In the midst of the bustling hallway at Scott Middle School on Wednesday afternoon, there was one source of calm: Yeti, the district’s new therapy dog.
Hands reached out from dozens of students walking to their next class, trying to get in at least one pat on Yeti’s head. While the 3-year-old standard poodle didn’t mind the extra attention, he was there with a job to do.
Yeti is part of a team alongside his handler, Liesel Hogan, the district’s new — and only — violence prevention psychotherapist, working to serve students across Lincoln Public Schools in a wide variety of ways.
“Yeti is magic,” Hogan said. “He just provides this kind of calming magic when he walks in the room.”
Through her position at LPS, with the help of Yeti, Hogan works with students of all ages across the district to identify those who may be at risk of harming themselves or others, and provides interventions to help students work through any behavioral or mental health issues they may be facing.
While no two days are the same for Hogan and Yeti, the duo most often helps students by providing therapeutic support for students and families who need a higher level of intervention within the school building.
With students, Hogan often discusses topics such as anger management, how to regulate emotions and the resources available to them at school. She also helps students process traumatic experiences and cope with mental health concerns like depression or anxiety.
There’s also no set timeline for how often or how many times she serves a student. Every student’s needs are different, she said.
“It really varies,” she said. “There's really no cookie cutter.”
Hogan’s main goal, however, is to provide stability for students in need of extra help to ensure they’re able to thrive both in and outside of the school building, she said, and she’s able to accomplish this, in part, with the help of her furry companion.
Yeti’s impact on students can be instrumental in helping students with any range of concerns, she said.
Decked out with a “Spread Smiles” bandana and his very own official LPS badge, Yeti’s main job is to be a source of relief for students who may be struggling with mental health and behavioral issues. He’s been known to relax students just by resting his head in their laps, Hogan said.
“It’s amazing,” she said.
Hogan has always dreamed of having a therapy dog by her side at work each day, so when her family was looking to adopt a second dog a few years ago, she knew she wanted a puppy she could train to help students in a way she cannot.
To be a therapy dog in a school district, Yeti was certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and has additional certification and professional liability insurance to work at LPS. He also underwent extensive training with Hogan and a private trainer.
But in his first two years as a certified school therapy dog, Yeti has proved to be a natural.
“In terms of the interventions that he does with students, that is all Yeti,” Hogan said. “Yeti gives hugs. That's not something I trained in him. He responds in emotional situations. That's not training that I taught him. He just does that on his own.”
However, Yeti isn’t Hogan’s only partner when working to help students of all needs.
A large part of Hogan’s role as the violence prevention psychotherapist is to collaborate with teachers and administration inside school buildings to manage any concerns and ensure students are receiving the proper care they need.
“I'm just a small part of the picture,” she said.
Hogan is also part of the district’s Behavioral Threat Assessment team, which specializes in behavioral violence prevention in the district. The program is made up of a team of local experts, each with a different skill set to “look at everything from different angles,” and Hogan is a great addition to it, according to Director of Security Joseph Wright.
LPS previously contracted with a community provider to provide the district access to a psychotherapist for the past five years. But, by transitioning to make the position full time through the district, Wright said they have expanded their reach and have created more access to help for students.
With Hogan on the threat assessment team, the district can now be “instantly responsive” to the needs of both students and families.
“Her expertise, combined with her experience with kids, already brings us, I think, a better, more accurate and more well-rounded look into the behaviors that we're examining so that we can get to the root causes of why some of our kids may be experiencing what they are and how we can help,” Wright said.
Lincoln Public Schools psychotherapist Liesel Hogan and her therapy dog, a 3-year-old standard poodle named Yeti, are greeted by students during a passing period on Wednesday at Scott Middle School.
Yeti, a 3-year-old standard poodle and therapy dog for Lincoln Public Schools, is greeted by students during a passing period Wednesday at Scott Middle School.