JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sunday will mark National Therapy Animal Day and if you have been to Nemours Children’s Health in San Marco and seen the little barns behind the building, you may have wondered what exactly that is.
It is a part of their ADAPT program, which stands for Assisted Dog And Pony Therapy. It just had its first two graduates of its 8-week program.
One of those graduates is Makenna Jobes. Around four years ago, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“When you have cancer, it really downgrades your confidence,” she explains,” so a lot of anxiety comes through that.”
When she heard about the chance to be a part of the ADAPT 8-week program, she stepped forward.
“Animals just have this calming sense to them,” she says.
Psychologist, Dr. Lisa Schilling says working with the animals is empowering and it starts by getting to know the horses, Makenna has worked most with the mini-horse named Taco.
“We can utilize breathing techniques and relaxation strategies and grounding exercises in nature which makes it totally different from what we do in the office and gives us lots of opportunities,” explains Dr. Schilling.
Breathing techniques that Makenna has already been able to implement into her life, like when she started to feel anxiety while shopping for a prom dress.
“We talked about how to do slow breathing and to use Taco as a visual, so I had to remember to breath slowly to calm down,” tells Makenna.
For Clinical Nurse Specialist and ADAPT co-director, Jennifer Pfieffer, seeing a patient be able to use the therapy in everyday life has always been the goal.
“It was a vision I had five years ago and now it is not just me, there is whole team and a village around us to make it here,” tells Pfieffer.
If you are interested in learning more about the ADAPT program, it is currently open to any established Nemours patient. You can also donate to the program here.