Published: March 02, 2008 10:06 am            

Cuddly counselor works wonders

We can all use a friend in times of need.

It helps if that friend is kind, understanding and able to listen.

And workers at Western Plains Youth and Family Services have learned that it doesn’t hurt if that friend is also cute and cuddly.

That’s why their newest therapist assistant is an adorable puppy named Bella.

“You just take one look at her and she makes you feel better,” Western Plains Director Kevin Evans said.

Bella has only been at the center for about a month, but she has already proven quite helpful in both the counseling offices and the youth shelter.

Bella helps to create a more normal type of environment for the children in the shelter, Evans said.

“We try to make it (the shelter) as much like a normal home as possible,” he said, noting that for many of the kids who visit the shelter, it is as close to normal as they have ever had.

Recently there was one young boy in the shelter who was very agitated, Shelter Supervisor Denise Swint said.

“All he wanted to do was to see the dog,” she said.

Shelter workers tried to work with the child, but he only got more upset, Swint said, until they finally allowed him to go out and play the dog.

But as soon as he was outside with Bella, the boy just sat calmly and contentedly petting her.

“He calmed down, it mellowed him out,” Swint said.

“I think animals are calming,” Karen Harrison, Western Plains outreach coordinator, said.

Harrison said she experienced a similar situation when using Bella to help her deal with a rowdy client.

Before she brought Bella in to assist in the session, her young client would have trouble focusing, Harrison said.

“I would have to struggle to get him to participate,” she said. “But now he does a lot better.”

With Bella there to pet, Harrison said her client is able to remained more focus on the session and therefore communicates with her better.

And children are not the only ones who benefit from Bella’s lovable nature.

Bella has helped a number of adult clients as well, said Krystal Lujan, Therapeutic Foster Care director and outpatient Medicaid coordinator for Western Plains.

One of the therapists has used Bella to help spur interaction in her group sessions for adults with disabilities and delays, Lujan said.

That same therapist has also used Bella to help calm individual clients down after traumatic experiences, she said.

But Bella’s ability to help calm patients’ nerves is just one of her many therapeutic uses.

“She’s good for a reward,” Harrison said.

“It gives them something to look forward to,” Lujan said.

Bella is also a good way to build rapport between the therapists and their clients, Lujan

said.

She also helps the children in the shelter develop a sense of responsibility as they have the opportunity to care for her, Swint said.

“It’s like she’s theirs while they’re here,” she said.

Bella is also “another friend” for the clients to turn to, another ear to listen, Lujan said.

“They (therapy dogs like Bella) listen, but don’t talk back,” she said. “It gives them (both children and adult clients) a sense of being heard.”

Because Bella, who is only a few months old now, will grow into a big dog, she will also help children overcome trust issues, Lujan said.

In learning to trust and feel comfortable with a dog that is bigger than them, the children will also learn to trust adults who are bigger than them.

It’s almost as if the children will identify with the dog as another person, which is exactly how the staff at Western Plains identify with her now.

Bella may be furry and four-legged, but Evans said she is still considered as just another member of the staff.

“She has her own personnel file,” he said, noting that it includes employment information listing the day she came to the shelter, records of her shots and a picture.

One day Evans hopes it will also contain a special certificate stating that Bella is a certified therapy animal.

Although Bella is young and still makes mistakes from time to time now, the staff at Western Plains is confident that she will learn and improve as she grows.

Bella already seems to know how to give the children what they need, Lujan said.

“She’s good with kids,” she said. “She stays calm even when they’re upset.

“And as she grows up in this environment she will only get better.”

“I think we found the right one (therapy dog),” Evans said. “She is going to help a lot of kids get better.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.