Note from the Management: to April

For reasons I can't fathom, Blogger isn't allowing me to post replies to comments right now.

This note is to April who commented on the recent post regarding Psychiatric Service Dogs:

April, would you be willing to do a quick guest post about life with your service dog? Details about your partnership, how you adopted him, and your training protocals may well be helpful to others.

Yet Another New Beginning: DBT

Tomorrow I'm beginning a new chapter in my own healing journey.

After 15 years of tearing down and rebuilding my life, I'm at something of an impasse. I've become increasingly proficient at figuring out the why's of my reactions -- after the fact.

After the fact isn't good enough when "during the fact," so to speak, leads to difficulties being with other people, keeping jobs, and occasionally even having a civil discussion with my one living family member.

Which leads me to tomorrow. I'll be going to Wayne State University for a full battery of assessments prior to joining a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) group. So far, my research (along with the positive advice of a Peer Support friend of mine who leads a DBT group) leads me to believe that this type of therapy will teach me how to respond rather than react to the many things which still seem to trigger me.

In other words, it's time for me to learn a new behavioral Standard Operating Procedure; one in which I'm in charge of what happens when I'm triggered.

This is going to be a six-month process after the group starts. I'll be posting updates on the process here periodically. Perhaps my experiences can help someone else decide whether DBT is for them, or at least provide some solid information from a first-person point of view.

Something New Every Day: Psychiatric Service Dog Society

Sometimes I'm a bit slow.

For example, I've become used to seeing dogs at Peer Support trainings. However, I just assumed that any dogs wearing service vests most likely were helping their owners live with other disabilities.

Yesterday my ignorance on this count was remedied through the good auspices of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, which I found while bouncing from article to article doing research for this blog.

Thinking about it, it would seem to be common sense that dogs could be a tremendous help to people living with symptoms of both PTSD and other psychiatric conditions, if only through their gift of unconditional love for their owners.

But it's more than that. Psychiatric Service dogs can be trained to help us wake up when we oversleep, for example, or remind us to take our meds. And what could be more soothing to those of us with social anxiety than the protecting, loving presence of our dog with us in a public place?

If there's even a chance that a Psychiatric Service Dog would be helpful to you or someone you know, or you're even just curious, check the site out. It is well-researched and full of information to quench your curiosity, help you make a decision about getting a service dog and/or help you get started.

There is valuable information for clinicians as well, including research into the therapeutic benefits of Psychiatric Service Dogs.

Note from the Management

Apologies for the lack of posting yesterday as I played catch-up from Labor Day. Sometimes it's Good to take time off!