The newest employee at Walker is only four years old, but she is already making important contributions in the lives of some troubled children. Meet Nya. She’s part Labrador retriever, part poodle, and part expressive therapist.
Nya’s owner, Beth Silvestri-O’Neil, has long been one of Walker’s pioneers. She brought expressive therapy to Walker more than three decades ago, when it was still a brand new field and mostly unknown outside academia. Her commitment to helping troubled children find new ways to express themselves and understand their emotional challenges has led to the newest therapeutic program at Walker: animal-assisted therapy.
Offered as part of the expressive arts therapy program, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) allows children to interact with a specially trained pet and share their thoughts and feelings in a safe, nurturing, and fun environment while they develop responsibility and empathy.
Children chosen for the AAT program are typically struggling with the lasting effects of trauma, often the result of abuse or neglect. AAT promotes improved self-regulation and stress management strategies and seeks to decrease aggressive and acting-out behaviors. “Spending time with Nya has given some kids new access to their feelings in ways that are very different from more traditional therapies,” says Beth.
Working with animals for therapeutic benefit is not entirely new at Walker; for the past decade, some Walker students have participated in “Bootstraps”, an off-campus horseback riding program with similar goals. But Nya, who has been certified by the Delta Society for therapeutic work, is the first four-legged member of the Walker Needham campus community since its days as a dairy farm in the early part of the last century.
So far, the initial response has been very encouraging. The AAT program serves five students, but Beth would like to expand the program to serve more children–an idea that is just fine with Nya. “The kids love her,” adds Beth. “And the feeling is mutual.”
(republished from the October 2008 printed issue of Walker Talk)
