News & Events
Exploring Animal-Assisted Therapy for Public Safety Personnel
Date/time: Thursday, January 29, 2026.
9:00 am PST, 11:00am CST (Regina), 12:00 pm EST
Location: Zoom
Public safety personnel (PSP) routinely encounter high stress, trauma exposure, and occupational pressures that can negatively affect mental health and wellbeing. Traditional support services (e.g., clinical services, exercise, peer support) play an important role, but innovative approaches like animal-assisted therapy are gaining attention for their potential to support stress management and emotional regulation.
This webinar will explore how canine-assisted interventions (CAIs) are experienced by first responders in workplace contexts, and how these programs may contribute to psychological relief, improved mood, and overall wellbeing. The session draws on insights from research in the field, as well as lived experiences within law enforcement settings.
In this webinar we will:
- Describe the unique stressors PSP face and how these impact wellbeing.
- Explore how canine-assisted therapy functions as a mental health and wellbeing resource in the workplace.
- Discuss the effects of CAI on PSP stress, mood, and wellbeing.
- Highlight considerations for implementing CAI programs within PSP organizations.
Speakers
Freya L. L. Green, MA, C-AAIS
Program Coordinator
University of British Columbia
Dr. John-Tyler Binfet, PhD
Professor, Director of UBC’s dog therapy program
Building Academic Retention through K9s (“B.A.R.K.”)
University of British Columbia
Facilitated by:
Karilyn Harris, MSc, BA
Knowledge Mobilization Specialist
Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT)
Language translation
This event will be presented in English with the option of simultaneous captions or audio translation in French.
If you wish to make use of this translation service during the webinar: after joining the meeting, please open a browser window (on your desktop, phone, or other device) and use the following link:
https://attend.wordly.ai/join/MMMS-2101
This will enable you to log in to Wordly, our simultaneous translation platform. Be sure to select ‘French’ in the top right corner and keep this window open throughout the meeting.