Are you suffering from a mental or emotional challenge and seeking a non-judgmental yet comforting partner? Well, you would be disappointed to know that you cannot get this from a human companion. But before you get hopeless and assume that no one can support you during this challenging time, let me tell you that there is still the option of getting an emotional support animal open for you.
If you are not familiar with the concept of ESAs, let's have a little background knowledge first before we get into more explicit details of how to get such non-judgmental companions to effectively deal with mental health issues.
Getting an emotional support animal is a form of therapeutic treatment that involves taking support and comfort from a pet when there's no one else who could offer you the similar level of support that is required to treat the mental or emotional disorder. You must be wondering how a pet can help you during challenging times when they cannot even understand your state or talk to you. Well, do you know that the calming and soothing aura that pets exhibit helps to calm down your nerves and cheer you up when you're feeling down?
You may never have given attention to such details while being in the presence of your pet, but I want you to perform a little experiment and see for yourself how understanding pets can be. Try to act a little depressed or moody in front of your ESA dog or cat and see how they will do everything in their power to cheer you up. Pets get cuddlier when they see their owners depressed or anxious over something because they try to give comfort in the best way they know. Trust me, their cheerful yet protective nature works 90% of the time to help you during an emotionally or mentally unstable period.
Now that you know what ESAs are and how they can prove to be of great help for you during difficult times, let's discover how to acquire them.
Acquiring an Emotional Support Animal
The basic criteria for getting an emotional support animal is as follows:
- Have an emotional or mental disorder that makes you eligible for ESA.
- Get a esa letter online from a certified mental health professional.
The first element is pretty simple, and you can easily consult a specialist or check yourself if your emotional state or mental disorder qualifies you to acquire an ESA or not. The tricky part is criterion two. Most people are unaware of the concept of an emotional support animal letter and make mistakes while acquiring them. To avoid general mistakes, read the information below.
What is an ESA Letter?
Newbies do not know much about esa letter for housing and often find it difficult to find credible information on them because ESA therapy is relatively new to other therapeutic treatments. That is why there is not much information present on them on the internet. Even if you find the information that you were searching for, you can never be too sure of its legitimacy. To address your question, ESA letters are a type of prescription issued by a licensed professional such as a counselor, therapist, psychologist, or a psychiatrist.
How are ESA Letters a Prescription?
These letters are issued after a mental health expert who has the authority to issue such letters and analyzes your emotional and mental state to assess whether you are eligible for ESA therapy or not, so they are a form of a prescription. You ought to know how to get an esa letter.
Just like a medical specialist prescribes you medicine after assessing your condition, the certified mental health professional assesses your mental state and prescribes an ESA pet. This prescription is known as an esa letter. With the letter, you could keep an ESA pet with you at all times and in places where pets are usually forbidden.
How to Get an ESA Letter Prescription?
The process of acquiring an ESA prescription is slightly different from a normal medical prescription. You do not just go to any mental health expert and describe your condition to get the letter prescribed to you. Instead, you find and choose such mental health experts who hold the license to issue these letters. Any expert who does not have the license lacks the authority to prescribe ESA letters.
Once you find a licensed professional, you do not receive the letter overnight. You have to have some sessions with your counselor or therapist so he or she could comprehensively assess your situation and decide if your mental disorder or emotional state qualifies you for an ESA letter for housing. There is a chance that your request for an ESA pet could be rejected because the counselor did not see you eligible for it.
If you receive the letter, you will gain far more benefits than a medical prescription. This letter will give you the legal authority to house your pet with you without paying any additional pet accommodation charges to your landlord. If you live in a condo where pets are not allowed due to the shared environment, you can still keep your pet with you. These letters help tremendously while traveling with your ESA pet as well.
I hope that this guide addresses your queries regarding ESA letters and you find it helpful while acquiring an ESA pet for yourself.