Therapy is not so ruff when dogs help

Next week I am going to speak at a "career day" for a middle school here in town. Most of you know that Zoe, my yellow lab, is a certified therapy dog (see pictures on previous posts). I am going to talk with the middle schoolers about not only my job as a therapist but Zoe's job as a therapy dog. Anyway, I thought I would share this video on youtube.com about the importance and functionality of what animal-assisted therapy. The video I linked is a therapy dog at work in a medical setting.

I feel so fortunate to be able to use Zoe in my work, more than that I am grateful for her ability to help people in her own unique way. For example, Zoe is very good at sensing people's emotions. She has put her head on a client's knee when they are feeling depressed. She has used her paw to softly touch the right arm of a client who has chronic pain, and was feeling pain during her session. Of course, she also helps people by being herself...soft and tangible. She has broken down defensive barriers in adolescent clients and has built up their self-esteem by letting them teach her new tricks.

This is growing area in health care but more public awareness is needed to make this type of therapy widely accepted and accessible. AND covered by health insurance. I hope you enjoy the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq6_cdzqlTM