Kristy Carlisle

There is nothing warm and cozy about her room. It’s just three feet by five feet of hard, thin strands of interlocking steel. Overhead, the long, yellow fluorescent lights buzz incessantly like annoying mosquitoes. There is nothing to buffer the non-stop barks and echoes that follow. The disinfectants and bleach vapors burn her strong olfactory systems.

I use the social network FaceBook to keep in contact with family and friends, but I have not participated in any of its “events.” So, I was not about to start when the trend appeared in early December to change one’s profile picture to a favorite cartoon character in order to protest child abuse and neglect. My job as a counselor is to advocate for children and to protect them from abuse, neglect, and harm of any kind, but this cyber event did not seem very effectual to me. Instead of participating, I posted the contact number of the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) for New Jersey residents to call if they suspected child abuse or neglect in our state. Even though I understand the unexceptional reputation this division of our state government has, I was alarmed at responses my post received.

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." -Albert Schweitzer Happy belated birthday to Albert Schweitzer (14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965), humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize winner (1952). Schweitzer was ahead of his time, his words and beliefs still, more than a century later, continue to remind us that a “cherished life” extends beyond human beings. The beauty of Schweitzer’s value system was that he believed that all life, regardless of how seemingly insignificant, is still life. This revelation came early to Schweitzer when, as a youth, and despite his apprehension, he accompanied a friend to shoot birds with rocks and a slingshot. There they saw small sparrows sharing their melodies. As young Albert reluctantly readied his slingshot, the local church bells suddenly rang out. He took this as a sign; the sparrows were not perched on the tree limb for his entertainment, but were rather magnificent manifestations of life.

I would like to continue with the second Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) tenet used to help individuals create new positive neural pathways; developing new ways of thinking and being.To recap, these tenets are love, touch, relationships and experiential learning. Todays message is on the power of touch in AAT.

“Although humans inherit a biological bias that permits them to feel anger, jealousy, selfishness, envy and to be rude, aggressive or violent, they inherit an even stronger biological bias for kindness, compassion, cooperation, love and nurture – especially towards those in need.” – Jerome Kagan In my last blog, I gave an overview of the Animal Assisted Therapy tenets that are used to help individuals create new positive neural pathways. These tenets lead to new ways of thinking and being and include 1) love 2) touch, 3) relationships and 4) experiential learning. I’d like to address these tenets individually over the next few weeks, beginning today with love.