How to get an ESA certificate
Animals provide joy and companionship to individuals. Animals can provide emotional support to people with concerns about their mental health. These animals that act as companions are Emotional Support Animals. Researchers have started to understand the benefits of animal therapy. At Psychicare, we provide all necessary information, connection, and certifications to help you.
What are emotional support animals?
A companion animal serving as an emotional support animal, or ESA, can provide comfort, companionship, and love to a person experiencing emotional issues, anxiety, or psychiatric problems. The animal supports the person by alleviating at least one aspect of the disability.
Cats and dogs are the common emotional support animals individuals have. Still, other animals, such as pigs, ducks, horses, etc., also serve as ESAs.
A licensed mental health professional prescribes an emotional support animal as part of a treatment plan for an individual. The prescription is an official document called an emotional support animal, ESA Letter. The letter confirms that an individual has a legitimate need for a companion’s support, which entitles them to certain rights under federal law.
At Psychicare, you can complete the registration of your emotional support animal or ESA. We provide a licensed mental health counselor to consult you and provide an emotional support animal letter if it is deemed necessary to you. An animal supporting the person with the condition is required, along with a medical recommendation letter from a licensed mental health counselor. The animal does not need specific abilities to become an emotional support animal. An ESA certificate helps you with rules and regulations. ESA allows you to take your companion everywhere and travel.
By providing access to in-person consultations with licensed mental health professionals, Psychicare is the guiding light. We share information and guide clients through the process of getting an ESA.
What are the benefits of emotional support animals?
Research supports the fact that animals can provide companionship and improve mental health. Owning a pet has many positive effects on mental health. From emotional connectivity to helping people manage stress in times of crisis.
Here are the benefits of having an ESA:
- Helps with anxiety – Petting an animal and spending time with an animal can create a relaxed state of mind. It elevates your mood, lowering your stress.
- Provide mental and emotional encouragement – Emotional support animals provide trauma support under challenging situations. Provides comfort to individuals dealing with mental health issues.
- Improve physical health – Studies show that emotional support animals help to decrease respiration rate, lower blood pressure and improve the ability to cope with pain.
- Help produce Neurotransmitters – Emotional support animals help humans have neurotransmitters that make an individual happy. They increase the neurochemicals in the brain called dopamine. This gives individuals a sense of love, pleasure, and bonding.
- Helps with loneliness – Taking care of another living being or pet increases your capacity for love. It helps with depression and anxiety as they provide companionship. People who suffer from loneliness feel loved and safe when they have an emotional support animal.
- Provide unconditional love and care – Animals, when they feel love, give love too. Taking care of an emotional support animal gives you a sense of purpose and unconditional love in return. It dramatically helps people who struggle with a mental health illness and reduces depression and grief.
- Works in conjunction with other treatment plans – Therapists have started to include emotional support animals in an individual’s treatment. ESAs are now used in conjunction with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Pets help with mindfulness techniques and help patients find a sense of purpose, and encourage people to start living a healthy lifestyle.
- Calm anxiety on planes – Emotional support animals help people with aerophobia, a fear of flying in airplanes. Aerophobia is a real disorder that makes the experience of people traveling on planes excruciating. Due to this, some airlines have started allowing passengers to travel with their emotional support animals inside the airplanes. ESAs can provide support during the flight by reducing anxiety. Holding their pet helps people through the flight. An ESA certificate is necessary for you to travel with your emotional support animal on planes.
- Help stabilize intense emotions – Emotional support animals can help stabilize emotions during tough times. Individuals feel happy when they get home after a stressful day after seeing their pets. They act as stress busters and help you have a positive and happy mind. Seeing your pet enables you to relax and forget your intense emotions.
- Provide social support – Many families consider their pets family members. It is because they provide the social support a person requires. With an ESA certificate, you can visit a restaurant or travel with your pet. Pets act as social companions and meet your emotional and mental health needs. If you live alone, having an emotional support animal makes you feel like having a friend. They prove to be good for your mental well-being.
Who Can Benefit from having an Emotional Support Animals?
Emotional support animals provide emotional comfort, an essential factor for people with mental health problems. ESA’s support you in your emotional distress. Psychiatrists prescribe emotional support animals to ease the symptoms of an illness. But who all can benefit from ESAs?
- Children who are at risk of depression – Children and teenagers who experience trauma and other mental health conditions have a decreased risk after having pets.
- Psychiatric patients – Psychiatric patients benefit from the companionship of an emotional support animal. It improved their quality of life, provided motivation, and started being productive.
- War veterans and soldiers – War veterans with PTSD show positive effects with an emotional support animal. These animals help improve sleep and lower startle rates.
- Prison inmates – Prison inmates often have mental health disorders as they miss their families and suffer from a lack of a favorable environment and healthy activities. Having a pet helps them channel their love and appreciate their companionship.
- Anyone with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, or a mental health issue can get better by having an emotional support animal.
What is an ESA certificate or an ESA Letter?
ESA certificate is an official document signed by a licensed mental health counselor. It is a prescription that recommends using an emotional support animal as a part of a person’s treatment plan. This is because an individual can benefit greatly from the therapeutic relationship and emotional comfort that an emotional support animal provides.
The primary purpose of an ESA certificate is to make life easier for people and have an emotional support animal. ESA Letters help you to live, fly and travel with your ESAs in an easy way.
Many airlines and housings allow people to keep their ESAs and travel with their ESAs as it helps them with mental health. For example, traveling with your ESA on a flight can reduce stress and calm anxiety due to aerophobia. ESA certificates are necessary for this.
Only a legitimate ESA certificate can entitle an individual to certain rights regarding getting reasonable accommodation from housing providers and permitting an individual to travel with their emotional support animal on ESA-friendly airlines.
How to get an ESA certificate online?
To get an ESA certificate, firstly, recognize your need for it. Connect with a licensed therapist online and tell them about your condition. Gather your documents, and they will issue you an ESA certificate. The certificate will be signed and dated. The certificate includes the mental health professional’s license number and where the license was issued. You can fill out the online form at Psychicare to apply for an ESA. A therapist will consult with you, and you’ll get your certificate.
We understand the role that ESAs play in making many people’s lives more manageable. Pets can be your best friend or a part of your family like any other family member. We help you to get the necessary counseling and documentation quickly. You can connect and get any help you need online. We help you get a legitimate ESA certificate recognized under the law to make your lives easier.
References:
https://www.certapet.com/emotional-support-animal/
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/everything-about-emotional-support-animals/
https://www.insider.com/guides/health/mental-health/emotional-support-animal
