Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Working Through Trauma: The Use Of Comfort Dogs In Television Newsrooms, Adrienne S. Garvey

Selected Faculty Publications

Journalists who have to cover traumatic events are exposed to the potential of having lasting psychological effects. This study explored one of the coping options that could be made available to more journalists through the use of comfort dogs. While journalists often are guarded with their emotions, that does not mean they do not experience the symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This qualitative study focused on long-form interviews with broadcast journalists who covered the Pulse nightclub mass shooting in June of 2016. These journalists all had subsequent interaction with comfort dogs in the newsroom. The …