ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY SERVICES, MA

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AaTs Massachusetts in the Blackstone Valley XPress! Check out our article here: http://www.theyankeexpress.com/2021/02/25/348443/aats-of-massachusetts-provides-canine-comfort-to-many

PARTNERSHIP with Douglas Police K9 Finn! K9 Finn is training with AaTs MA in order to become a Comfort K9 with the Douglas Police Department. We are so proud and excited to be a part of his training! He sure is taking the AKC “STAR” Puppy very seriously!

TRAINING EVENT: ICISF World Congress 2019: Kim and Keeva attended the ICISF World Congress in Baltimore, MD on May 22-24. This was an unforgettable opportunity to hear from crisis response personnel from all over the world! Topic included were the CISM response to the Virgin Islands following a natural disaster, CISM debriefings to teachers after a school shooting, ways to start a therapy dog program in a communications center, and a survivor's point of view after a bombing. We enjoyed dinner with a Canadian Crisis Response Team and their two K9s, Kalahan and Serenity, and lunch with a fellow K9 First Responder Team, Bill and Clarence! This was also a great training opportunity for Keeva and we worked on navigating the hotel's escalators and being in crowded situations. We are very excited to share what we learned with our teammates at an upcoming CM CISM team meeting. Please see our photos from the conference here.

MEMBERSHIP with K9 First Responders: Kim and Keeva have passed the interview, evaluation, and 32 hour training process required to join K9FR! A K9FR Team is a handler and dog trained as an "All-Hazards Psychological Trauma Response Team" supporting the re-establishment of a person's cognitive and emotional equilibrium who has been impacted by a psychological trauma. K9FR has deployed across the nation to natural disasters, mass casualties, and critical incidents such as suicides and line of duty deaths. www.k9fr.org

PARTNERSHIP with Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District! AaTs Credentialed Therapy Dog Teams will be making routine visits to ALL SCHOOLS in order to serve EVERY STUDENT in the ENTIRE DISTRICT! We are so excited to promote wellness with students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Look for this program to begin on March 1st.

PARTNERSHIP with Holy Cross College in Worcester! In addition to customary therapy dog visits during the week of final exams, AaTs will ensure ongoing comfort and support for students by providing therapy dog visits on campus on a monthly basis. Holy Cross students will be able to sign up for private appointments with a therapy dog and campus counselor and also engage in traditional group visits with a therapy dog at various locations on campus. AaTs MA expresses gratitude to the Office of Disability Services and the D.R.E.A.M. Chapter of Holy Cross!

Header Picture: Photos by Emma Devlin, 413-544-5259