People experiencing mental health conditions, such as anxiety disorders, PTSD, and depression, may not be aware that emotional support animals (ESAs) are a recognized form of mental health support that licensed mental health professionals can formally recommend. However, finding access to a licensed mental health professional (LMHP) who can perform an ESA evaluation is often rather challenging because it depends on numerous factors, including wait times and geographical issues, among others.
The Challenge of Accessing Licensed Mental Health Professionals
One of the telehealth services designed to solve the problem above is called American Service Pets. It represents a platform where patients can interact with a licensed clinician for ESA evaluations via telehealth technologies.
The company was founded by Chris Picou, Kenny Parkerson, and John Hernandez in 2017, and its main goal was quite simple: to build an effective network of licensed mental health professionals that could streamline the evaluation process for patients interested in emotional support animals. Rather than being centralized in a particular region, the network was established state by state, starting in California.
To create such a platform, the company would not only build a network of specialists but also develop its proprietary software that would be used to establish contact between patients and LMHPs online.
How the Telehealth ESA Evaluation Process Works
After about a year of development and recruitment activities, the first user was evaluated by a licensed psychologist on June 24, 2018. What started as a small local project soon began growing into a larger enterprise. By the end of June 2018, there were 78 evaluations in California. According to the company statistics, in April 2026, the number reached more than 325,000 evaluations across all 50 states.
Patients who use American Service Pets are connected to a licensed psychotherapist online who then performs an evaluation based on mental health status and decides if an emotional support animal would work for the patient. During the evaluation, the psychotherapist assesses important aspects such as patients’ medical condition, current symptoms, functional impairment, and finally recommends an ESA, but only if it makes sense for the patient.
There are two prominent benefits that play a part in why American Service Pets has become so popular. First, it is convenient since users do not have to make an appointment with a local psychotherapist. Second, it allows users to get help when they otherwise have no access to the relevant licensed specialists or are dealing with wait times for appointments that are too long. Additionally, telehealth evaluations may provide an accessible pathway for individuals who are uninsured or whose health insurance coverage may not include this type of service.
A Mission-Driven Company Built Without Outside Investment
Interestingly enough, American Service Pets did not require any kind of venture capital investment. Instead, it was founded and scaled using reinvested profits. This is notable, since building such a network of licensed specialists requires efforts and investments to find and hire them. Also, the company needed to cover costs related to software development to create a telehealth platform for patients and psychotherapists. The company’s founders have leaned on this approach due to their belief in and passion for the work the company is doing.
“We never took on an investment to start American Service Pets,” founder Chris Picou said. “This effort came from our heart and will to build something great to help people who truly need their pet with them to survive.”
Education, Training, and Advocacy for ESA Owners
In addition to the aforementioned network of licensed medical professionals, one of American Service Pets’ other important services is providing education and information to patients about the ways emotional support animals can help them. The platform offers an online program dedicated to animal training with modules that instruct users on how to properly train their service animals. The company also provides users with information about animals and their role in treatment. It also helps advocate for people with emotional disabilities who use pets for support, as many of these people are often stigmatized or looked down upon.
“Changing the narrative around emotional support animals has been the hardest part of our work. The negative bias towards people with emotional disabilities who use their pet for support is very real,” Picou commented. “Very quickly, we realized our effort to provide a service to people in need escalated to becoming their advocate against the blatant discrimination and criticism many of them are subjected to.”
At the end of the day, American Service Pets is a company dedicated to giving patients the opportunity to try something new that might work for them. In a world of seemingly endless medical treatments, it takes both the right connections and the right knowledge to guide people to the right ones. American Service Pets demonstrates how telehealth and online health platforms can help patients find treatments they would have normally overlooked and benefit from more niche ideas in the world of health and wellness.
