Foxy and Picto run around the Torrejón de Ardoz funeral home (Madrid). Accustomed to producing a feeling of tranquility to those with whom they interact, these two dogs have become part of the staff of said funeral home, managed by the Albia group. With its Share Walks initiative, the funeral company tries to emotionally accompany people who are experiencing grief.
The initiative, which is free and pioneering in Spain as a permanent service, is not the first time it has been carried out. On the other hand, the very policy of the companies that manage these enclaves and the lack of knowledge that exists around the issue hinder anyone from benefiting from this animal and emotional accompaniment.
Marian Carvajal works to facilitate the grieving process of the families who serve in the funeral homes managed by the same group that promotes this support. She is responsible for the emotional care area: “This care is sometimes provided in hospitals, when there is a terminal patient; during the vigils, at the time the funeral service is performed; and later, through psychological care programs. And this is because, in many cases, the grieving process begins before the death,” he explains.
This pioneering initiative at the Torrejón de Ardoz funeral home has introduced the figure of the “canine therapist”, as Carvajal describes, as one of its services aimed at “helping families unblock their feelings”. “At the end of the day, these therapies are assisted interventions and are already implemented in hospitals and nursing homes,” he gives as an example.
Its main objective is to facilitate the transition through the grieving process of families during the wake of the deceased. “Everything is framed within a single purpose: to offer a safe space for psychological care within the funeral home itself. In fact, the first person who interacts with the family is a psychologist specialized in grief,” says Carvajal, thus beginning the protocol to follow.
This psychology professional specialized in grief will tell those close to you about the existence of the canine interaction team and, if they accept, she will introduce them to the canine therapist and the dog. In this way, the animal will always be accompanied by a trained and specialized person to know how to mediate between families and the interaction they may have with the dog. In any case, it will be the psychologist focused on grief who directs the intervention.
The dog as an excuse to release emotions
Psychologist Marian Carvajal maintains that the presence of the dog is very rewarding and positive. This is how he illustrates it: “They can be a good excuse to take a walk, start a conversation on that walk, and the mere visualization of the animal already produces a therapeutic effect of reducing stress by responding to the sympathetic nervous system, as long as you are not afraid of it. ”.
In short, this crisis intervention, in a situation of certain emergency, “reduces anxiety and allows people to provide information about what is happening to them, something essential so that this crisis does not get stuck and make access to that information difficult.” later”. On the other hand, Carvajal points out that through canine therapy the appearance of pathological grief can also be reduced.
They can be a good excuse to take a walk, start a conversation on that walk, and the mere visualization of the animal already produces a therapeutic effect of reducing stress by responding to the sympathetic nervous system, as long as you are not afraid of it.
Marian Carvajal
— psychologist specialized in grief
Before establishing this canine therapy as a fixed service in Torrejón de Ardoz, Albia carried out a pilot program to verify its efficacy and effectiveness. From May 14 to June 18, 2024, they served more than 50 families in six sessions, interacting with up to 80 people. According to their estimates, more than 90% of the people who have had the opportunity to interact freely with the dog have done so.
Dogs trained for accompaniment
Carmen Castro, psychologist at the Hydra Association and therapist specialized in assistance and therapy with animals, comments that “the mere presence of a dog carefully selected for that situation already brings some benefits.” In any case, the animal has to know very well how to approach people and how far away from them it should remain.
Given this extreme, Carvajal emphasizes that Foxy and Picto belong to Perruneando, a dog training company that works on animal-assisted therapies. “They are trained with training that is very focused on the people they serve so that they respond to very precise instructions, in addition to being used to producing a feeling of relaxation and tranquility,” he adds.
“The objective should be to provide emotional support to that person in parallel to a treatment that seeks to know how to manage emotions, identify them, to be able to manage as best as possible those emotional states that can have repercussions on a physical and mental level,” adds Castro.
Reluctance to provide the service
This is not the first time that this psychologist has seen dogs in funeral homes, although they have never been established as a permanent service there. “Sometimes, due to the funeral home’s own policy. Others, due to ignorance of what this type of accompaniment means,” explains Castro.
From their point of view, the ideal would be to have a room in the funeral home solely dedicated to carrying out a first contact between the animals and the users of the funeral home. “You have to be very careful and know if all people agree with the presence of a dog in that situation. It is not about entering a wake with a dog and interacting, because there may be people who at that moment may feel a certain rejection,” says the specialist.
So far, Carmen Castro has encountered some reluctance on the part of funeral companies to implement this canine emotional accompaniment service. “It’s not something too well known either. I wish we could introduce it and explain, above all, the phases of grief, the emotional states they provoke and, once that is understood, support it with animals,” says the specialized psychologist in order to avoid this possible rejection.
On the other hand, he emphasizes that we must not lose sight of the fact that “the objective is the person, not the animal; That is to say, the objective is not for the dog to do something, but rather that I am going to work with people, what I want to achieve by introducing the animal in that difficult moment,” he explains.
It is not something very well known. I wish we could introduce it and explain, above all, the phases of grief, the emotional states they cause and, once that is understood, support it with animals.
Carmen Castro
— psychologist specialized in therapy and assistance with animals
A job with the children in the funeral home
The two dogs that currently accompany the Torrejón de Ardoz funeral home can also be a good incentive for the little ones to overcome the traffic they are forced to go through with some peace of mind. “There are very few children who enter the funeral home, but they have the same right as an adult to know what is happening and know the reality,” says Carvajal. As he defends, minors must also be involved in the mourning, the ritual, and explained to them in some way what is happening.
Castro also confirms this point of view: “Going to the funeral home means going through a sad moment, where people are immersed in difficult emotions, so the dogs help the children normalize it.” In this way, the animals would function as a “momentary distraction” from the pain permeated in these spaces.
In the specific case of Torrejón, Foxy and Picto only interact with people in the external spaces of the funeral home. “There have been cases of a girl who had a phobia of dogs. He worked with her and ended up touching him and walking with him. Another person with a disability was quite distressed because he did not understand what was happening and with the interaction of the dogs we reduced his anxiety levels,” concludes Carvajal.
#Canine #comfort #funeral #home #Foxy #Picto #animals #overcome #grief
