I’m a psychotherapist, a child mental health specialist. God has been very good to me in my private practice, and I try to tithe service in my field. Right now I volunteer as clinical supervisor at a youth drop in center for very high risk teens. I love my work there, and love the kids, but they can be a rough crowd (you have no idea). Last night I decided that Tau needed more time with me, so I took him with me. He was at first wary of the loud noises, crowds, and odd smells (these non profit start ups are often renting really, really old funky buildings… this one is no exception. Tau was probably smelling carpets from the’50’s).
Tau didn’t have fear, exactly, but at first he was wary and careful. When I asked him to make friends with someone, he would approach, sniff, and make friends. A crisis case arose, and I was forced to go into session with a recently traumatized youth brought in by friends. I left Tau with an older boy I know well, who loves dogs. The other facilitators all knew to watch out for him.
I heard a scream, and excused myself to find a sweet woman (who happens to be a criminal working off some jail time doing community service for us) all aflutter. Tau had opened his mouth, she had seen all those teeth, and she had started a perhaps overly dramatic show of fear. I took Tau over, had him roll over to show his tummy, and let her approach. She leaned down, and he licked her nose. According to the lady, they are now best friends. She showed me pictures of her Chihuahua, we talked about how similar sweet dogs of any size are, and I went back and finished the work I needed to do. 10 minutes later I went out to find my pupster lying on the couch cuddling with several youth, looking like the cat in the cream (he’s not allowed on the furniture at home….ever). The kids were so thrilled….he was getting petted by sometimes 5 hands at once! When I took Tau out for a walk to make sure he wasn’t overwhelmed, he looked around the parking lot, then went over and tapped the doorknob with his nose (his way of asking for the door to be opened). He was ready to go back in and play with a big group of noisy teens. Tau may be my therapy dog!
I realized for confidentiality I cannot include pics of the kids, as cute as they are, so this one of Tau alone on the couch is the only one I can include…and yes, he’s huge for 7 months, isn’t he? He’s already taller than Galen. :-P
http://farm5.static.flickr.com...525_d3677855b7_o.jpg
Tau didn’t have fear, exactly, but at first he was wary and careful. When I asked him to make friends with someone, he would approach, sniff, and make friends. A crisis case arose, and I was forced to go into session with a recently traumatized youth brought in by friends. I left Tau with an older boy I know well, who loves dogs. The other facilitators all knew to watch out for him.
I heard a scream, and excused myself to find a sweet woman (who happens to be a criminal working off some jail time doing community service for us) all aflutter. Tau had opened his mouth, she had seen all those teeth, and she had started a perhaps overly dramatic show of fear. I took Tau over, had him roll over to show his tummy, and let her approach. She leaned down, and he licked her nose. According to the lady, they are now best friends. She showed me pictures of her Chihuahua, we talked about how similar sweet dogs of any size are, and I went back and finished the work I needed to do. 10 minutes later I went out to find my pupster lying on the couch cuddling with several youth, looking like the cat in the cream (he’s not allowed on the furniture at home….ever). The kids were so thrilled….he was getting petted by sometimes 5 hands at once! When I took Tau out for a walk to make sure he wasn’t overwhelmed, he looked around the parking lot, then went over and tapped the doorknob with his nose (his way of asking for the door to be opened). He was ready to go back in and play with a big group of noisy teens. Tau may be my therapy dog!
I realized for confidentiality I cannot include pics of the kids, as cute as they are, so this one of Tau alone on the couch is the only one I can include…and yes, he’s huge for 7 months, isn’t he? He’s already taller than Galen. :-P
http://farm5.static.flickr.com...525_d3677855b7_o.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment