Hey PurpleFlyingMonkies.......My psychiatrist recommended that I get one for my PTSD & he said I would have to go to my regular doctor and she would fill out a form about my disabilty & send it off to the folks who provide the animals. From there, they would get with me and we would discuss my needs & what I would need from my companion. A fellow patient of my psych has a little yorkie dog for her panic disorder & I asked her if they would train my black lab as a service dog & she said no that she wanted to do that with her german sheperd but the service animal people said that companions are born being trained & it takes at least 2 years to train them.