AAT in Action – II

Thanks to Facebook memories, I was reminded of a beautiful moment that Jersey shared with a client 3 years ago today and I thought it was just too special not to share with you all.

Some of you may know that Jersey has a bit of a proclivity for cuddling up with stuffed animals. She once stole a particularly fluffy teddy bear from a 2-year old’s outstretched hand!

Since her sister, Rory, has been known to eviscerate stuffed animals before you can say “Rory!”, Jersey can only have access to her stuffed animals at work. She likes to have Brown Dog (pictured) next to her during sessions sometimes and will pick it up in her mouth and take it to her bed when she needs some down time. She frets if a small child wants to play with Brown Dog. Jersey loves Brown Dog.

Today a young client and I were talking about different helpful and unhelpful ways that we use to deal with some difficult feelings. I told her about Jersey using Brown Dog to comfort herself when she’s feeling overwhelmed and the client thought that was a good idea and we started working out what she could use as her cuddly talisman.

Completely unbidden, Jersey left her bed and dropped Brown Dog at the client’s feet. She wouldn’t take Brown Dog back when we offered it to her and she left it there when she returned to her bed to snooze.

I teared up. The client was beside herself. Jersey just knew what was needed. The behaviour was so outside the norm for her. I really think she was responding to the client’s need, maybe she recognized her own distress in the client, maybe she was just showing her Brown Dog, but it made my day/week/month and I hope you enjoyed hearing about it!