Episode 4 – Meet Facility Dog Handler Colleen Phelan

Colleen shares her winding path from volunteering to a Special Victims Advocate and Facility Dog Handler. She and Jim also dive deep into how the mind-body connection with yourself can positively impact your relationship with your facility dog. Also, Jim shares how he was connected to his “career changer” dog.

 

Episode Highlights

1:00 – Colleen’s path to becoming a Special Victims Advocate

4:30 – Volunteering opens a different path 

5:30 – Transforming language to make an impact 

8:30 – Creating spaces to have trauma conversations

11:00 – Adverse Childhood Experiences

13:00 – Settling into Arizona 

14:00 – Creating a Mind Body Connection 

17:30 – The value of yoga & meditation for healing 

21:00 – Connecting these concepts into the criminal justice community

22:30 – How dogs are influencing these conversations

24:00 – Moving into full time advocacy & training future advocates

26:00 – Colleen is introduced to Facility Dogs

28:00 – Jim shares how he got his “career changer” dog

32:15 – Creating a partnership with a dog

35:00 – Blake’s impact in Colleen’s world 

 

 Links To References 

ACE’s- Adverse Childhood Experiences 

The Body Keeps Score – Bessel Vander Kolk

Assistance Dogs Of the West 

National Adoption Day Ceremony

Guardian ad Litem Program in in the Florida Keys (Monroe County) 

 

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