Role Conflicts and Emotional Support Animal Certifications

Dr. Younggren reviews the laws that apply to the certification of Emotional Support Animals (ESAs). He examines the role conflicts that exist when therapists provide these types of certifications and will review the concept of disability as it applies to these types of assessments. Dr. Younggren also provides a recommended model for how these evaluations should be conducted.

Presented in collaboration with The Trust

A Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a Distinguished Member of the National Academies of Practice (NAP), Dr. Younggren is a clinical and forensic psychologist who practices in Rolling Hills Estates, California. He was a clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and currently is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Younggren served as President of APA Division 42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice). He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Ethics Committees of the California Psychological Association (CPA) and the APA, the APA Committee on Accreditation, and the APA/APLS Committee that drafted the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology. Dr. Younggren consults to various licensing boards on ethics and standards of care, and qualifies as an expert in criminal, civil and administrative proceedings. For many years before deciding to travel less, he was a favored ethics presenter for The Trust | Professional Liability Insurance for Psychologists.