On Tuesday, the Psychology Club at Creek hosted three guest speakers, but only two of them were human. The third was a therapy dog for the Children’s Hospital, a golden retriever lovingly named Galaxy. Students who attended listened to the presentation, all while receiving cuddles from Galaxy. 

Galaxy’s handlers and certified child life specialists, Sarah Scott and Brianne Newman, were invited to the school to discuss the therapy dog program in the hospital, the career path of a child life specialist, and more. Scott and Newman aim to help young kids understand experiences in the hospital by working through coping mechanisms and other mental health related tools. 

“We focus on the psychosocial needs of kids in the hospital. So often we’re kind of interpreters between the doctor and the patient,” Scott said. “We help [patients] bridge that gap and at the appropriate developmental level in each patient, we help them understand what’s happening.”

Because the presenters’ work in the psychosocial field tied into subjects the psychology class had been talking about, many students were excited to attend. 

“I’m interested in Psychology as a job field; I’m thinking of maybe majoring in psychology,” sophomore Yunah Kim said.

An interest in psychology, along with a general love for dogs, inspired many students, including Kim, to attend this meeting, and many found the experience enjoyable. Dozens of attendees stayed after the presentation to ask follow-up questions and give Galaxy extra pets. 

The presentation, which was publicized on flyers around school, drew a larger audience than the club normally sees – jumping from around 20 people to around 40. For Psychology Club, this was a huge success, especially being a newer group on campus. 

“We’re still really small, but we’re doing really well,” senior and club vice president Estelle Gebhard said.

The club focused on setting up the presentation in order to educate students on how child life specialists work from day to day, including interacting with Galaxy. Additionally, the club is trying to incorporate more perspectives outside of Creek to further immerse their members into the world of psychology. 

“We really want to have more guest speakers,” Gebhard said. “Psychology Club [is] very new, so we’ve never done anything with service animals. And therapy animals are really good for their mind.”

During the presentation, Scott reflected on her and Galaxy’s day-to-day functions, which include visiting patients preparing for surgeries, and helping them understand more about their upcoming procedures, to dressing Galaxy up in a costume to spread some smiles.

Both Scott and Newman outlined how special it has been to work with Galaxy and how much joy he has brought to everyday life in the hospital. They both described their love of getting to see the impact of patients who have been struggling. 

“We had a kiddo who was three or four, waiting to get a heart transplant, that built a really special bond with Galaxy…one of the things he needed to work on was walking on a treadmill,” Scott said. “[So] Galaxy walked in place next to him on the treadmill…his mom was very touched, because she had not seen him laugh or smile in a long time.”

Newman, after the presentation, reflected on some of her favorite memories with Galaxy as well. 

“I would just say [my favorite part is] the times that we’re able to successfully help get patients through procedures that they’re scared to do.” Newman said.

Like the students, Scott thought that education in the field was extremely important as well. Because most students, unless they’ve personally interacted with therapy dogs in hospitals, don’t know about how the program works, Scott thought explaining the process would be beneficial. 

“We really like to talk about child life because it’s not very well known, [and] neither is being a dog handler,” she said. “And I love to come to the community, even if I can inspire anyone to become a child life specialist or to just understand why it’s important in healthcare to have that position.”