Burn Survivor Therapy Dog Has Amazing Break Through

Doing therapy dog work at a Behavioral Health Unit has its challenges. My being a retired police officer had prepared for me for the unexpected. In fact, there were situations as a police officer that I actually had to take people into custody under California Health and Safety code 5150, because they were a danger to themselves or others. Some of those times I would transport those individuals to a lock-down unit in Los Angeles. But now I was visiting them, helping them. The work was rewarding for me, I was actually changing people’s lives.

We would make visits twice a month along with two other teams. We work with adults and children. The program was big success. The therapists loved us, because we got consistent results and it made their jobs much easier.

One cases that stood out was a sixteen-year-old female gang member. She was extremely violent both verbally and physically. She was suicidal and had razor cuts up and down her arms. The staff had warned us against visiting her, they had determined that she was too dangerous for placement and were getting ready to send her to Juvenile Detention.

This young lady desperately needed help. I really felt we could make a difference and was willing to take chance. All I asked was that the staff stood by in case I needed help.

When the young lady entered the room, I introduced her to Sweetheart and her story. The young lady was as sweet as can be to her new friend Sweetheart. She was polite, respectful, soft spoken and really took an interest in Sweetheart’s well-being. No violence, no anger, no guarded response, just a sweet young girl cuddling a dog.

Sweetheart fell in love with her, wagging her tail, giving her kisses. She knew in her own way that this young lady was special. In follow up visits we had learned that they did not send her back home. She had calmed down and was beginning to heal.

As therapy dog handlers we don’t always get to see the end result of our visits. Also, I never inquire as to what their problems are or why they are in that situation. To me, it doesn’t matter. I work in the here and now. I’m here, now how can I help.

But every once in a while, we get to hear the rest of the story. This was the case with this young lady.

About a year later I put Sweetheart up for an award with my therapy dog organization. I asked several people for letters of recommendation. One of the letters was from a Richard T. Kotomori Jr. MD, who was a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Arrowhead. He wrote the following letter.

“Dear reviewer,

I am a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, the medical center for the county of San Bernardino, California. I offer the following highest recommendation for Sweetheart, one of our pet therapy dogs. I hope to provide a context of the environment and the scope of the challenge we face in ourwork with children so that you might better understand Sweetheart’s import on our unit.

We are charged with the awesome and sometimes overwhelming responsibility and privilege of working with children, ages five to eighteen, with extreme mental illnesses. Often times they are the victims of physical and sexual abuse including exploitation and rape by child pornographers. They are often the perpetrators of dangerous crimes like assault, arson, grand theft auto, and prostitution. As they hail from San Bernardino County, unofficially known as the “Amphetamine, Capitol of the World”, they often times have serious amphetamine dependencies or live in foster care or group home settings due to the sequelae of drug dependence in their families. Some are mentally retarded. Others have brain injuries. They all have suffered tremendously. They are all in great need of unconditional love.

As you may imagine, it is often hard to get through to these children who have developed  almost impenetrable defensive walls for their own emotional protection. The field of Child Psychiatry offers many tools to assist in that end. We use play therapy to allow them to disclose their feelings and resolve conflicts indirectly. Validate their feelings; listening empathetically; avoid judgmental statements; never shy away from the pain that the recounting of their horrific life stories brings forth from within them (and ourselves as interviewers); make sure that by the end of our work together they know that they have truly been heard. We focus on the attitudes of the staff and the emotional tone of the unit in general and work to make the unit as safe and as supportive as possible. Our unique pet therapy program aids us immeasurably in accomplishing the task as described above.

I have seen Sweetheart, a burn survivor who was intentionally set on fire by teenage boys, help even the most emotionally closed off children open up and smile. One girl in particular, presents a memorable story.

                                                Toto and the Tin Man

She was 16, had been kidnapped as a toddler by her cocaine addicted mother and was ultimately recovered in a hospital in another state a few years later where she had been abandoned, nutritionally deprived and physically abused. At age ten she was sexually molested. Months prior to her admissions to the in-patient unit she was raped by a classmate in high school. Because of her violent behavior and multiple suicide attempts she was placed in a therapeutic placement for intensive help. She disliked the placement and devised the plan of attacking people randomly until the staff determined that she was too dangerous for the placement and would return her home to her father. On our unit she enacted the same plan and at 215 lbs, nearly successfully injured peers and staff on numerous occasions. Attempts to reach her were in vain. She typically stared coldly and responded with “So what!” and “I don’t care!” It was clear that she was in a great deal of pain but there was no way of getting through - then came pet therapy day.

Sweetheart seemed to melt her cast iron scowl instantaneously. Magically Sweetheart beamed a fix, intense, and anticipatory gaze that compelled the girl to shed her armor, kneel down, smile and cuddle. As a witness I can describe the change as one of the most dramatic I have ever witnessed. It enabled me to talk with the normally stoic and guarded Celeste about the shared transforming experience. It Convinced me that my assertions to the staff that the patient was not beyond hope were actually true. I noticed that with each visit the staff became more understanding. Celeste also became more trusting and open with me as well as with the rest of the staff. Though not cured by any stretch of the imagination, she had become an ally in her own heath care.

I am not sure where Sweetheart’s powers of transformation come from. I do not know why she still trusts and desires human contact after being so cruelly tortured. Whatever the reason, she is able to help people tremendously through her patent and unconditional love. I give Sweetheart my highest recommendations.

Sincerely,

Richard T. Kotomori Jr, MD”