics and foundations of behavioural therapy, which focuses on changing patients` unwanted or negative behaviour. It involves studying the present behaviour and the means by which this can be un-learned.
evaluation of psychological performance
The characteristics of the methods used to assess psychological parameters.
human psychological development
The human psychological development across the lifespan, theories of personality development, cultural and environmental influences, human behavior, including developmental crises, disability, exceptional behavior, and addictive behavior.
palliative care
The methods of pain relief and quality of life improvement for the patients with serious illnesses.
- assistive instruments
- sociology
Path to become an animal assisted therapist
What it typically takes to qualify: education level, where it is a regulated profession, and where to study.
Bachelor's or equivalent level
18 programmes in 13 countries teach the core skills of this job. Plus 24 short courses that build single skills.
A few examples, taught in the language of this page:
Sataedu · Finland
Postgraduate Certificate in Therapeutic Play Skills
University College Cork · Ireland
These are 3 of 42.
Sources
- 1. Source: Opintopolku.fi (Finnish National Agency for Education)
- 2. Source: Europass Qualification Dataset Register (European Commission)
- 3. Source: Malta Qualifications Registry, Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (qualifications.mfhea.gov.mt).
Growth Pathways & Similar Roles
Explore typical career progression paths, adjacent skills, and similar roles to plan your next transition.
Where does animal assisted therapist fit?
Similarity scores based on skill overlap from ESCO data.
For organisations
The data on this page, working for your students, clients and staff.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of animals are typically used in animal assisted therapy?
What skills or qualities are important for success as an animal assisted therapist?
Is it common to work in private practice as an animal assisted therapist?
How much does Animal Assisted Therapist pay in the United States?
Sources: ESCO O*NET ELA/EURES Cedefop BLS Data updated October 3, 2026 About our data