According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals are more than twice as likely to have mental health disorders in their lifetime and 2.5 times more likely to experience depression and anxiety and use substances, compared to heterosexual individuals. The APA also reported that among LGBTQ youth,…
It is with great pleasure that we announce this year’s winners of the Annual AIR Attitudes In Reverse T-shirt design contest. First Place – (On Front of T-shirt) – Shalini Gossain (Flemington, NJ) Second Place Tie – Maeve Dominique (Pennington, NJ) Second Place Tie – Julia Moller (Pennington, NJ) Both second place designs will be…
Chelsea Ruchlin, LSW, and her dog, Nellie, are a unique among the AIR Dogs: Paws for Minds therapy teams because they work together. Chelsea, a social worker and case manager at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School, works with special education students and since becoming certified with Nellie last fall, her canine partner has become…
Today our little Miki turns 12. This little dog has been a part of our journey for all of his life. I remember Kenny saying, we don’t need another dog (Miki was dog 4)…but soon changed to, “Miki is a cool little dog.” After Kenny died, Miki was in tune with my grief and knew…
Linda Hobson has owned five therapy dogs over the years and has been an AIR Dogs: Paws for Minds Therapy volunteer for Attitudes in Reverse since 2011. “I just enjoy seeing the young people let their guard down,” said Linda. “ You can watch their whole body language change. They just melt.” Linda first met…
The Learning Journey: A Message to This Year’s Graduates Graduation is the end to a phase of learning. Some of you are moving onto high school, college, trade schools, perhaps the military. Some may be beginning a new job. Graduation IS the end of a phase of learning. However, for each and every graduate, ALWAYS be…
Like most AIR volunteers, Audrey Kilbride met AIR Co-founder Tricia Baker during a dog training class and has been involved with AIR ever since. For the past eight years, Audrey has been creating AIR Dog patches on her embroidery machine and sewing them onto the AIR Dog vests. Tricia discovered Audrey’s talents when she embroidered…
The death of musical genius Chester Bennington, Linkin Park lead man, in July of 2017, rocked the world. Our son, Kenny had been a fan. Chester’s messages from pain of depression and addiction disorder resounded with Kenny and so many young people who struggle with similar illnesses. Shortly after losing Chester, Talinda Bennington discovered Attitudes…
With Covid-19, our AIR Dogs: Paws for Minds Therapy Dogs are reaching out remotely to brighten your day! Here’s a peek at the favorite toys, friends and fun enjoyed by some of our AIR Therapy Dogs. We hope they make you all, especially kids, smile.
With people stuck at home due to safety restrictions caused by Covid-19, our AIR Therapy Dogs are reaching out to brighten your day using technology. This is Quincy (handler Marianne Geer), who had some fashionable fun with his human siblings.