Pets and Human Diversity: Toward Culturally Competent, Culturally Humble Psychotherapy

Despite decades of research, scholarship, and popular interest in Americans' bonds with their pets, relatively little is known about how cultural diversity affects pet-keeping practices or how mental health professionals can best respond to pet-related issues in psychotherapy with a diversity of clients. This chapter synthesizes existing literature on human diversity and human-animal interaction, giving special attention to race, ethnicity, and religion. It offers suggestions for culturally competent, culturally humble practice with regard to human-animal interaction designed to help practitioners provide accurate empathy and nonjudgmental understanding to those whose interactions with animals differ from one's own. It concludes with two complex case examples adapted from practice, which provide readers with an opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs with regard to pet keeping and develop constructive clinical responses.