Animal-Assisted Crisis Intervention: Training Pets and Their Human Handlers
Saturday, April 5, 2008
George Fox University
Portland Center
Featuring
Richard Lowy, MD Pacific North West Regional Director
Marcy Lowy, MEd Pacific North West Coordinator for HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response
HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response
HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (HOPE AACR) is a national 501-3c volunteer service organization incorporated in Oregon in 2001. HOPE AACR is dedicated to providing emotional comfort to traumatized individuals through the scientifically proven healing benefits of the human-animal bond.
HOPE AACR trains and certifies its human-canine teams to be available locally and nationally to assist emergency responders who are deployed to traumatic incidents. They also bring relief to the responders themselves. Their human-canine teams have responded to numerous traumatic events, including the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, school shootings, natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, and the recent Southern California wildfires. Oregon teams are now on call 24 hours a day for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to provide services to children, adults, and responders who have experienced or witnessed crimes or accidents.
Richard Lowy, MD, Marcy Lowy, MEd, and Otis & Willy, Canine Responders
Richard, a retired physician, was a practicing radiation oncologist and director of the Maybelle Clark McDonald Cancer Center at Providence St. Vincent Hospital. Following his retirement in 1996, he spent several years as a Washington County court appointed special advocate. Marcy earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology and was the founder/owner of the award-winning developmental toy store, Child’s Play, in northwest Portland. Both now in retirement, the Lowys dedicate their time to volunteering along with their Portuguese water dogs, Otis and Willy, in crisis response work with HOPE AACR. In addition, they are active members of Dove Lewis Animal-Assisted Therapy and Education.
The Lowys have served in leadership positions for HOPE AACR since 2002. As medical and mental health experts and experienced canine crisis response handlers, we look forward to the wealth of knowledge and experience they plan to share at the conference.
Conference Details
Who Should Attend
Community members, mental health professionals, and organizations interested in the use of pet-assisted psychosocial services will benefit from this introduction to animal-assisted crisis response. Those wishing to become animal response handlers, as well as professionals desiring to expand their work to include animal-assistance services, will receive an orientation to this rapidly growing prevention and intervention method.
Conference Objectives
- Overview of animal-assisted crisis response services
- Literature review citing empirical support for the efficacy of animal-assisted psychosocial services
- Overview of the crisis response training required by human responders and animal assistants
- Certification processes for animal assistants
- Certification processes for human animal handlers
- Legal and ethical considerations in the use of animal assistants
CEUs Available
At the conclusion of the conference, George Fox University will award 6.0 hours of Continuing Education Units to attendees requiring professional verification of attendance. The following approvals are available: National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); National Association of Social Workers (NASW); California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS); and the Oregon Board of Licensed Counselors and Therapists (OBLCT). CEU compliance for additional organizations subject to the attendee’s own verification with those organizations.
Special Note
Throughout the day Richard and Marcy will be featuring experts in the field of animal training, as well as actual testimonies by organizations currently utilizing HOPE AACR teams. Some of these presentations may involve the use of actual human-animal (canine) responders.
While this seminar is all about including trained animals in our professional work, we respectfully ask that seminar attendees not bring their animal assistants.