Welcome to GIVING PAWS!
Our mission is to assist those interested in sharing the positive aspects of the human/animal bond with those in need of comfort, solace, or rehabilitation.
|
|
Every day, more and more is being revealed about the human /animal bond. What is possible is truly magical -- but not without conscious effort, education and support for both ends of the leash.
We at Giving Paws hope to help assist, educate and support all those interested in partnering with animals toward a better world for all.
|
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is an umbrella term that refers to any type of therapy that utilizes or works with animals in a theraputic manner, or in goal-oriented therapy sessions. AAT is directed and/or delivered by a health/human service professional with specialized expertise, and within the scope of practice of his/her profession.
According to the Delta Society's Handbook for Animal Assisted Activities and Animal Assisted Therapy, “AAT is designed to promote improvement in human physical, social, emotional, and/or cognitive functioning... AAT is provided in a variety of settings and may be group or individual in nature. This process is documented and evaluated.”
Animal-Assisted Activities, on the other hand, "provide opportunities for motivational, educational, recreational, and/or therapeutic benefits to enhance quality of life. AAA are delivered in a variety of environments by specially trained professionals, para-professionals, and/or volunteers, in association with animals that meet specific criteria.” [Delta Society, as above]
Animal Assisted Education (AAE) is the incorporation of any animal or animals toward educational goals. The Visiting Animal in most educational settings is either the subject of the lesson plan or to enhance the environment for learning to take place. It is the process of learning, training and developing skills and knowledge that is being enhanced by the presence and use of an animal.
People are always asking me
“Have you seen any real miracles?”
After ten years of visiting with both cats and dogs, oh, yes! I can tell of developmentally-disabled adults learning how to cross streets with the help of a Shepherd, or groom themselves by brushing a cat; of children with autism learning how to share; of people with HIV and AIDS from whom the world seems to have retreated, embracing life once again; of a little girl speaking for the very first time and of a mother getting her first kiss from her son. A son who was violent and autistic. That kiss was a lick, and he learned it from a dog. He was twelve years old, and it was his first affectionate gesture. I have so many stories to tell... that I now answer “I made someone SMILE!” For to give someone a smile is indeed a miracle. If you had seen that mother's face - a smile I will never forget. So when people ask me if my partner has ever caused a miracle I say “Yes, every day.”
Training!
Training is as much an art form as it is a science. But whatever your experience level, or whatever methodology you choose, please always respect your animal partner. Just like Hippocrates... First Do No Harm.
Everyone knows that dogs can be trained. Fewer people believe that cats can be trained. Rabbits, ferrets, even chickens can be trained. What's crucial to remember is that there are two ends to the leash... and the two-legged creature at the looped end requires as much, if not more training for the effectiveness and safety of the team.
Perhaps the most important aspect of any training, but certainly for healing work is TRUST. Entering into and maintaing a working relationship with a species not your own can only be ethically possible with trust and communication.
REMEMBER,
PARTNERSHIPS ARE BUILT ON
TRUST AND COMMUNICATION,
NOT WITH DOMINANCE AND SUBMISSION.
|
Animal-Assisted Crisis Response
In response to the horrific events of September 11th, the community of canine/handler therapeutic teams came together with as great a need to give as correctly gauging the tremendous need for their personal type of therapeutic services. There has been and will continue to be a need for the use of canine/human teams for both animal-assisted activities and therapies in the aftermath of the tragic terrorist attack at the World Trade Center, but it has also emphasized the need for a new category of Animal-Assisted Therapies - Canine Crisis Intervention Teams. What are they? What do they do?
The term "pet therapy" and "therapy dog" are now almost fully entered into the world of dog ownership. There are many groups locally, as well as national registrations such as Delta Society's Pet Partners Program, Therapy Dogs International, Love on a Leash and the Good Dog Foundation. But the actual jobs that any of these teams and groups do is still being looked at, and indeed job descriptions for the work are grossly lacking in the research available. This is further confused by the varying degrees of training, education and awareness within the field and within the animal handlers themselves. Therapy Dogs International, for example, believes the dogs are the therapists (Kempe, 2001) and as such refuses concepts of job-specific training for either end of the leash. Pet Partners recognizes that both ends of the leash must be trained, yet for evaluative purposes has yet to create a job description of the various types of interventions to train and educate for. One local group, who would not go on record, seems to believe that the therapeutic value comes situationally and that training, evaluation and certification are actually problematic and elitist to the volunteer aspect as it affects the therapeutic interface. Maureen Fredrickson of Animal Systems expertly focuses on the needs of the animal, and Kris Butler of DogPrograms in Oklahoma brings not only brings canine crisis experience from several situations, but a very practical approach to training and utilization of teams for this work. All this background came into play during the recent events surrounding the attack on the World Trade Towers.
People who had a great need to give flooded the Family Assistance Centers with their dogs, trained and untrained; there were highly specialized dogs/handler teams beside green dogs and clueless handlers, in part because there was a very real need, and in part because the word is out that petting a pet is good for you. The little bit of knowledge that can be a bad thing was very much in evidence... and yet, in every scenario that they were placed in, you could observe positive benefits happening; you could also observe negative as well. Being a highly trained `Therapy' dog did not necessarily make the team more appropriate than the clerk who had brought their family pet. And all but a very few teams could handle the truly traumatic situations or have the experience and know-how to interface with mental health professionals in a crisis situation.
What is a canine crisis intervention team? This question is just beginning to be defined, and created out of the experiences of Kris Butler with Dog Programs in Oklahoma city after the aftermath of the bombing there, and by the teams and mental health support involved at the Family Assistance Center, Pier 94 in New York City in the wake of the unspeakable horror of September 11th. Loosely it is a trained certified dog/handler team specifically educated on both ends of the leash to assist mental health workers, (or hopefully to include a mental health worker as part of the team) to provide support and necessary intervention to individuals in need on sites of crisis, trauma and disaster.
Animal-Assisted Therapy merely means any goal-related intervention that utilizes animals. The term `therapy' dog is meaningless without the population and situation that the dog is to work in being defined.
Most programs break down into three aspects of either residential or visiting. The combinations are as follows: resident animals with resident clients, Green Chimneys for example; resident animals with visiting clients; most equine facilitated psychotherapy falls into this category, for example; resident clients with visiting animals; the “pet therapy” norm, and basis for many popular programs such as Delta's Pet Partners.
Here is where the first major difference between canine crisis intervention teams and other dog/handler therapeutic teams is readily apparent. In crisis and trauma interventions all aspects of the therapeutic triangle -- leader, animal/handler team (situationally there needs to be a handler) and client -- are without their primary territory intact. In all other therapeutic interactions, at least one leg of the dynamic is grounded territorially. This cannot help but impact the entirety of the work, and for this reason the animal/handler and leader elements of the team must have not only specific training requirements, but specific aptitudes as well.
There is so much to learn and study about the work of canine crisis intervention teams; all I can say is that we have seen great positive experiences come from the bringing of dogs into traumatic crisis situations. It is clear that the dogs and handler must be very stable, as well as trained in trauma and crisis work. The dogs must be willingly social, and seem to need a high degree of natural open pack behaviors. Those dogs who had no natural willingness shut down faster, experienced depression and in some cases dehydrated. While emotionally sensitive animals are needed, emotionally needy dogs faired equally poorly, although many of their traits were viewed as positive by staff and clients. Animals who present at either ends of the dominance/submission spectrum did very poorly and had a negative impact on the other teams on the sites. Teams that operated from a point of empathy, rather than 'compassionate need' held up longer, and were able to provide true solace and support which was truly unavailable to many from any other source.
I believe because we have witnessed this, we have an obligation to create the formal and legal structures that will provide for their use in other situations where trauma and disaster relief is needed. But unless we study what it is, unless we work to define it, unless we keep searching and seeking for ways, means and processes involved, unless we are continually open to learn and train and teach and share, it will remain a largely untapped resource at best, and at worst remain relegated to cute photo opportunties for soft news days. We can not let that happen. Giving Paws hopes to be a continuing voice of education and training as we discover together what the needs are for both ends of the leash, but most importanly for the assistance of those affected by crisis and tragedy. Those that need us in the future must not be deprived of this kind of intervention.
|
|
"I dwell in possibility."
Emily Dickinson
|
|
Elizabeth Teal, founder of Giving Paws, is a specialist in companion animal behavior and animal-assisted therapy. Currently in private practice, she is a popular and respected lecturer and instructor, presenting seminars and discussions from Seattle to Switzerland. Articles she has written have appeared in The ASPCA Animal Watch; she also created and wrote the monthly Visiting Pet newsletter Giving Paws. She is the author of Baby Training Your Other Baby, a guide for expectant mothers. She has appeared on local and national television and radio discussing pets and pet-related issues. She is currently a featured trainer in the 2006 public television series "Animal Attractions," and a recent seminar she presented in Jacksonville was enthusiastically reviewed in the Florida Times-Union. Formerly the coordinator of the ASPCA's Visiting Pet Program in New York City, she and her partner, a small spaniel named Annie, did extensive work with families of the victims of the September 11 attack. Liz currently lives in Florida with a wonderfully supportive husband, their son, three dogs, three cats, as well as the odd foster critter of the moment.
Elizabeth Teal is available for private counseling and training sessions, phone consultations, and speaking engagements. You can e-mail her for more information. She can also be contacted through Puppy Paths, Inc.
|
|