News

Therapist Annalisa Smithson hadn’t contemplated incorporating animals into her sessions until a 10-pound Maltese hopped into a client’s lap.

The office dog at the center where she had been working served as an informal – and completely accidental – icebreaker for a veteran struggling with addiction issues and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We didn’t have enough rapport built that he was ready to open up to me,” Smithson recalled of how the dog followed them into a session and jumped onto his lap. “He looked at her and started petting her with both hands. His whole story just poured out.”

That a-ha moment convinced Smithson, of Pottstown-based Unleashed Counseling, to research animal-assisted therapy as a modality to potentially implement into her practice.

“I need to do this,” Smithson said she remembered thinking, adding, “At the time, I didn’t even have a dog.”

She enlisted her first animal assistant, Benji, in 2018 and began studying animal-assisted therapy at Harcum College.

“The human needs to be trained first,” she said.

Smithson, who also incorporates nature-based therapy into her practice, has since expanded her office to include “nine humans, four dogs, and one rabbit” with two additional rabbits joining in January.

As she was venturing out on her own five years ago, she enlisted help from SCORE Bucks County mentor Bill Grant.

“The advice he gave me at our first meeting was life changing,” Smithson recalled of how Grant helped her establish her new office. “’Your life is too precious for a long commute.’ I followed his advice and ultimately landed in an office with a private nature trail and the shortest commute ever. He helped me set the foundation for work-life balance.”

She’s met with Grant monthly throughout the last five years, along with co-mentor Robert Sherry. Together, they have tackled personnel changes, her long-term plans, the possibility of developing a franchise business model, addressed medical billing and reimbursement issues, improved social media strategies, identified areas for cost reduction and increased profitability, and worked on program development and implementation.

“I get something out of it every single month,” Smithson said.

Grant, who has more than 30 years of experience in business relations, financial management and is a certified public accountant, has seen tremendous growth in Smithson’s practice throughout their mentoring journey.

“Annalisa’s innovative approach to therapy, including the use of therapy animals and outdoor green spaces, has created a uniquely calming and healing environment for her clients,” Grant said. “Her commitment to creating meaningful experiences for her team and her clients is evident in everything she does.”

Smithson recently completed the SBA Thrive program, which has helped in building and planning for the expansion of offerings and locations. Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, Smithson is working to establish a satellite office on a Berks County farm. One of her clinicians is moving to New Jersey and Smithson is considering opening a satellite office there as well.

“It all felt so serendipitous,” she said. “2025 is going to be a huge year for us.”

Smithson is also partnering with Dentler’s Dog Training on a new program aptly titled “Therapy’s Best Friend: A Companion Animal Program.” The six-week program will be unleashed beginning in spring 2025. It entails a client and his or her dog coming twice per week for what she describes as “short-term solution-focused therapy.”

The clients, their dogs, a therapist and a dog trainer work collaboratively to teach dogs skills to be a better emotional support companion.

“You know that being around your dog makes you feel better. So let’s be intentional about deepening that bond with activities like ‘deep pressure,’ and ‘the gratitude game,’ Smithson said. “Therapy’s Best Friend is going to be a game-changer stressed out people who love dogs (which is most of us).”

About SCORE 
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 17 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses.?With more than 70 members across Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE Bucks?County?provides free mentoring services annually to local small business owners through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars. Learn more: www.score.org/buckscounty