A note from Dorshan Millhouse, President and CEO of Pawsitive Therapeutic Consulting Services:
Meet Berlin. This Blue Great Dane is destined for greatness. Thanks to Cindy Allen, of Great MaDanes, her temperament is perfect for her life mission. Berlin is training to become an Animal Assisted Therapy
Canine with the non-profit organization Pawsitive Therapeutic Consulting Services. (PTCS) This new company was established in March of 2011, and based out of Texas. Their unique mission is to provide a comprehensive Animal Assisted Therapy and Activity Consulting Program that partners with medical
facilities and community services to assist in promoting, improving, and maintaining the seven areas of wellness in improving the quality of life.
Berlin has spent the first 12 months in training classes and getting continued
socialization throughout the community. The first 12 weeks are critical, and Berlin has been maximizing her socialization to ensure those early weeks are full of good experiences of the world around her. She has had the opportunity to frequent rehabilitation centers, schools, office buildings, state buildings, gyms, and other facilities. All of which help shape her for the Animal Assisted Therapy sessions she will do in the future.
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What is Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)? At no charge, professionals schedule a PTCS Therapy Dane to play an intricate roll in treatment sessions. Patients or clients may be physically, socially, emotionally or cognitively challenged, and have specific goals/progress reports that will be updated throughout each session. Visitation is scheduled and worked around the individual’s needs. One example of AAT, is a child
has been assigned to a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). The SLP may be having a
hard time finding a motivator for their sessions to implement their goals. The parent
mentions some of the child’s interests and one happens to be animals – more
specifically dogs. That is where Berlin would come in. The SLP would contact PTCS
and they would bring Berlin to the session. There the SLP would introduce Berlin and
then the SLP would spend the session asking questions in a way that would encourage
dialogue from the child.
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Berlin will also do Animal Assisted Activities when she has down time from her AAT adventures. Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) are visits can be spontaneous or scheduled. Berlin would engage groups or individuals in a variety of social settings.
Visitation times are considered flexible. In AAA, no treatment is being performed or
progress of a patient is being documented. Animal-Assisted Activities are fun and
relaxed sessions where Berlin the Therapy Dane entertains and just enjoys
companionship. Examples of AAA would be going to the local hospital to visit patients,
or attending the Special Olympics to support the Athletes prior to their events.
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This Therapy Dane in Training is sure to give your
environment and facility a unique and treasured experience! More importantly, we are
pawsitive you will be excited about what our programs have to offer the community! You can read more about PTCS and follow Berlin’s training at
http://www.therapydanes.org/
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