About Buddy. . .

As I progressed through my clinical studies, I began thinking about a therapy dog. My cousin was breeding her beautiful purebred Golden Retriever and I had my mind set on a puppy to be born in the fall of 2016. Prior to the fall, my son and I visited the animal shelter to consider having two dogs - the one that would work with me and a pal for her. Little did I know that when we rescued Buddy from the animal shelter at 8 months, his third placement,  that he had developed a keen sense of human emotions most likely stemming from trauma that he had experienced. I began to notice that if I sneezed or coughed, became animated or emotional, Buddy would quickly be at my side, his paws in my lap as if to ask "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"  

Buddy was able to go to work with me every day as I counseled young adults in the Napa Valley Unified School District in California, using his natural intuition and unconditional love to comfort clients. Buddy moved with us from California and is undergoing additional training to be a certified American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen, seeing clients part time. You can think of Buddy as a complementary addition to your therapeutic experience. His presence is optional which we will discuss prior to your first visit.

Is there any research to support of animals and therapy?

A peer reviewed research article on Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) identifies the unique characteristics of human–pet relationships that include clients' unmet attachment needs, individual differences in attachment insecurity, coping, and responsiveness to therapy. It also suggests ways to foster the development of more adaptive patterns of attachment and healthier modes of relating to others through the use of AAT (Sigal Zilcha-Mano, Mario Mikulincer & Phillip R. Shaver. (2011). Pet in the therapy room: An attachment perspective on Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT). Attachment and Human Development, 13 (6).