Sarah Leighton

(she/her)

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I am a PhD candidate in social psychology at the University of Arizona. I hold a BA in neurobiology and behavior from Cornell University and an MS in the psychology of human-animal interaction from Purdue University. My career focuses on the role of service dog partnerships in biopsychosocial outcomes for people with disabilities. From 2010-2021, I worked for the world’s largest service dog provider, Canine Companions. I am an Assistance Dogs International (ADI) Certified Service Dog Instructor and, in 2016, I was promoted to the leadership role of National Director of Training and Client Services. In 2021, recognizing a need to build the empirical evidence base underlying the service dog intervention, I joined the Organization for Human-Animal Interaction Research Education (OHAIRE) under Dr. Maggie O’Haire as a PhD student. My research leverages a transdisciplinary approach to translate service dog partners’ lived experiences into actionable data. I am a University of Arizona One Health Research Fellow, a member of Psi Chi International Honor Society, and recipient of the 2024 APA/APAGS Award for Distinguished Graduate Student in Professional Psychology.

Experience

  • 2023–present
    PhD Candidate, University of Arizona
  • 2021–2022
    Masters Student, Purdue University
  • 2016–2021
    National Director, Training & Client Services, Canine Companions
  • 2010–2016
    Service Dog Instructor, Canine Companions
  • 2006–2012
    Research Assistant, Cornell University

Education

  • 2022 
    Purdue University, MS - Psychology of Human-Animal Interaction

Publications

  • 2024
    A preliminary analysis of psychiatric service dog placements and sleep patterns of partners of veterans with PTSD, Anthrozoös
  • 2023
    Psychiatric service dog placements are associated with better daily psychosocial functioning for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder, Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
  • 2023
    Chapter: Assistance and Emotional Support Animals, The Routledge International Handbook of Human-Animal Interactions and Anthrozoology
  • 2023
    Service dogs for autistic children and family system functioning: a constant comparative analysis, Frontiers in Psychiatry
  • 2022
    Assistance dogs for military veterans with PTSD: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis, PLoS ONE
  • 2022
    Survey of international academic centers and institutes focused on human-animal bond: Scope and landscape in 2021, Human-Animal Interactions
  • 2022
    Researcher-practitioner interaction: Collaboration to advance the field of human-animal interaction, Human-Animal Interactions
  • 2021
    Chapter: Changing Lives, One Service Dog at a Time, Career Paths in Human-Animal Interaction for Social and Behavioral Scientists

Professional Memberships

  • Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology
  • Arizona Psychological Association (AzPA)
  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • American Psychological Association for Graduate Students (APAGS)
  • International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ)

Contact Sarah for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration