NOTE: Throughout this web site, the names of clients and their dogs have been changed, and the faces of clients have been hidden, to protect their identities.

Health Professional Guidelines      I am a clinical psychologist working primarily with individuals who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and dissociative disorders because of childhood abuse. Three of my clients now have service dogs. We have all learned a great deal from this experience.      Let me first speak of the benefits. SDVA service dogs have given these women a new lease on life. A client who slept about three hours a night sitting up in a chair is now able to sleep a full night in her bed because her dog is right beside her. A client who used to get lost on the bus or step off a curb into traffic because she was dissociating, no longer does so because her dog alerts her. She used to sleep walk in the middle of the night and be in danger of being hit by a car. Now her dog wakes her up before she gets out of the house. Rather than awakening agitated and fighting, she simply awakens and returns to bed. These women are able to leave their homes and function in the world because their dogs accompany them. Another woman was Agoraphobic and is now able to leave her home to get food for the dog and walk it.      Clients who dissociate find they stay more present in the world because their dogs know when they are "gone" and develop ways to alert them to stay present. Simply being able to touch the dog is a grounding experience when stressed. A more complete discussion of beneficial tasks service dogs can be trained to do to mitigate a person's psychiatric disability can be found here . The relationship with a service dog is, at times, life saving.      As one client so poignantly put it:   I have wanted to die since I was five. This feeling has remained with me all of my life. When I first learned about SDVA I realized that these dogs form a closer bond with their person than I have ever experienced in the past with (pets). When J. (her new service dog, rescued from a bad situation by SDVA) had been with me for a few days, I realized that she had as much need for me as I had for her. It became apparent that it would be devastating for her to lose me. (Suicide) is no longer an option. However, you must know that a service dog is not an instant fix; no matter how much we would wish to find one for people who are in so much pain. The partnership with the dog can be a lifesaver but it is a partnership. As such, it requires hard work on both members' parts. Both members of the partnership have a history of trauma in their backgrounds. The dog must overcome its trauma in past relationships with people and learn to read this new human and her unique needs and eccentricities to become a working team.      To be a successful human partner the person with a new service dog must accept the time, patience and hard work it takes to have this dog. Unlike a pet, this dog is a twenty-four hour a day responsibility. Service dogs accompany their humans into all public places. The ADA law states that business owners must allow service animals even if they have a no "pet" policy unless the dog is behaving in a way that is threatening to others or is "out of control". This would include barking in a movie theatre. Therefore, the dog must not only be walked, exercised and fed regularly; it must also be constantly trained to have good manners in public. In addition, the human partner needs to be able to watch out for the dog in crowed public places to prevent unwanted petting or someone stepping on the dog's tail.      Many women with trauma histories have spent most of their time trying to be invisible. Being in public with a service dog, they are suddenly very visible. The dog wears a cape or "shab" that clearly identifies it as a "Service Dog in Training." Total strangers will frequently ask what the dog is being trained for. Each woman has found a way of responding that works for her, but it is a process that requires her to deal with her own shame about being disabled due to a psychiatric condition. It is finally dealt with best when the woman realizes people are interested in the dog more than her condition.      In addition, clients must learn to manage their own behavioral reactions to stress or triggering in public. If the woman becomes extremely reactive, the dog may interpret this as danger in the environment and become aggressive or out of control. If a person cannot care for himself or herself adequately and get into dangerous situations or involuntary hospitalizations the dog may be at risk for being picked up and taken to a shelter by animal control.      Your most important task before considering recommending a service dog is to evaluate carefully whether your client is ready at this time to assume the responsibility for a dog. A failure experience of this magnitude is devastating to a client and a setback in the therapy. However, for the dog failure might mean death. Dogs that cannot recover and be placed elsewhere face the possibility of euthanasia at a shelter. I have compiled a short checklist to help you in your evaluation prior to recommending your client for a service dog from SDVA. Please click here to view the checklist.      To be successful, the client with a service dog in training must be a part of a team. This team consists of the client, dog, one or more professional trainers, a veterinarian, SDVA and the therapist. As the therapist, you must help the client deal with the increased stress of having this much responsibility for her/himself as well as the dog. As a result, you will need to learn more about dogs and dog training than you had anticipated. Peer support is also helpful for clients with new service dogs. Online discussion groups with other people who have service dogs can be this source of support. Regards, *Carmen Davis, Ph.D. (drcarmen@pacifier.com) Clinical Psychologist 811 NW Twentieth Avenue, Suite 203 Portland, Oregon 97209 Phone: (Voice) 503-223-3550 (Fax) 503-223-4529 * Health professionals with client questions are welcome to Contact Dr Davis. Any other inquiries are requested to address themselves to SDVA directly