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GOLDEN NEWS July 2006
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As Angel, my Golden
Retriever walks into the room, she is surrounded by
a small group of people all waiting to pet her.
A young man who has been battling with depression,
reaches out to her and says, “Angel, you is the
first female friend I have ever made and you are the
best!”
Angel is part of a therapy team that works at a
rehabilitative centre for adults with mental
illnesses. She is a co-therapist for Animal Angels,
an organization that provides animal-assisted
therapy for children and adults with mental and
physical illnesses.
Animal Angels is run by Rohini Fernandes along with
Radhika Nair. They are Clinical Psychologists,
dog-trainers and Certified Practitioners of
Animal-Assisted therapy. They have a team of three
specially- trained therapy dogs and one therapy
kitten who work along with them in various special
schools and institutes in different parts of Mumbai
to help people improve the quality of their lives.
In ANIMAL-ASSISTED THERAPY (AAT) these trained
therapy dogs work along with the therapist to
motivate and help a child or an adult client learn
new skills, or help in the recovery process using
certain unique techniques.
A
10-year-old boy with Down syndrome had problems with co-ordinating
the use of his hands and legs. With help from Capser,
a big friendly Labrador who is part of the therapy team,
he has learnt how to brush Casper the right way and fasten
on his leash and walk the dog. The child is so motivated
to play with Casper that he is only too ready to do this.
If we were to use other therapies to help such children,
like moving toys or other objects, they would most certainly
get bored quickly. Not so with a friendly, tail wagging
dog that is always eager to play.
Those who suffer from mental illness or low
self-esteem tend to focus on themselves. Having a
therapy dog come and nuzzle his nose into their
hands or lie on his back for a tummy rub can help
them focus on their environment, because rather than
thinking and talking about themselves and their
problems, they watch and talk to the therapist about
the animals.
Also, the non-judgemental and unconditional
acceptance they get from these dogs makes them feel
accepted and this is the first step on the road to
recovery and repair to a damaged personality.
At Animal Angels, there is a therapist and a handler
for the dog present at each session, so that the dog
and the client get equal attention. Animal Angels is
now planning to approach hospitals and homes for
senior citizens to integrate this therapy into their
other programmes. Lack of awareness and funding is a
major hurdle because even if people are keen to
start such a programme in their institutes, they
cannot always afford to do so.
Animal Angels is also on the look out for dogs with
a good temperament and dogs that are outgoing to
make them part of their therapy programmes. Animal
Angels can be reached at animalangels@rediffmail.com.
