PBS高端访谈:驴可以治疗心理疾病（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: The human-animal connection has long been known for its healing qualities. We love our dogs. We love our cats. And you might have heard of equine therapy, working with horses to help treat mental health conditions. But, as Cristina Quinn from PBS station WGBH in Boston explains, there's another animal in town that is gaining favor in the therapy world.

CRISTINA QUINN: It's only his fourth visit to the farm, but 8-year-old Memphis Rose looks like an old pro, feeding donkeys Pumpkin and Jack, alongside with his licensed counselor, Megan Moran.

MEGAN MORAN, Site Director, Cultivate Care Farms: You know things about donkeys. What do donkeys like?

MEMPHIS ROSE, Cultivate Care Farms Client: They like hay.

MEGAN MORAN: We know they like hay. We know they like food. So maybe we could motivate them. What do you think?

MEMPHIS ROSE: Yes. MEGAN MORAN: OK.

CRISTINA QUINN: Memphis started coming to Cultivate Care Farms in Bolton as part of a treatment plan for his autism. He says, when he's here, he feels calm and happy.

MEGAN MORAN: What is it that makes you happy being out here?

MEMPHIS ROSE: That the animals are covered in fur, and when you pet them, they feel soft.

CRISTINA QUINN: They're soft. They're cute. And it turns out, donkeys, in particular, can help people with autism learn how to read social cues.

MEGAN MORAN: So now you can pet them, right, because they're close.

CRISTINA QUINN: While animals have long been used to help treat mental health issues, there is no hard science to back up why it works. Still, there is no doubt that animals in some cases can help kids with their anxiety.

MEGAN MORAN: Their needs are pretty basic and concrete. So you can get a lot of cause and effect, which is really helpful, especially when clients are then needing to figure out how to navigate the real world.

CRISTINA QUINN: And the real world can be tough for a kid with autism. Memphis' mom, Paula, says, before coming to Cultivate farms, he struggled with the long school day.

PAULA ROSE, Mother: He would come home from school very anxious and angry and just, you know, go to his room and scream, because what's happening in school is, all those feelings and those anxieties are being, like, repressed.

CRISTINA QUINN: But since he started hanging out with Megan, Pumpkin, and Jack a few weeks ago, the daily meltdowns have tapered off to maybe one or two a week.

PAULA ROSE: I think it's easier for him to come and talk to Megan because he sees her almost like a friend, and this is like a very laid-back place, more than just going into an office and talking to a doctor.

CRISTINA QUINN: That's part of the idea behind the care farm approach, taking therapy out of the clinical setting.

MEGAN MORAN: We can really try out situations where, what would you do in this type of conflict, or how can you socialize or spend time in another person's space? Like, what is appropriate?

CRISTINA QUINN: Founder and executive director Andrew Lapin says what takes months in an office setting takes only weeks here.

ANDREW LAPIN, Founder and Executive Director, Cultivate Care Farms: I think it's important that we consider donkeys more in treatment, that we have put this huge emphasis on horses, as these beautiful and majestic creatures, which they are, and there's a lot of humans that don't identify as beautiful or majestic. But, with a donkey, you catch just about everyone.

CRISTINA QUINN: Helping create an environment where children with special needs can feel more comfortable with themselves and their surroundings. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Cristina Quinn in Bolton, Massachusetts.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I love that story.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：一直以来，大家都知道，人与动物之间联系有治愈的效果。我们都喜欢狗子和喵星人。大家可能听说过马术治疗法，即与马在一起，以帮助治疗心理健康问题。不过，根据我台驻波士顿记者克里斯蒂娜·奎恩的报道，治疗界出了另一种动物，越来越获得人们的喜爱。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：这才是他第四次来到这个农场，但8岁的孟斐斯·罗斯就似轻车熟路一般，他会给2只叫南瓜和杰克的驴喂食，他的执业顾问梅根·莫兰会跟他一起。

梅根·莫兰，培育农场的现场负责人：您对驴子了如指掌，那么驴子喜欢什么呢？

孟斐斯·罗斯，培育农场的客户：驴子喜欢干草。

梅根·莫兰：我们都知道驴子喜欢干草，喜欢食物。所以，或许我们可以通过这一点来激发他们的动力，您觉得饿呢？

孟斐斯·罗斯：没错。梅根·莫兰：好的。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：孟斐斯来到波士顿的这家农场是治疗孤独症的部分内容。他说，他在这儿的时候，会感到平静和快乐。

梅根·莫兰：这里的什么让你感到快乐呢？

孟斐斯·罗斯：看到这些毛茸茸的动物，摸他们的时候，软软的。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：它们的毛软软的，可爱的很。而且，有人发现，驴子尤其可以帮助孤独症患者学习如何找到社交线索。

梅根·莫兰：现在你可以抚摸它们，对就是这样，因为它们靠你很近了。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：虽然长期以来，人们一直通过动物来帮助治疗心理健康问题，但还没有自然科学能证实这一点。不过，毫无疑问的是，有时候，动物可以帮助小孩子缓解焦虑。

梅根·莫兰：孩子们的需要都很基本、很具体。这其中能得到很多的因果关系，这是非常有益的，尤其是当客户需要知道如何在现实世界里游刃有余的时候。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：现实世界对于有孤独症的儿童来说是度日艰难的。孟斐斯的母亲叫宝拉，她说在来到这家农场之前，孟斐斯每天都觉得上学很漫长。

宝拉·罗斯，母亲：他每次从学校回来之后都很焦虑又很愤怒。他会走进房间大叫，因为在学校的时候，所有的焦虑感受都让他极为压抑。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：但自从几周前他跟梅根、南瓜、杰克待在一起之后，每天发作逐渐减少，变成一周一两次。

宝拉·罗斯：我觉得，对他来说，跟梅根交流更简单，因为他将梅根视为朋友，这里是可以放松的地方，跟去办公室或者看医生不同。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：这是该农场的部分理念，即将治疗过程抽离出诊所的设定之外。

梅根·莫兰：在这个农场里，我们可以尝试不同的场景，去思考在不同类型的冲突下要怎样做。思考当有其他人在场时应该如何社交或者说如何度日，即怎样做是得体的。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：这家农场的创始人兼首席执行官是安德鲁·拉平，他表示，如果诊所治疗需要数月的话，那这里只需要几周而已。

安德鲁·拉平，培育农场的创始人兼首席执行官：我觉得很重要的一点是：我们在治疗中更多地考虑驴子和马，它们都是美好而又端庄的生物，但有很多人感受不到美和端庄，

但和驴子在一起的时候，就能兼顾到每个人。

克里斯蒂娜·奎恩：助力创建一个环境，一个让有特殊需求的孩子可以更舒适的环境。感谢收听克里斯蒂娜·奎恩从马萨诸塞州波士顿发回的《新闻一小时》。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：谢谢您的分享。