Source of Therapy w/ Grace French

You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all the other podcast platforms. New episodes post on Tuesdays.

Grace French On Overcoming Anxiety With The Help of Her Service Dog

GraceThumb1.jpg

About The Episode

Grace French was dealing with a period of trauma during her time away at college. At first, she brought along her family dog - a suggestion of her parents - to help her keep calm and have that source of happiness. However, that dog couldn’t stay with her forever and she realized she needed one of her own. After all, her parents needed their dog, too.

As a result, a black-and-white springer spaniel and poodle mix named Bentley came into her life. During this time, she had been dealing with grueling nightmares and increased anxiety – getting little to no sleep. When she got Bentley, she started training with him and even started working with a professional trainer on the weekends (while still keeping up with school). The goal was to train him as a service dog and have him be able to wake her up from nightmares and sweep the house.

The training worked, and the results came fast. Grace’s nightmares slowed, and she started to feel much better with Bentley’s help. He even quickly developed a sense for knowing when she was feeling anxious, stressed, or sad – and did his best to help calm her down and lift her spirits. Over time, Grace has been able to move forward and stay supported with the help of Bentley. And while Bentley is now not continuing to be trained to be a service dog, he is still retaining the duty of her emotional support dog.

Since then, Grace has graduated from college and is working in brand development for a financial services company. She also teaches dance to others and dances herself professionally on the side (it’s been almost 20 years now that she’s been dancing). Additionally, she also started The Army of Survivors, an organization to educate communities and students about the effects of abuse and how to help someone in need – in addition to pushing for laws to protect survivors. Besides being the Founder, and bringing in 40 other girls to be involved, she also acts as the President and Director Of Communications & Research.

About The Guest - Grace French

Grace French is the Founder and President of The Army of Survivors, a national organization focused on education, advocacy, and support for child athlete survivors of sexual violence. Around two years ago, Grace started having intense nightmares while dealing with personal trauma, getting little-to-no sleep. She turned to training with a dog to help wake her up during them and overall help with her anxiety. The results made a big difference, and Grace has been able to keep improving and moving forward ever since with the help of her trusty sidekick, Bentley.

Featured Links

InterviewJack SommerMental Health, Service Dogs