By Lesa 
If you’re interested in adopting an emotional support animal (ESA), you’re probably wondering – can any therapist write an ESA letter? While many therapists can write ESA letters, this doesn’t apply to therapists who aren’t licensed.
What’s more, therapists who aren’t in your state might have problems writing an ESA letter for you as well because there are some rules around that. The good news is that we’re here to turn a complicated question into a simple one. Read on to learn more about ESA letters and who can write them.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA)?
First and foremost, it’s important to understand what an emotional support animal is. These are animals that are there to provide comfort to their handlers through touch or just by being there. They have protections thanks to the Fair Housing Act (FHA), so emotional support animals can live in housing that’s not usually pet-friendly.
Emotional support animals are different from service animals, though, because they’re not protected under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Therefore, they can’t accompany you in public or on airlines without permission.
Also, ESAs can be most types of animals. This includes fish, cats, dogs, and much more. At the end of the day, they’re more flexible than service animals but have fewer protections.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal Letter?
An emotional support animal letter, or ESA letter, is documentation that allows an ESA to live with someone in housing that’s otherwise not pet-friendly. This documentation can be shown to a landlord, and in most cases, the landlord has to let the animal stay with them.
ESA letters tend to include information about the person’s disability or mental health issues, the pet, and the reason that the pet will improve their condition.
Without an ESA letter, you won’t be able to prove that your animal is an ESA, and your landlord will have grounds to reject your application. If you lie about having one of these letters, there’s also a hefty penalty, so making sure you have a legitimate ESA letter from a reputable source is crucial.
How Do You Get an ESA Letter?
If you need an emotional support animal, the best way to do so is to go through the US Service Animal’s (USSA) ESA animal registration process. US Service Animals will ensure that you’re connected with a reputable licensed mental health professional that’s licensed in your state.
This way, you don’t have to worry about getting an ESA letter that won’t hold up if a lawyer comes looking or if a landlord wants to challenge it. That said, other therapists can also write an ESA letter for you, and this can be done via telehealth or in-person appointments (whichever you prefer).
Can Any Therapist Write an ESA Letter?
No, some therapists can’t write an ESA letter. To be able to write an ESA letter, the therapist has to be a licensed mental health professional. Furthermore, that license needs to be valid in the state where you’ll have the animal.
Even if you have a good therapist who can write you an ESA letter out in Pennsylvania, that won’t work for an apartment in California or any other state.
Some examples of therapists who can write an ESA letter for you include:
- Clinical social workers
- Psychologists
- Psychiatrists
- Marriage and family therapists
- Professional counselors with licenses
It’s also important to note that some states, like California, have rules where therapists need to know someone for at least 30 clinical days. Therefore, make sure you check your state’s laws just to be sure.
Get an ESA Letter Today!
Whether you’re working with a licensed mental health professional in your state that you know and trust or you plan on using an online service like US Service Animals, make sure you go about the process the right way.
Ensure that any licensed mental health professional you plan on working with is properly licensed in your state and that they’re qualified to diagnose your condition and write an ESA letter for it. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting into trouble with your landlord and the law.
Thankfully, services like US Service Animals make it pretty much impossible to get a bad ESA letter.