AAT Ethical Principles in AAT 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client becomes overly attached to the therapy animal and asks to take the animal home overnight. What is the most ethical response?
- Agree if the client's therapist approves
- Decline and redirect the attachment therapeutically (Correct answer)
- Allow it as a one-time exception to strengthen rapport
- Consult only the animal's owner before deciding
Correct answer: Decline and redirect the attachment therapeutically
Allowing clients to take therapy animals home blurs professional boundaries and compromises the animal's welfare and structured role.
Question 2: Which principle requires AAT practitioners to only practice within their scope of competence?
- Beneficence (Correct answer)
- Justice
- Non-maleficence
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Beneficence
Beneficence includes acting within one's competence to ensure interventions genuinely help clients.
Question 3: An AAT practitioner notices the therapy dog shows signs of stress mid-session. The ethically correct action is to:
- Finish the session to avoid disrupting the client's progress
- Remove the animal immediately and address the client's needs otherwise (Correct answer)
- Redirect the client's attention so the dog can recover
- Document the stress signs and continue if the dog calms down
Correct answer: Remove the animal immediately and address the client's needs otherwise
Animal welfare is a non-negotiable ethical obligation; a stressed animal must be removed from the session immediately.
Question 4: Informed consent in AAT must include disclosure of which of the following?
- The handler's personal background and qualifications only
- Potential risks such as allergies, zoonotic disease, and animal unpredictability (Correct answer)
- The specific therapeutic techniques to be used in each session
- The animal's full veterinary history
Correct answer: Potential risks such as allergies, zoonotic disease, and animal unpredictability
Informed consent requires clients to understand all reasonably foreseeable risks associated with AAT, including health and safety considerations.
Question 5: A colleague shares client session notes in a group chat to get peer feedback. This action violates which ethical principle?
- Autonomy
- Confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Justice
- Veracity
Correct answer: Confidentiality
Sharing identifiable client information without consent in unsecured channels violates confidentiality obligations.
Question 6: When is it ethically permissible to break confidentiality in AAT practice?
- When the client's family requests an update
- When the practitioner believes the client will benefit from transparency
- When there is imminent risk of harm to the client or others (Correct answer)
- When the supervising organization requests session notes
Correct answer: When there is imminent risk of harm to the client or others
Confidentiality may be breached only when legally or ethically required, such as when there is a credible threat of imminent harm.
Question 7: Dual relationships in AAT are considered unethical primarily because they:
- Reduce the number of available therapy animals
- Compromise the practitioner's objectivity and exploit the client's trust (Correct answer)
- Prevent proper documentation of sessions
- Limit the types of animals used in therapy
Correct answer: Compromise the practitioner's objectivity and exploit the client's trust
Dual relationships create conflicts of interest that can impair professional judgment and harm the therapeutic relationship.
AAT Ethical Principles in AAT 2
A client becomes overly attached to the therapy animal and asks to take the animal home overnight.
What is the most ethical response?