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American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: A Place to Heal
Aired December 26, 2002 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be the doctor, and he is here with a special program about animal- assisted therapy to help victims of abuse. Great idea.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is. And reaching out to kids, kids who have been victims of abuse, sexual abuse, other kinds of abuse, can be incredibly difficult, as any psychologist will tell you. I would like to introduce all of you to a 16-year-old who everybody agreed was beyond hope, that is until she found Crossroads.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA GORE, CROSSROADS RESIDENT: Ready? Get the stick.
GUPTA (voice-over): Sixteen-year-old Amanda Gore wrestles with her past. She deals with memory of childhood abuse by an extended relative and spent the past few years in and out of hospitals. She was headed down a dangerous path.
JENNIFER KAYLOR, CROSSROADS COUNSELOR: She would be behind bars somewhere, or she possibly could not be alive.
GUPTA: Crossroads is a high-management group home and clinical day treatment program for sexually abused adolescent girls. By all accounts, it's what saved Amanda. The girls here have been through horrific abuse and neglect, some sexually abused from birth. others raped. Most of them are severely emotionally disturbed. Oftentimes, human relationships have suffered.
GORE: I think trusting animals are easier to trust people, and I think if you can trust animals, you might trust humans.
GUPTA: And that's the idea behind crossroads. Animals play a major role in treatment.
KAYLOR: Animals is the therapy is a program we use here to help provide understanding of nurture, empathy, through utilizing animals.
GUPTA: But it is also the animals who have found a place to heal. Most of the animals here have endured neglect and abuse similar to the girls.
CARRIE STRINGER, CROSSROADS CLINICAL DIRECTOR: They learn from each other, and the girls just really care about the animals and they bring them back to health and, in turn, it does the same thing for the girls. GUPTA: The American Medical Association says that one-fifth of all sexually abused children develop serious long-term psychological problems.
So how does animal-assisted therapy help these girls overcome such tough odds?
GORE: You look at the animals' behavior and what they've been through and then you compare them to yourself and it just -- it helps.
KELLY BROWN ROSEBERRY, CROSSROADS COFOUNDER: One of the biggest reasons it works for the kids is that the animals don't judge. Their love is unconditional, and many times, the kids that are here have not experienced that.
GUPTA: Amanda's father has already seen the impacts Crossroads has had on Amanda's everyday life.
DAVID GORE, AMANDA'S FATHER: Now, we can talk about things. Before, we didn't go there. We talk about them. Now, it's more open.
GUPTA: Understanding comes through Amanda's favorite animal, Ducky, a bow-legged duck who is sometimes picked on by an aggressive rooster.
GORE: I think by looking at the duck and what things he goes through, it kind of reminds me of how I was at a time, and how, you know, I was reaching out for help, but nobody was there to help me. Now, I think, you know, I went to the duck to help him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Helping the duck, no question. You will be pleased to know that Amanda is doing well, but still a full-time resident at Crossroads, and spent Christmas with her family who visited her, expected to leave there in 2003. The average length of stay is about 12 to 18 months.
KAGAN: Good for her. We wish her well.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of people out there who might want information about this type of program.
GUPTA; That's right. And there are different organizations similar to Crossroads. Certainly, you can find out more about Crossroads as well, but there's also an organization called The Delta Society. You can find out information about them on the Web. They do a lot of the same sort of animal-assisted therapy. And it really seems to work. Sometimes, the kids really can't seem to communicate with another human being, so they can communicate with an animal.
KAGAN: Good for them and the animals. Thank you for that story. That was very nice.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 26, 2002 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be the doctor, and he is here with a special program about animal- assisted therapy to help victims of abuse. Great idea.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is. And reaching out to kids, kids who have been victims of abuse, sexual abuse, other kinds of abuse, can be incredibly difficult, as any psychologist will tell you. I would like to introduce all of you to a 16-year-old who everybody agreed was beyond hope, that is until she found Crossroads.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA GORE, CROSSROADS RESIDENT: Ready? Get the stick.
GUPTA (voice-over): Sixteen-year-old Amanda Gore wrestles with her past. She deals with memory of childhood abuse by an extended relative and spent the past few years in and out of hospitals. She was headed down a dangerous path.
JENNIFER KAYLOR, CROSSROADS COUNSELOR: She would be behind bars somewhere, or she possibly could not be alive.
GUPTA: Crossroads is a high-management group home and clinical day treatment program for sexually abused adolescent girls. By all accounts, it's what saved Amanda. The girls here have been through horrific abuse and neglect, some sexually abused from birth. others raped. Most of them are severely emotionally disturbed. Oftentimes, human relationships have suffered.
GORE: I think trusting animals are easier to trust people, and I think if you can trust animals, you might trust humans.
GUPTA: And that's the idea behind crossroads. Animals play a major role in treatment.
KAYLOR: Animals is the therapy is a program we use here to help provide understanding of nurture, empathy, through utilizing animals.
GUPTA: But it is also the animals who have found a place to heal. Most of the animals here have endured neglect and abuse similar to the girls.
CARRIE STRINGER, CROSSROADS CLINICAL DIRECTOR: They learn from each other, and the girls just really care about the animals and they bring them back to health and, in turn, it does the same thing for the girls. GUPTA: The American Medical Association says that one-fifth of all sexually abused children develop serious long-term psychological problems.
So how does animal-assisted therapy help these girls overcome such tough odds?
GORE: You look at the animals' behavior and what they've been through and then you compare them to yourself and it just -- it helps.
KELLY BROWN ROSEBERRY, CROSSROADS COFOUNDER: One of the biggest reasons it works for the kids is that the animals don't judge. Their love is unconditional, and many times, the kids that are here have not experienced that.
GUPTA: Amanda's father has already seen the impacts Crossroads has had on Amanda's everyday life.
DAVID GORE, AMANDA'S FATHER: Now, we can talk about things. Before, we didn't go there. We talk about them. Now, it's more open.
GUPTA: Understanding comes through Amanda's favorite animal, Ducky, a bow-legged duck who is sometimes picked on by an aggressive rooster.
GORE: I think by looking at the duck and what things he goes through, it kind of reminds me of how I was at a time, and how, you know, I was reaching out for help, but nobody was there to help me. Now, I think, you know, I went to the duck to help him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Helping the duck, no question. You will be pleased to know that Amanda is doing well, but still a full-time resident at Crossroads, and spent Christmas with her family who visited her, expected to leave there in 2003. The average length of stay is about 12 to 18 months.
KAGAN: Good for her. We wish her well.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of people out there who might want information about this type of program.
GUPTA; That's right. And there are different organizations similar to Crossroads. Certainly, you can find out more about Crossroads as well, but there's also an organization called The Delta Society. You can find out information about them on the Web. They do a lot of the same sort of animal-assisted therapy. And it really seems to work. Sometimes, the kids really can't seem to communicate with another human being, so they can communicate with an animal.
KAGAN: Good for them and the animals. Thank you for that story. That was very nice.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
