Animal Therapies Made in France

We had the opportunity (myself and Andrada, my colleague from Esperando) to make a study visit to France this April. Just after Easter. In small projects financed by the European Commission, under LifeLong Learning Program.
We have visited several organizations. But one of the most interesting visits was the very first one, at IFZ - The French Institute for Animal Therapy. Mr. Francois Beiger, a captivating character, has shown us his way of working with animals for the benefit of the disabled children, and also of those with social and behavioral problems.
A pleasure! A pleasure to listen to him, and to see his work! He is also training dozens of specialist every year, from all over Europe, in this new and fantastic field.
What's his philosophy? Simple: that every kid is a special one and each of them can do magnificent things, just with a little help from his friends. Especially if those friends have four legs and can't speak!
Also, Mr. Beiger things that in a place like this, with animals that help in therapy, there are several kind of animals needed. This way, if the kid doesn’t feel like working with one of them that day, they can turn to other animals instead.
And finally, the work doesn't consist only in the direct interaction with the animal. The animal can assist the kid in his lessons, reading or other educational or psychological tasks, just by staying around. And the triangle KID - SPECIALIST - ANIMAL makes wonders!
It was another perfect opportunity to learn and find out more about how we can help better our kids. Hopefully, we will apply the findings soon in our work at Esperando.
Daniel