A therapist and author has found some unlikely woolly allies for helping patients find inner peace: her flock of pet sheep.
Grace Olson, from Leeds in West Yorkshire, originally trained in equine-assisted therapy, which uses simple horse-care tasks and interaction to spark emotional healing and build confidence. But during one session with a grieving widow, Olson’s sheep, a Texel cross named Merlin, stole the limelight.
He pushed himself into her knee, and as she bent down to cuddle him, she laughed,” said Olson. “She hadn’t even smiled for a year. It was brilliant. After that I noticed that every time someone came in for a session, Merlin would takeover. He’s like a person in a sheep’s body – he knows when someone is distressed.”
Olson has since grown her flock of ovine assistants to five and said their calm nature encourages clients to relax and open up. She works mainly with terminally ill patients dealing with cancer and aims to use proceeds from the sales of a book she is writing, to treat clients for free.
Main image: J Schiemann
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