On July 13^th we will be hosting our Parent Seminar where we will thoroughly explore our Canine program and the process and impact of Neurofeedback.  In addition to the Parent Seminar, we will facilitate a Parent Support Group to provide opportunity for parents to share and connect with one another. 

This is a terrific opportunity to be a part of the CALO experience and become intimately familiar with the program and its specific interventions.  The seminar will delve into the process of Transferable Attachment and the healing power of the canines in conjunction with the process, impact, and power of Neurofeedback. 

Immediately following the Seminar, parents will gather to enjoy a time of processing, sharing, and connecting with other parents through the Parent Support Group.  This time has been proven to be most valuable for parents feeling understood and supported.

Schedule is as follows:

July 13, 2012

12:15-12:30pm      Parents gather lunch and meet in Conference Room

12:30-2:00pm       Seminar – Canine Program (Jeanna Osborn- Canine Supervisor) & Neurofeedback (Misti Puckett- Neurofeedback Administrator)

2:00-2:30pm         Break

2:30-3:45pm         Parent Support Group in Conference Room

Please notify your therapist of your attendance so we are able to plan accordingly.  We look forward to seeing you then.   

Specializing in the fields of Attachment, trauma, and emotional regulation means that CALO must be a significant part of the ever advancing treatment, theory, research, and practice of therapy.  Due to our commitment to effective treatment of adolescence and families struggling with these specific issues, we have remained committed to our involvement in the ATTACH organization (attach.org) and their annual conference.  This year’s conference was especially meaningful for CALO because our CEO, Dr. Ken Huey, participated in developing and producing the annual conference as one of the elected members of the ATTACH board.  In addition, CALO was able to be the Platinum sponsor of the conference as well as Dr. Huey being one of the conference presenters. 

One exciting aspect for CALO is that we are able to have our entire clinical team be a significant part of the conference.  This year we were able to travel to Omaha, NE and engage in cutting edge treatment of attachment, trauma, and emotion regulation by partaking in training by such renowned researchers, clinicians, and practitioners as Dr. Ed Tronik, Dr. Laurie Ann Pearlman, Dr. John Briere, and Dr. Arthur Becker-Wiedman.  This training is an invaluable time for our clinicians to continue the process of growth and solidify being an expert clinician in the specialty of attachment and trauma.  It is always a tremendous opportunity for our team to not only learn and grow, but consult with other clinicians, meet parents, represent CALO, and develop relationships with each other. 

This year’s conference was incredibly impactful and educational, but had a special place in the heart of CALO because the entire clinical team was able to be a present for Dr. Huey’s presentation on Transferable Attachment.  This presentation was an interactive experience with actual students from CALO (current and former) who were able to have the courage to become vulnerable about their journey in treatment and the personal transformation they have undergone.  The students were able to show how their relationship with the Golden Retriever canines had allowed them to transfer their ability to attach to their parents/guardians.  It was simply amazing to experience how their involvement in the canine program had contributed so significantly to creating self-worth, empathy, connection, healing, and hope for the student and their families. 

CALO’s commitment to treatment excellence means that we will continue to remain a significant part of the Attachment and trauma world and always continue to be learning, training, and advancing our skills as clinicians as well as facilitating connection and healing with families. 

Recently a CALO student, Henry (not real name), departed CALO with his adopted canine Charger. The canine adoption details can be shared another time but one of the final steps in the adoption process is for a student to write an essay based on the title, “How I will transfer the interdependent relationship I share with my canine to my human relationships.” In short, we are asking the student to describe what we call "transferable attachment."

In about a month I will present at a professional conference about CALO’s unique “transferable attachment.”  For now, read Henry’s essay that was shared at his finalization ceremony so you can have a sneak peak at the amazing impact these golden retrievers have to help students learn about our model (Trust of Care, Trust of Control, Trust of Self, and Interdependence) and transferable attachment.

“Charger depends on me for lots of things. He counts on me to play with him. This is important so that he can get his energy out.  He needs me to potty him because he cannot open doors to go outside by himself.  Charger needs me to feed him.  I put his food in a bowl and make sure that he has clean water to drink.  After his surgery, Charger depended on me to take care of him and make sure he did not pull his stitches out.  Charger also depends on me to bathe him and keep him clean.  One of the biggest ways Charger depends on me is for me to train him so that he can be off leash and know when to be calm and when to have fun.  This is very important so that he can come to live with me at home and be socially acceptable.

I depend on Charger for things too.  I count on him to keep me calm when I don’t have the greatest feelings.  He stays calm with me rather than be all rowdy.  When I feel lonesome Charger is there to keep me company.  When I want to get energy out, Charger plays with me inside.  Usually I will throw the ball with him either in the milieu or in the pit.  Once I got full time [integration] with him, he started having really bad attachment problems.  At first he was way too dependent on me and every time I left the room he would bark so that I would have to come back.  Nowadays he doesn’t bark as much because he knows that I will come back later and take care of him.  These are some of the ways Charger and I depend on each other.

At home, I depend on my family to keep me safe.  The main way that I feel safe at night is when my parents lock up all the doors.  I know they are home if I need anything.  My family is learning to help me deal with not so good feelings by giving me some personal space.  This helps me to be able to calm down quicker and then talk about it.  I also depend on my mom for getting my laundry clean and for keeping me fed.  I could do it on my own but I am used to my mom doing it.  I like that better.  I depend on my dad to be able to hunt.  My dad has helped me do that by sometimes taking me and my brother to go shoot.  He also took the hunter safety class with me.  I was dependent on my dad to teach me lots of different things like learning how to drive and hunt.

My family is dependent on me too.   They depend on me to help do things around the house or do errands because I can drive now.  My mom depends on me to talk to her in the morning because my dad and brother are even grumpier.  According to my mom, I am the least grumpiest in the morning.  My family depends on me to not be so uptight.  The rest of them are very tense and I help them relax and be more laid back.  My animals depend on me here to pet them and let them in and outside.  When I was little I was dependent on my parents to potty train me just like I have to do with Charger.  Now I am depending on my parents to help me learn how to be a good adult. 

These are just some of the ways that Charger and I are interdependent and my family and I are interdependent with each other.  Charger is helping me learn how to be more helpful when others depend on me, and I am learning to be dependent on others too.”

As the holiday season begins to come to a close and the New Year is beginning, it is wonderful to look back and see all that has been accomplished, all that has been learned, all that has been lost and all that has been re-found in 2010. As we look at the New Year ahead, I wanted to highlight an amazing experience that started for our students toward the end of 2010 and that will carry over through 2011 and beyond.

CALO students had the amazing opportunity of being able to participate in the experience of helping to bring new life into the world and to care for those new lives after their arrival. Patches, one of our beloved Golden Retrievers, had her first litter of puppies’ midway through December. The CALO student body supported and cared for Patches during her pregnancy and the CALO student puppy team was there for all the action upon the delivery of the new puppies. The puppy team helped the new mother as she delivered her eleven puppies, caring for and nurturing the new mother and her puppies as well as providing on-going care and training as the puppies’ progress through the normal stages of development.  It has been an eye opening process for the students as they fill the role of caregiver to such small, helpless and dependent animals. It allows our students to experience the role of a care giver in a way that might not otherwise be possible. The experience and on-going care and training of these puppies provide our students with increased opportunities for true empathy and vulnerability in their own relationships.