12 Aug iaedp Voices | Episode 6: The Healing Bond
Hosted by Kyle Woodson, MA, LPC | Guests: Shannon Kopp, Founder, SoulPaws Recovery Project; Patricia Flaherty-Fischette, PhD; Carolina Gaviria, MA, CEDS-C
About This Episode
What happens when a dog enters the therapy room? In this episode of iaedp Voices, host Kyle Woodson, MA, LPC, is joined by three voices at the forefront of animal-assisted therapy in eating disorder care: Shannon Kopp, Founder of the SoulPaws Recovery Project; Dr. Patricia Flaherty-Fischette; and Carolina Gaviria, clinician, consultant, and respected leader in the eating disorders field.
The conversation begins with the basics — what animal-assisted therapy actually is, how it differs from simply having animals present in a treatment setting, and what the growing research base tells us. The evidence points to something clinicians have observed firsthand: animals can reduce anxiety, foster connection, build self-esteem, and create a sense of normalcy and belonging that is often difficult to reach through words alone.
For people with eating disorders, who so frequently navigate shame, isolation, perfectionism, and deep difficulty trusting others, these qualities carry particular weight. The panel explores why animals can reach people when traditional approaches sometimes hit a wall — and why the quality of the human-animal interaction, more than the type of animal itself, may be what drives the benefit.
Trauma is also part of the conversation. For individuals with significant trauma histories, animal-assisted interventions offer a gentler point of entry — and the panel discusses what the research and their own clinical experience reveal about why that is.
The episode closes with something practical: for clinicians who don’t currently have access to animal-assisted programs, the guests share how the principles behind this work can be applied right now, in any clinical setting.
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