Our Facility Support Dog, Zane, is a 2-year-old standard poodle.  He is owned by the Lions Foundation Guide Dogs that is a charity that provides fully funded service dogs to a variety of programs.  Zane has been trained by the Lions Foundation Guide Dogs to provide a safe presence in calm, nurturing and empathetic environments.  The goal of working with Zane are to improve client experiences, improve clients’ resiliency, and improve clients’ connectedness.  Zane helps clients achieve these goals by increasing empathy, decreasing stress, and increasing the feelings of well-being.  We are already seeing the positive and visible impact that Zane is having on our clients and families supporting them to relax and helping to provide the ability to regulate emotions while in treatment.

 

Animal Integrated Programs

Pathstone Mental Health continues to embed innovative, and evidence-based therapies to support our young people and families to thrive. Pathstone has introduced Animal Integrated Interventions. This is a broad term that is commonly used to describe the use of various animals in animal assisted therapy. Animal integrated interventions are goal-directed interventions which can be an integral part of the treatment process. They are designed to promote improvement in human physical, social, emotional or cognitive function. Facility animal are expertly trained to partner with a handler and are committed to serving their clients.