Pet Therapy: My Dog Does The Talking by Grown & Flown

Five years ago this month, I knocked at the door of a psychiatric unit of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and waited until I heard the key in the lock. This was my first time as a volunteer leading the therapy session and I was nervous. Fortunately, I work with a partner whose specialty is to provide good karma and to calm those who need it. His name is Moose and he is my chocolate Labrador. This is the story of our work with adults suffering from schizophrenia. While bringing the dog around to provide comfort, I have learned much about the individual stories of those struggling with profound mental illness. Here I share my experience working alongside Moose, pet therapist.

ABOUT MARY DELL AND LISA: Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa Endlich Heffernan are the voices behind Grown & Flown: Parenting from the Empty Nest. Between them they have five children for a total of 93 years of parenting experience as they hurtle towards their empty nests. Mary Dell has a MBA from Harvard Business School and worked at NBC, Discovery, and Lifetime. Lisa has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and worked as a Wall Street trader before becoming an author of three books including New York Times Business Bestseller, “Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success.” She writes for The Atlantic as well as the Huffington Post.
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