MHM Magazine

MHM Meet four-year-old Onnie, a Labrador Retriever, who is a therapy dog for victims of torture and extreme violence at the Comprehensive Care Centre in Mexico City. Onnie works alongside Alicia de la Rosa, a psychologist specialising in animal-assisted psychotherapy, and for two years they have been part of a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) comprehensive care team. MSF has been providing mental health support to migrants and Mexicans who have experienced horrific journeys along the migration route to North America or extreme violence in their origin countries. The centre has been managed by MSF since 2017. Onnie began his training as a puppy, when he was exposed to different sound stimuli, textures, environments, people, and objects. When he was a year old, he began his training to become a therapy dog. The training was accompanied by basic obedience classes to learn, for example, to sit, lie down, turn, give his paw, jump, and move so that patients with motor difficulties can brush or pet him. He is trained to provide therapeutic support to children, adolescents, the elderly, and people living with disabilities. The support that Onnie and Alicia provide is one component of the psychosocial care that some patients receive. Some of the people who have experienced traumatic situations of extreme violence or torture find it difficult to express their emotions and find trust again in other people and in their environment. Working with Onnie gives them a chance to break down barriers so that they can eventually open up to therapists and feel confident to talk about the difficult situations they have experienced. - Alicia de la Rosa Onnie: The therapy dog, working with Doctors Without Borders FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN WORK WITH US: VISIT: MSF .ORG.ZA/WORK-WITH-US © Y e s i k a O c a m p o ©Yesika Ocampo