Dog and cat offer paws to Counseling Center

Joel Featherstone

When students visit the Utah State University Counseling Center, they might be surprised to find a dog greeting each person in the waiting room or a cat wandering around.

However, these aren’t anyone’s usual house pets visiting the university, they’re at work helping people cope with life.

“The animals interact with all of our clients out front,” said Mary Doty, psychologist and director of the Counseling Center. “It’s really nice for people when they can pet the cat and the dog while they’re out there waiting. It helps them feel maybe a little less anxious about being at the Counseling Center.”

She is also the owner of the two animals.

This is all part of the Counseling Center Animal Assisted Therapy (CCAAT), which is a program that includes trained therapy animals to help in counseling. It began eight years ago by an intern and has continued ever since.

The dog’s name is Griffin and the cat, Tenzin. Griffin is there five days a week and Tenzin, Doty said, hides out at home sometimes, but is at the Counseling Center at least a couple days each week. Both animals went through extensive socialization training, Doty said. Griffin, a border collie and Australian cattle dog mix, is a medium-size dog who is always happy to see people. He has been at the Counseling Center for about five and a half years.

“The thing that’s most amazing is that [Griffin] remembers certain clients,” Doty said.

She said Griffin will greet her clients in the waiting room before she even knows they came in.

“He senses clients,” she said.

Tenzin has also been helping out at the Counseling Center for more than five years and has been since he was a kitten. Although he doesn’t like to be held, Doty said, he will hop on the chair and prefers to sit next to the clients lap. In any case, both Griffin and Tenzin have their individual ways of making people feel better.

“They have a lot of interaction with my clients,” she said.

The animals are helpful for people who are lonely, depressed, and for those who have anxiety concerns, or feeling a lot of stress, Doty said. She said the animals really help those with poor self-esteem.

“They are unconditional in their acceptance of people,” she said.

Doty explained that when her clients become emotional or distressed Griffin will notice and try to comfort the client.

“It’s amazing how much they help with stress relief,” she said. “They interact with you no matter what.”

Doty said some people come in just to see the animals – even if they don’t want counseling.

Clients aren’t the only ones who benefit from these animals. The Counseling Center staff all appreciated having them around. Office assistant Susan Young said the pets were a reason why she wanted to work there. She said she doesn’t want the responsibility of a pet at home and this allows her to have the “best of both worlds.”

She said the cat wanders around everywhere, including on top of the keyboards.

“He just plops himself right in front of you,” Young said.

Scott Nyman, who is working on his pre-doctoral internship at the Counseling Center, said he enjoys the therapy animals.

“I think it’s been a lot of fun for the staff and clients,” he said. “It’s a nice adjunct to therapy.”

-joelfeathers@cc.usu.edu

Mary Doty works in the Counseling Center at USU. Her cat, Tenzin, and dog, Griffin, assist her in helping USU students. (Photo by Jennifer Wheatley)