Magic touch: Tellington therapy addresses healing and calming methods

Published in the Asbury Park Press 12/01/03
By TAMMY MCKILLIP, CORRESPONDENT

In 1995, Tracy Vroom was on a quest to find a solution to her Basenji
puppy's many behavioral problems when her sister recommended a
book, "The Tellington Touch: A Breakthrough Technique in Training and
Caring for Your Favorite Animal," by animal expert and author, Linda
Tellington Jones.

Eight years later, the Manalapan resident and production manager at
Forbes magazine, is a certified TTouch and craniosacral therapist and
travels nationwide to learn about the latest healing and calming
techniques in animal therapy.

"My Basenji, Bailey, was very destructive as a puppy," she says. "She
also was very unhappy. She would pace, run in circles and bite people
that came into our house. She also was afraid of thunder and loud
noises. Everything scared her, and I wanted to find a training method
that was kind and gentle, but also addressed behavioral issues. When
I read Linda's book, I thought, 'Wow! This is amazing!' She's a
famous equestrian expert and was using this touch technique she had
developed on animals of all species -- whales, lions, tigers, bears,
as well as horses. She eventually adapted the work for dogs, cats and
other companion animals."

Vroom says she traveled to Rochester, N.Y., to attend her first
seminar on TTouch therapy and was deeply impressed by the
effectiveness of the technique.

"They were getting results very quickly," she says. "This therapy,
which involves moving the skin around very lightly in a circular
motion, opens up neuro-pathways and helps to discharge the memory of
certain traumas within the cell. Used in conjunction with certain
ground exercises, it can stop behaviors like chewing, barking,
destruction, aggression or even thunder phobias and fear of loud
noises."

Vroom, who achieved her certification seven years ago after two years
of training, says that the goal of TTouch work is to achieve an
emotional and physical balance within an animal by stimulating brain
wave functions and giving the animal an opportunity to make better
choices in how it behaves.

"We also incorporate ground exercises and body wraps with the
touching," she says. "We use agility equipment, and we call it 'the
playground of higher learning.' They're moving and actually having to
think about where they place their feet. We also sometimes use a
special t-shirt-like wrap that goes around the animal's body and
gives it a different sense of itself. It's like when you wear
different types of clothes -- spandex, vs. sweatpants. It just gives
the animal a different sense of its skin and of how it feels.

"A dog that is really high-strung and hyper and jumping all over the
place is not thinking at all. Its brain kind of shuts down, and it
goes into a silly mode. What we're trying to do is to bring it back
into the thinking mode. We activate the four brain waves -- alpha,
theta, beta and delta -- and the dog stops reacting. It actually
thinks and makes decisions, instead. TTouch therapy calms the dog."

Tracy Vroom continues the hands-on therapy on Max. Vroom, who works
with domestic and some exotic animals, charges for an individual
in-home private consultation, which typically lasts between an hour
and an hour and a half, depending on how well the animal responds. In
addition, she conducts four-hour workshops in her home, which are
attended by no more than 10 dogs and their owners at a time and cost
5.

She says that the results of TTouch therapy training are usually
visible within the first three sessions and that she receives
referrals not only from trainers, but from veterinarians as well.

"I don't always work with problem dogs," she says. "I also work with
aging dogs who have aches and pains or with dogs that have hip
dysplasia, arthritis or are post-surgical. There are many touches we
can do to help increase circulation and reduce pain, and once the
person learns the touches, they can do it on their own. There's even
a pressure point that we address if an animal's going into shock that
can save its life until you can get it to a vet."

Vroom says that the University of Minnesota is currently conducting
research on the effects of TTouch with humans.

Although she admits the therapy is not grounded in scientific study
and is "not a magic pill," she says she is impressed at how well and
quickly it seems to work.

"A while back, I had a Manhattan woman call me about her 14-year-old
golden retriever," she says. "The dog was very old and couldn't walk
anymore, and I said, 'I don't know if this will work, but let's see
what happens.' I only met with her one time and showed her how to do
the touches, and within a week after that, the dog started walking
again. They had been taking it to the park in a red wagon everyday
because it couldn't stand up on its own. I was surprised at how fast
it worked and how permanent the results were. The dog is still fine
and walking around."

Vroom, who also practices the osteopathic-inspired craniosacral
therapy, says TTouch has given her dog, Bailey, now 9 years old,
a "new sense of herself" and that she no longer has the behavioral
problems that were an issue when she was a puppy.

Her goal is to open a healing center someday, where she can practice
the TTouch and craniosacral therapies full-time.

"It's really changed our lives," she says.

For more information on TTouch therapy, visit: www.petpatience.com,
or call (917) 913-1676.

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Posted on SHARE Yahoo group Dec 1, 2003