Rx for Joy Can be Written by Any Therapist in the U.S.

My current therapist is a nurse practitioner who can prescribe psychiatric drugs. My previous therapist was an MSW who could not. Both, however, could write a prescription for an emotional support animal (ESA). A short, simple letter (see sample below) from a doctor (any medical doctor, not just a psychiatrist) or any therapist will allow a person with a psychiatric disability or a chronic pain condition to have pets in no-pets housing, to avoid any pet deposit or pet fee, and to avoid size limitations or species restrictions. The person with the disability gives this to their landlord or co-op/condo board as a request for a reasonable accommodation. (See How to Get an Emotional Support Animal).


Why should I prescribe ESAs?
Maeve, Psychiatric Service Dog and Mental Health Advocate said it best in her Manifesto:

If the drug companies could patent pets, then animals would be the first line of treatment for every condition in the DSM. Animals interact with no drugs, can't cause metabolic syndrome or diabetes, never overwhelm kidneys or liver, are approved for pediatric use, and improve both mental and physical health -- EVEN OVER THE COURSE OF A LIFETIME OF USE. Rather than a few 6-week clinical trials, thousands of years of experience demonstrate our safety and effectiveness.

What types of animals can be ESAs?

ESAs need no special training and can be any species normally considered a pet. They can even be too young to be housebroken. Note: you may have heard that the Department of Justice recently limited service animals to two species: dogs and miniature horses. This does not affect the law regarding ESAs.  See note at the bottom of How to Get an Emotional Support Animal with link to a memo from HUD, which enforces the law regarding ESAs in housing.

What types of housing are covered?

All condo and co-ops (whether rented or owned) are covered. All apartment buildings or complexes with more than four units are covered. See page 2 of the Fair Housing Information Sheet #6 from the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law for information on owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units and single family houses.

Can an existing pet be declared an ESA? Is it possible to have more than one ESA?

Yes. I had my cat Sibol for nearly 10 years before she became a legal ESA and had been paying hundreds of dollars in pet deposits and pet fees for her each time I renewed my lease. That stopped after I requested that she and the puppy I intended to train as a service dog both be allowed in my no-dogs apartment as emotional support animals.

What law gives people the right to ESAs?

The U.S. Fair Housing Act, which is effective in all 50 U.S. states and cannot be limited by local or state laws, codes, or regulations.

Do ESAs have public access rights?

Not under federal law. The Americans with Disabiities Act (ADA) allows service dogs access virtually anywhere the general public is allowed, but unlike ESAs these dogs must be specially trained and must provide some service other than emotional support. See http://www.servicepoodle.com/legal-definitions-of-types-of-animals. It is possible for ESAs to fly with their owners if they are necessary to the owner on the flight or at the destination, but that right comes from a different law with different procedures. 


What Should the Letter Say?
Here is a sample excerpted from page 6 of the Fair Housing Information Sheet #6 from the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Their sample letter includes an additional paragraph which you may or may not want to include. The letter I used only had the two paragraphs below. When I ran it by a lawyer at the CT Fair Housing Center she assured me the omitted paragraph was not necessary.

Dear [Housing Authority/Landlord]:

[Full Name of Tenant] is my patient, and has been under my care since [date]. I am intimately familiar with his/her history and with the functional limitations imposed by his/her disability. He/She meets the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Due to mental illness, [first name] has certain limitations regarding [social interaction/coping with stress/anxiety, etc.]. In order to help alleviate these difficulties, and to enhance his/her ability to live independently and to fully use and enjoy the dwelling unit you own and/or administer, I am prescribing an emotional support animal that will assist [first name] in coping with his/her disability.

What if the landlord refuses the request for a reasonable accommodation?

I contacted my state's Fair Housing Center. Presenting my landlord with the number and name of an attorney there ended the problem.  You can find your Fair Housing Center by googling "Fair Housing Center" plus your state's name. One can also file a complaint with HUD. No lawyer is required, there is no fee, and it can be done by telephone, mail, or internet. See http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/complaint-process.

Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human


servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
www.facebook.com/servicepoodle
www.linkedin.com/in/joanneshortell
call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us
We would LOVE to speak to your group free of charge

Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs

Recreational Recovery: Eight Steps to a New Life

I love the recovery movement, but not its name. "Recovery" implies "cure" or "going back." I prefer recreational recovery. Why? It sounds like fun (until I remember it means to create again, not just go out and play), and "re-create" sounds powerful -- a mighty phoenix rising from the ashes, not a cooked goose raking them to salvage its charred plumage. I've employed an eight-step process to arise from the ashes and create a great life that allows for my mental illness. 

In 2002 I was heading towards marriage with the love of my life. I was a workaholic technologist with a comfortable income. Anxiety disorders and a misdiagnosed mood disorder had troubled me since childhood. In 2012 I'm divorced; my mood disorder is more severe (ultra-rapid cycling, drug-resistant bipolar); my anxiety is worse; I'm going through menopause; I've been unable to work for years; my only income is a social security check that is 85% less than my last paycheck; and . . . my life is so good my friends and family are jealous. 

I travel full time. It's March and I'm in a stunning national park on the U.S./Mexico border for $6/night. I have no debt, no utilities, no rent, no mortgage, no storage fees, and no hookup/dumping fees. My income is spent primarily on high quality groceries, insurance, and fuel. I love outdoors activities and am proud to be living a greener life with extremely low water use and solar power. I have solid relationships with my parents, children, and grandchildren. 

My psychiatric service dog travels with me. We get the word out about two federal laws that give people with psychiatric disabilities the right to have trained service dogs accompany them wherever the public is allowed as well as the right to have untrained pets (emotional support animals) in no-pets housing without deposits or fees. This volunteer work is self-directed and self-financed. We visit clubhouses for the mentally ill and treatment facilities; we talk to groups and individuals. We have a website, a Facebook page, and a Google+ page. I have no boss, no bureaucracy, no bookkeeping (I don't fundraise or charge anything), and I set my own schedule. 

This hasn't cured me, but it has moderated my symptoms and given me a life well worth living. 

Want to work on your own recreational recovery? Here are the eight steps I used:

1. Forgive yourself for often failing or underachieving at everything in this list

2. Allow yourself sick time, but don't wait until treatment "works" (I'd STILL be waiting)

3. Study everything about your disorder and your individual experience of it

4. Examine your life, identify what doesn't work, and picture a better future: 

"I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want." --Mark Twain

5. Use positive psychology techniques to sculpt the foundation blocks of your new life:

• Learn your strengths and find uses for them
• Learn what creates flow in your life and create opportunities for it
• Note and appreciate what you find good -- even on bad days

6. Discard what hurts and add what might help

7. Reduce the risk of major life changes:    

• Avoid commitment to major changes until each idea has aged and been refined for months or years. You have to be able to live with them in sickness and in health.
  • Changes had to make sense to me in all parts of my cycling (up, down, and stable) before I would take an action that would cost a lot of money or narrow my options.  

• Talk to people you respect about your plans 
  • I told my psychiatrist, my therapist, some friends and family. 
• Live and test the ideas as much as possible before committing. 

• For many months in my apartment I ...

• stopped using my stove and microwave and used a single induction burner for all cooking
• turned off the lights in my apartment and lived with LED lamps alone
• used only a small amount of refrigerator space and left my freezer empty
• used only water from measured containers for all my cleaning, cooking, and personal hygiene

8. Repeat all steps above over and over ... and never stop

For more information about service dogs and emotional support animals in the U.S.: www.servicepoodle.com

For more information about positive psychology: 

Flow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

Strengths: https://viame.org/www/en-us/toolsandresources.aspx?__utma=61228211.1982663587.1332390503.1332390503.1332390503.1&__utmb=61228211.2.10.1332390503&__utmc=61228211&__utmx=-&__utmz=61228211.1332390503.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=-&__utmk=255894092

Gratitude and Appreciation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratitude#Empirical_findings

Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human

servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
www.facebook.com/servicepoodle
www.linkedin.com/in/joanneshortell
call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us

Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs

A Funny Memoir with a Bad Title

I can't say I like his title, but reading John McManamy's newest book got me to write my first Amazon review. Writing no longer comes easy to me and I usually write only about people and mental illness, emotional support animals, and service dogs, but this author was worth the effort.

Click here to see the book (and my review) on Amazon.

John McManamy has been a powerful and positive influence on me and on my recovery. A previous book, Living Well with Depression and Bipolar Disorder, is one of the few books I replaced in Kindle format when I gave my physical books to PrimeTime Clubhouse in Torrington, CT in preparation for taking to the road full time. His Knowledge is Necessity blog comforted me when I was unsure whether my reactions to Whittaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic, were rational and I was afraid to discuss it with others. His other writing in that blog and at HealthCentral.com have entertained and enlightened me.

Here's the text of my review for those of you who don't want to go to Amazon:


I wish everyone would read this book to get a fresh perspective on the humanity of those of us with mental illness. Why should YOU read it?

If you haven't (yet) been diagnosed with a mental illness, have no family members who suffer from mental illness, and don't know anyone with a mental illness (i.e., you're a hermit in the Himalayas shunning all society because you were brought up by wolves), it's a funny memoir written in an authentic voice by a man of a certain age who has suffered serious mental illness throughout his life.

For friends and family of those who suffer from mental illness, John's book is a wake up call. Here's a mental health journalist writing about his life with a sometimes devastating mental illness and he never mentions his doctor, his therapist, or his medication. These things are not his life; his interactions with friends, family, and the rest of the world are.

Likewise, if you suffer from a mental illness, this book is an entertaining reminder that we are not our illness, we have real lives to live, and we needn't spend all our time worrying about the problems of living with mental illness. He even reminds us that being "normal" is not all it's cracked up to be: "Yes, there are times when we really do go crazy, do things we later wish we could undo. But on top of that, we then have to put up with people who simply think we are crazy for no other reason than we're not as constitutionally boring as they are."

P.S.: for those who also wish to know more about the illness, the same author wrote a very good book about mood disorders that covers diagnosis, related brain science, recovery, and special sections for specific populations (men, women, old, young, etc.): Living Well with Depression and Bipolar Disorder


Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human

servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
www.facebook.com/servicepoodle
www.linkedin.com/in/joanneshortell
call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us

Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs

View from our mobile office

We weren't on a hajj, but we ended up in Mecca (California). Wonderful campsite complete with blooming ocotillo and a shining white-yellow flower that appears to be a poppy relative.

John McManamy's Newest Book: Perfect End to a Great Day?

"And now for something completely different . . ." I just got done doing a great auto tour of Joshua Tree National Park. I've had no cell or internet service for a while, but tonight I'm camping on BLM land outside the park and I'm connected again. I was thrilled to see that the long awaited latest kindle book by my favorite bipolar writer has finally been released see: Knowledge Is Necessity: My New Kindle Book!!

I immediately put aside Mark Twain's Roughing It and downloaded McManamy's memoir.  I'm hoping for a cross between Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. That's a lot to ask for $4.99, I know, but I have faith!



Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human

servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
www.facebook.com/servicepoodle
www.linkedin.com/in/joanneshortell
call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us

Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs

View from our mobile office

We're in an Arizona rest area almost in California trying to catch up with things while we have some cell service. We're going to Joshua Tree National Park next.

You Can Take Your Dog to Work

NPR has a great story on this subject (see link below).  Turns out it's good for people to take their dogs to work.  There aren't too many places where "normal" people can do that, but it's a possibility for people with psychiatric disabilities.  Not only service dogs, but also emotional support animals, can be requested to accompany a person with a psychiatric disability to work in the U.S. as a "reasonable accommodation." See http://www.servicepoodle.com/useful-links-1/dogs-in for links to relevant .gov web pages.

You can read the National Public Radio Story at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/30/149684409/take-your-dog-to-the-office-and-stress-less?ft=1&f=1128&sc=tw

Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human

servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
www.facebook.com/servicepoodle
www.linkedin.com/in/joanneshortell
call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us

Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs

What if water cost a quarter?

That's what we paid for it in Gila Bend, AZ at this water dispenser.

How much would it cost you if you had to buy a week's supply for all your indoor use? According to the EPA the average family of four would be popping 1,960 quarters into the machine -- $490 for a week's supply.I'll bet that would change your water use habits!

I don't scrimp on water for drinking at all. The vast majority of water goes into me, Maeve, and Sibol as drinking water. I use extremely low water use personal hygeine and cleaning methods and I use a dry composting toilet. It would cost me only $2.50 for a week's supply for drinking, cooking, and cleaning for me, the cat and the dog.

Want to see where your 1,960 gallons goes? Here's the link to the EPA site.

Joanne Shortell, Maeve's Service Human

servicehuman@servicepoodle.com
www.servicepoodle.com
www.facebook.com/servicepoodle
www.linkedin.com/in/joanneshortell
call us using "call Maeve and Joanne" at http://www.servicepoodle.com/contact-us

Joanne and Maeve (her psychiatric service poodle) help people with psychiatric disabilities discover their rights to emotional support animals in no-pets housing without pet deposits or pet fees and their rights to service dogs

Great video on ADA rights to public access for people who use service dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLVMIO5P5H8

It's slightly out of date as it was made before the Department of Justice limited service animals to dogs and miniature horses, but otherwise it is accurate.

There is no life worth living without risk

Just the other day I made a reservation for this tour and then drove to my mom's for a week's visit. Look at the lead story in her local newspaper yesterday. She was good; she didn't make a fuss.

Following my bliss and my blisters

I have been receiving signals about my life choices lately. All of them approve of my spending time outdoors. The night before my first real camping trip in the Maevemobile, I saw a spectacular green-tailed meteorite break into several pieces above the desert behind my Mom's rv park. The night before I headed to Yuma to have a solar system installed and then to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, I saw another meteorite in the skies over Tucson. Today I was less than half watching a PBS program, but heard one phrase clearly: "Follow your bliss," a quote from Joseph Campbell. The reason I was not really watching was that I was browsing a book on national parks in the southwest, looking for destinations.

The quote resonated in me and evoked memories of my recent experiences in the Coronado National Forest and at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. In both places I felt a deep peace like nothing I had ever felt before. It was not a hypomanic high or a giddy, in-love emotion. When I looked it up in wikipedia, there was another quote by him in response to accusations that he was promoting hedonism (he was not). The quote was, "I should have said follow your blisters."

Take time to smell the cactus

We're in the Sonoran desert and the cholla are starting to bloom. So far I've seen yellow orange and red flowers on different types of cholla. They smell good too.

View from our mobile office

We're at Organ Pipe Cactus National Park near Ajo AZ

View from our mobile office

In Benson AZ

HEADLINE: Service Dogs Generally Well Accepted by Businesses

It's not a big problem to walk into the average business with a service dog, but you rarely see that fact in newspapers, Facebook, or other media. I hate to post material that mentions the difficult problems people do sometimes encounter without emphasizing the much greater number of times there is not a significant problem.  The other day I posted something about a problem business in Massachusetts, so let me give you the scoop on the many  businesses that treat us appropriately.

Just last week Maeve's Business Honor Roll added its 100th business. Note that this list contains only the businesses I REMEMBER to enter (I have significant memory and attention problems) and it includes only businesses Maeve and I have personally had a good experience in since we began documenting our good experiences seven months ago. These are not just local businesses that have gotten used to us either -- there are multiple businesses on the list from each of seven states.

Let me tell you about our experiences from today -- 100% positive in visiting six businesses and private medical facilities.  Our itinerary included:

CT DMHAS NW Region is IN THE KNOW about Psychiatric Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Maeve and I love working in the northwest region of CT. The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services staff are terrific and it's the location of a fabulous ICCD clubhouse -- Prime Time. We did an in-service for DMHAS staff (and at least one from Prime Time) last Thursday in Torrington CT and it was great!

While Maeve and I provided a lot of information to the attendees, we can take little credit for their enthusiasm about helping people with psychiatric disabilities get animals.  First, they love animals.  It's a good thing Maeve has thick hair -- she was petted so much she'd have bald spots if she were a lesser dog.  Second, they clearly love the people they serve. Their eyes lit up whenever we talked about them helping those people use their rights under federal law to get pets in no-pets housing without deposits or fees.

I was particularly thrilled by their response when I mentioned the author of my favorite essay, "Each time I recover enough, I borrow a dog," Larry Davidson, Ph.D. When I mentioned his name, they nearly cheered, "Oh yes! The Recovery Guy!"  I had just finished reading his book, A Practical Guide to Recovery-Oriented Practice: Tools for Transforming Mental Health Care. Until reading this book I had never felt comfortable using the term "recovery" to describe what I've done with my life since my  bipolar disorder became so disabling that I could no longer work. 

During the in-service, we talked about the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities to travel through their lives accompanied by their service dogs in virtually every place the public is allowed (under the Americans with Disabilities Act), to emotional support animals (pets) in no-pets housing without deposits or fees (under the Fair Housing Act). We also spoke about the rights of people with service dogs to bring them into hospitals and doctors offices, including the endorsement of this by the Center for Disease Control. I also talked about the impact that training and being accompanied by Maeve has made in my own life.  

There was one more bit of satisfaction I got during our presentation. Maeve and I did similar presentations last year for the members and staff of PrimeTime and for our Advocacy Unlimited mental health advocacy class in Torrington.  A staff member from Prime Time who was taking a Recovery University course offered by Advocacy Unlimited knew all the answers to the questions about the rights to animals granted by the ADA and FHA.  He'd just been tested on them in his RU course.  I hadn't been aware that this information had been incorporated into the Advocacy Unlimited courses and was thrilled to hear about it.

If you're involved with an organization that works with people with psychiatric disabilities, an educational organization that trains people to do such work, or any organization that might be interested in learning more about these rights, please see our webpage on our U.S. tour and our Contact Us page. We'd love to hear from you!

Psychiatric Service Dog Mistaken for Stuffed Toy

"OMG! It's a real dog!"

 We were in Cafemantic in Willimantic, CT. I was sipping a delicious ginger lemongrass infusion and researching lCCD clubhouses in Virginia for our 2012 Q1 cross-country tour. Maeve was doing her job--lying quiet and still  beside me with the lingering essence of a Trader Joe's gourmet peanut butter dog cookie on her tongue.

 After the young lady recovered her composure she got to meet Maeve and she and her companion peppered me with questions.  They weren't familiar with service dogs other than guide dogs for the blind.

 As soon as I finished with that I entered Cafemantic into into Maeve's Business Honor Role as our 100th inductee! They also got a Two Paws Up designation.

Today's view from our mobile office

A rainy day in suburban CT.

Today's view from our mobile office

3,000 miles minimum! We're starting to plan our first cross-country tour . . . .