On a 9-acre farm in Dexter, Michigan, five pot-bellied pigs, a herd of playful goats, miniature and full-sized horses, rabbits, two high-strung geese, a flock of chickens and roosters, a pair of barn cats, a couple of high-energy pups, and one sweet-natured donkey all live together in harmony — most of the time.
For Laura Sanders, a longtime social worker and senior lecturer at the School of Social Work, Lovingway Farm is a living, breathing classroom and a therapeutic setting where people and animals meet to heal.
Sanders has spent nearly four decades balancing clinical practice with teaching. Over that time, she has developed a reputation for blending creativity and embodied approaches into her work with trauma survivors, children and families. Her journey to animal-assisted therapy is both personal and professionally innovative.
Raised in Detroit, Sanders earned her B.A. and MSW at U-M. Early on, she specialized in sexual abuse treatment and trauma work, supported by a National Institute of Mental Health scholarship. She also began teaching at U-M, eventually becoming one of the SSW’s longest-serving lecturers.
Sanders’ interest in creative interventions for trauma survivors grew from professional experience and personal life. As an adoptive parent of twins with early attachment difficulties, Sanders confronted firsthand the challenges of complex trauma. This helped fuel her professional dedication to approaches that go beyond traditional talk therapy.
Sanders’ fascination with art, play and embodied practices gradually expanded to include animals. In 2013, she and her spouse, Ramiro Martinez, a farmer originally from Mexico, purchased land in Dexter Township. Their vision was to create a farm where animals could play a therapeutic role. By 2014, Sanders was incorporating animal-assisted therapy into her private practice.
If you build it, they will come
Today, Sanders’ farm hosts an array of animals, from horses and pigs to cats and dogs. Each serves as a potential partner in therapy.
But Sanders is quick to clarify: “Animal-assisted therapy is not a standalone practice. It’s really the integration of evidence-based and best practices in partnership with animals in service to human mental health goals.”
For Sanders, animals are not tools but partners. She avoids the language of “using” animals, emphasizing instead the principle of mutuality: therapy must benefit the human client and respect the animal.
When new clients — often children or teens with trauma histories, autism or attachment challenges — arrive at the farm, Sanders begins with a tour. Clients are invited to find animals they feel drawn to. From there, the therapy unfolds in individualized ways. Sometimes it is about stroking a chicken that perches in a client’s lap; other times it involves the challenge of herding pigs and goats across a pasture, which requires focus and patience.
Animals also act as mirrors, Sanders said. Horses, for example, reflect human emotions. “If you’re calm, they’ll be calm,” she said. For children struggling with self-regulation, this feedback loop can be transformative.
Why animals work
The therapeutic power of animals is supported by both theory and lived experience.
In therapy, the presence of animals can accelerate progress. Sanders describes it as “pouring Miracle-Gro” on some children’s therapeutic goals.
Children who resist traditional interventions often open up when engaged with animals. A young client with autism and Tourette’s, for instance, was empowered by observing the social dynamics of chickens. Seeing how they interacted enabled him to process his own experiences of bullying and eventually give a classroom presentation on his disabilities — an act that boosted his confidence.
Animals also provide metaphors. By watching geese calm down as they slip into a water pool, Sanders has guided hyper-aroused children to practice self-soothing. Other times, simply caring for animals fosters empathy and responsibility.
Bringing the farm to the classroom
Sanders’ farm is not only a therapeutic space but also an extension of her teaching. In 2016, she launched a U-M course on animal-assisted interventions. Initially, the course was entirely experiential with hands-on work at the farm. Then the pandemic hit, and Sanders was forced to adapt by recording videos with the animals.
Today, the course is hybrid: part online lectures, part on-farm experiential learning. It remains one of SSW’s most popular electives.
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Students not only learn clinical skills transferable to human practice but also find the experience therapeutic — “like going on a retreat,” as Sanders put it.
She has brought her animals to the Ann Arbor campus too, transforming the courtyard outside the SSW into a temporary learning lab. Goats, miniature horses, rabbits and a donkey joined students for observation and engagement exercises. Sanders used these visits to teach foundational skills of assessment, helping students learn to watch for stress signals and adapt their approach based on the animal’s responses.
This fall, Sanders is also launching a continuing education certificate program in animal-assisted interventions through U-M. The program will be accessible nationwide, with most coursework online but requiring a final in-person component at the farm
Few universities offer comparable training, making Sanders’ program a pioneering model.
A growing field
Despite growing research validating animal-assisted therapy — from equine programs for veterans with PTSD to canine partnerships for rehabilitating prisoners — misconceptions persist. Too often, Sanders said, people reduce animal-assisted therapy to “holding and petting a fluffy animal.” In reality, the field is increasingly rigorous, with agreed-upon terminology and competencies.
Sanders is committed to these standards. She and Martinez are certified by the Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship as Equine Specialists in Mental Health and Learning. They closely monitor stress signals to ensure animals enjoy and consent to interactions. Animals uninterested in human contact simply coexist on the farm and are not involved in the therapy.
A model for healing in connection
At its heart, Sanders’ work underscores a simple truth: healing can happen in connection. For children who have been hurt, animals offer nonjudgmental companionship. For social work students, animals help strengthen clinical insight. For Sanders herself, the animals embody both professional purpose and personal joy.
“I’ve created something beneficial to my clients and students, and that my own very diverse family can coalesce around,” she said.
