[Explanation] On the afternoon of February 9, in the center of the circular lawn of the Chengdu Mental Health Center, medical staff, volunteers and several young patients sat in a circle together to carry out animal comfort group therapy.
The reporter saw that during the entire treatment process, the appearance of the two "dog doctors" gradually heated up the atmosphere on the scene.
The two dogs approaching the circular lawn first greeted everyone, and they sniffed the scent of the sitting people carefully with their noses.
As the game progressed, the two dogs interacted with everyone, and the young patients spoke more and more, and laughed one after another.
It is understood that the two "dog doctors" are special "doctors" of Chengdu Fourth People's Hospital. After professional examinations and pre-job training, they have obtained relevant qualification certificates.
Statistics show that there are currently more than 60 such "dog doctors" in Chengdu, accounting for one-third of the total in the country.
Despite this, there is a great demand for these dogs, but the numbers are still very scarce.
[Concurrent] Lan Yaqi, Project Leader of Animals Asia Chengdu "Doctor Dog" Project
The pet family may first make a preliminary assessment and feel that their dog has a good personality, and then he is very willing to do public welfare activities, so he can sign up for the "Dog Doctor" exam for his dog.
At the test site (the staff) will also check the dog's personality, that is, whether it is suitable to be a "dog doctor".
But the principle of all examinations, we must obey the animal welfare, follow the dog's nature, we will not specially train this dog, that is to train it to serve human beings, and then change many of its natures, so This is what a dog looks like, and its personality is very suitable to be a "dog doctor", so it becomes a "dog doctor" and becomes our "dog volunteer".
[Explanation] Nurse Wang Yunxuan told the reporter that after learning and exploring, they found that animal comfort therapy with children and adolescents as the main target can achieve good results.
"Doctor Dog" is not just for playing with, it is particularly good at capturing the emotions of patients.
[Concurrent] Wang Yunxuan, a nurse at Chengdu Fourth People's Hospital
Dogs are really sensitive, to the point that I haven't even observed it.
The child may suddenly bury his head in the corner, not knowing whether he is crying or something, just burying his head with his knees in his arms, but the dog will smell this different atmosphere at the first time, and maybe it will Walking up to the kid all of a sudden, sitting next to him and accompanying him, was an unexpected gain for me.
[Explanation] It is reported that the treatment will incorporate narrative groups and painting groups to guide patients to tell their own stories and draw their own pictures, and further encourage patients to express themselves.
Doctors, nurses, and psychotherapists will sit among the patients interspersed, responding and encouraging each self-sharing of the patients in a timely manner, so that the patients feel that they are "seen" and "accepted".
Chen Jiajia, head of the Center for Emotional Disorders, said that animal comfort group therapy is a continuous and complete process, which requires the overall control of doctors in addition to the participation of dogs.
Through stroking, companionship, and interaction, patients will unconsciously open their hearts, and medical staff will find a "breakthrough" in communication, gradually establish a relationship of trust with patients, and help follow-up psychotherapy.
[Concurrent] Chen Jiajia, Deputy Chief Physician of Chengdu Fourth People's Hospital
In the process of traditional psychotherapy, we will find that it may take a long time to establish a therapeutic relationship with patients, especially adolescent patients.
But after we apply the animal comfort therapy technology to our group psychotherapy, we will find that the dog is a very close animal, even in the face of strangers, it will quickly establish a better relationship with you Relationships, especially adolescent patients with some emotional disorders, including adults with depression, it may pass this time of treatment, even if it is just an interaction of a few minutes, (the patient) can start to talk to us about himself some of the stories.
At present (animal-assisted therapy) has helped nearly 40 patients, and has received a lot of praise from patients and their families.
Reporter Lu Yang reports from Chengdu
Responsible editor: [Luo Pan]