Early Warning Signs of mental healthy issues.  Not sure if you or someone you know is living with mental health problems? Experiencing one or more of the following feelings or behaviors can be an early warning sign of a problem: THEY WILL TELL YOU....and look for 

• Eating or sleeping too much or too little
• Pulling away from people and usual activities
• Having low or no energy
• Feeling numb or like nothing matters
• Having unexplained aches and pains
• Feeling helpless or hopeless
• Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual
• Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared
• Yelling or fighting with family and friends
• Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
• Having persistent thoughts and memories you can't get out of your head
• Hearing voices or believing things that are not true
• Thinking of harming yourself or others
• Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school

I'm a head injury survivor with ringing in my ears.  I believe those symptoms will go away as the migraines have. But I was, and still am amazed that I can calmly OR excitedly ask for help and responses are shockingly zombie like. Why?  The whole world is re-setting, re-grouping and re-organizing.  

The middle of March I literally had my Tibia dislocate while at the park with the dogs. 45 minutes passed while I tried to relax and allow it to reduce itself. Simultaneously calmly asking for help. Finally a brave soul was able to approach me without alarming the dogs and hand me my phone.  Help was on the way and soon my ability to relax was aided and my leg restored.   Ice, rest, essential oils, hydrate and therapy had me back going full speed stronger than ever.

Insight gained....the more I move from strength to strength: the less an injury can keep me down.

Life has been full of opportunities like this to either be defeated or propelled to the next level.  As we increase our volunteer staff for upcoming events and fundraising,  you will see first hand the impact our learning organization brings to Canines For Heroes.  Our renewed and updated name to describe what we excel at.  THRIVING

 According to George Lakoff, a specialist in cognitive linguistics, a science  which encompasses matching specific uses of language with the activity in the brain, you cannot make a strictly logical decision without bringing your emotions into play. In fact, he speaks of a New Enlightenment, “a deep rationality that can take account of, a mind that is largely unconscious, embodied, emotional, empathic, metaphorical, and only partly universal.”1
       Taking it deeper to the nature of my writing, you are choosing the thoughts that nurture your emotions.  Your free will is guiding you.  If you disagree that you have free will – the mere fact that you debate this is evidence of your free will: and will probably bring a laugh or bounce from the page. Emotional, aren’t we? LOL
     Where am I going with this? Check out my link to VIRTUAL DOG TRAINING and you will see me demonstrate.  As you observe you will hear me narrate as I offer training tips which exemplify this point in many ways:
1. Marking a good behavior with "YES"
2. Frequent "YES's" mark learning
3. Observing behavior and catching the learning moment with "YES" yields connectivity

How many more benefits of "YES" can you observe?
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Join the fun and thank you for contributing to the cause.  Sincerely, Sandra

Our system is not just about making the everyday path energizing and invigorating - but about making sure our recipient has the opportunity for automatic, reflexive thinking un-impeded to hearing issues that matter to them. Making the decisions based on the outcomes they wish. In other words, NOT being guided only by reflexive impulses.

We all feel overly stressed when we are too reflexive, right?

Let me explain.  Reflexive thinking is fast thinking, as Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman points out in Thinking, Fast and Slow, his insightful book on the essential qualities of the human mind- is fast, intuitive and emotional- and is the kind of thinking that often bypasses the valuable results of slower, reflective thinking, which is more deliberative and logical. There is value in both kind of thinking- but bypassing reflective thinking can lead to some unexpected outcomes.

We strive for both to be in the balance our recipient wants. By engaging in the living, dynamic process the highly trained service dog enables we have 100% success.  Watch the virtual dog training videos to hear more.  See more results from our recipients, in their own words!

Any questions can be emailed to me at: ptsd.assistance@gmail.com. You can also call me
at 941-961-5069.
Best wishes,
Sandra​

We want you to stay. Here’s what our National PTSD Service Association wants anyone with PTSD to know:

1. “You are enough.”
“You are enough! You are so enough it’s wonderful and amazing how enough you are. No one on earth has ever been born like you and you were born to be alive at this time.  Your gift is special and needed.  You are still here because you are a fighter. You will always come out stronger and a winner. I’m going to say it again. You are enough! We love you.

2. “You matter.”
Words can seem hollow and empty, but from someone who’s had a traumatic brain injury, I know your pain is real. I see you. I care. You matter. You are not a burden, and you deserve every breath you take.

3. “Find an outlet to express what you’re feeling.”
As an individual living with a military veteran, the arts expressed through our work with the service dogs are our lifeline —ignoring our inner critic, trusting our intuition, following a path to fun. Our dogs and training  allows us a safe outlet to express our emotions and foster healing. My own intuitive creative process in gardening, birding and oil painting challenges me too.

Stay in the therapy that created a healing space.   

The self-help industry appears, from its name alone, to be a good thing: who doesn’t want to help themselves? Who doesn’t want to be more independent and self-sufficient? However, as I discuss in this week’s blog and podcast, it does have a darker side, and can often make us more self-involved and isolated, which, in turn, can have a negative affect on both our mental and physical health.
In many cases, the $45 billion dollar a year self-help industry is problematic because it promotes the idea that to be better you have to focus on the self as an individual, which is only half the picture. Yes, we do need to take the time to see to our own health and work on ourselves, both mentally and physically (as I have mentioned many times before!), but this is not the be all and end all of life. A “me, myself and I” mentality tends to distort our perspectives and values, impacting the way we see and interact with those around us and setting up negative feedback loops in the brain that impact our overall health and wellbeing.

​“Some of my earliest childhood memories revolve around dogs & horses"  says Sandra LaFlamme, a Iowa native from Mt. Pleasant, and head injury survivor who serves as President for National PTSD Service Association. "Success through guided recovery has always been one of my greatest teachers and now I am giving that gift to those who served our Country.”

Today Sandra fondly recalls how her grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins would all gather to ride & show horses, sitting around in a horse show arena with a judge in the center. “Working with dogs to assist people is like opening presents on Christmas morning—I know the gift of getting out of confusion and achieving success brings the whole family together in celebration like horses did for me.”

In 2016, Sandra and her husband Mark LaFlamme USAF Retired collaborated to form NPTSD.org and plant the gift that they both have so richly received.  Helping 100's and striving to help 1000's of lives affected by PTSD.

It’s estimated that 6.8% of the U.S. population will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. For veterans, that number increases to 12.9% of just the veteran population. With this increased number, it’s important for veterans, especially those with PTSD, to have methods for coping with their traumatic experiences. While there are many ways to aid veterans with PTSD, having a high-skilled service dog can help veterans with PTSD function and even flourish in daily life. 

Benefits of Service Dogs for Veterans

Veteran trauma may present itself as anger, depression, angression, and general stress as well as physical limitations and disabilities. This expression of trauma is not only problematic for veterans, but it can affect their family environment, other relationships, and their work performance. 

Service dogs can provide support in a multitude of ways. 

Physical Assistance

These highly-skilled animals not only provide consistency and comfort, but they can offer physical aid through small tasks such as turning lights on and off, opening and closing doors or cabinets, and aid the visually impaired as well as giving assistance in public spaces. 

Emotional Assistance

Dogs can also provide emotional support. For some, dogs can help foster communication and assertiveness when veterans use commands for their dogs. These dogs may also support their veterans who experience nightmares or anxiety in public. In certain situations, these dogs may be able to provide a buffer between veterans and other people or circumstances. 

Beyond these benefits and giving support, service dogs can help veterans return to a life that is mostly normal. They can function in society and in their workplace with confidence. Organizations like the National PTSD Service Association aim to help as many qualified veterans as possible through the aid of their highly trained dogs and staff. 

​

With the growing need and use for comfort animals, there has been some confusion about whether these animals are service animals and should be given the same protections and access to different environments. While emotional needs are important, service animals tend to have a bigger role in the daily life of individuals who need them. Service dogs, such as the ones trained by the National PTSD Service Association, are specially trained to support their owners not only emotionally, but physically and mentally to ensure stability throughout the day. 

Using the Right Terms
Animals used to comfort their humans are not the same as service animals. Often incorrectly referred to as Emotional Support Animals (ESAs, a type of service animal), comfort animals are meant to provide comfort to their humans while ESAs provide a service to their owners who have a disability. ESAs and service animals perform specific tasks and work functions such as guiding the visually impaired, detecting seizures or blood sugar levels, and in the case of those who suffer from PTSD, these service animals can prevent traumatic thoughts and responses to daily situations. 
One important distinction is that service animals are not pets. Service animals are trained for specific tasks. Often people will deem their pets emotional support animals for comfort, but these animals are not trained to help those with disabilities. Many times, this lack of distinction causes unintentional discrimination toward those with service animals in workplaces, housing, and shopping centers. 

Avoiding Unintentional Discrimination
When it comes to discriminatory or unfair practices, usually the intent is obvious. However, discrimination can be unintentional. If practices, policies, or using terminology incorrectly results in the unfair treatment of people, they are discriminatory regardless of intent. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that we do not refer to comfort animals as service animals. It’s important that we do not say our pets are ESAs in order to bring them with us into the grocery store, for example. This overload of false action can and has put restrictions on people with disabilities who actually need service animals to perform and live their lives. 

Be Part of the Mission, Learn More
By visiting our website, www.NationalPTSDServiceAssociation.org you can learn more about the programs we offer, donate, or learn more about our training facility. Our organization is a social media forward company, and we can be reached via Facebook as well. 

Any other questions can be emailed to me at: ptsd.assistance@gmail.com. You can also call me at 941-961-5069.

Best wishes,
Sandra

​As the COVID-19 crisis lingers, food scarcity has become a prevalent problem people and our beloved pets. We are proud to partner with Mayor’s Feed the Hungry for a food drive that benefits both people and their pets. The Pets Are Hungry, Too! Food drive will be on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 9AM to 12Noon, 1036 6th Street West Sutton Park in Palmetto.

Over the years, the National PTSD Service Association has worked to help veterans with PTSD return to a normal life through the aid of their highly trained service dogs, and now, by partnering with Mayor’s Feed the Hungry, we will be able to ensure veterans and their service animals are fed as well.

Be Part of the Mission, Learn More
By visiting our website, www.NationalPTSDServiceAssociation.org you can learn more about the programs we offer, donate, or learn more about our training facility. Our organization is a social media forward company, and we can be reached via Facebook as well.
​
Any other questions can be emailed to me at: ptsd.assistance@gmail.com. You can also call me at 941-961-5069.
Best wishes,
Sandra

Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Partners with National PTSD Service Association
 
Palmetto,FL–February 8, 2021 – Mayors’ Feed the Hungry is partnering with the National PTSD Service Association in a “Pets are Hungry, Too!” people and pet food drive. The food drive will benefit families and veterans struggling to feed their four-legged fur babies due to the COVID–19 crisis on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 9AM to 12Noon, 1036 6th Street West Sutton Park in Palmetto.
 
Local Mayors and other officials will officiate a ceremony at 10 AM to celebrate the event.
 
"Our organization is proud to provide highly skilled service dogs to qualified military veterans with PTSD, empowering them to return to life with confidence and independence, says Sandra LaFlamme, president of the National PTSD Service Association.  “We are delighted to team up with Mayors' Feed the Hungry for the Pets Are Hungry, Too! food drive."
 
The National PTSD Service Association and Mayors’ Feed the Hungry both serve families and veterans throughout southwest Florida and understand the dire need to provide pet food assistance for families that are also trying to put food on the family table. 
 
Mayors’ Feed the Hungry will showcase their newly donated refrigerated truck, which was a gift of Impact 100 SRQ. The organization is now accepting all kinds of  food: fresh, frozen and non-perishable as well as pet food.
 
“Since our founding in 1987, the Mayor’s Feed the Hungry Program has collected and distributed over 600 tons of food and over$4,000,000 in food gift cards given to the hungry in Sarasota and Manatee counties,” says executive director Scott Biehler. “It’s more than appropriate that we also consider the faithful companions who also need support.”

Please help us feed as many as you can. Make your tax-deductible donation now: Text the word GIVE to 941-275-203. Donate online at our secure website, mayorsfeedthehungry.org/ Mail a check to Mayors’ Feed the Hungry, PO Box 1992, Sarasota FL 3423

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PTSD SERVICE ASSOCIATION
The National PTSD Service Association, Inc. is a nonprofit agency that provides service dogs by clinical referral at no cost to veterans and public safety personnel in need, empowering them to live fulfilled lives. With 22 suicides a day to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the National PTSD Service Association is providing a solution that works: highly trained service dogs for veterans and first responders with PTSD.
​To learn more, visit https://www.nationalptsdserviceassociation.org/. 
 
ABOUT MAYORS’ FEED THE HUNGRY
Since its beginning in 1987, the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program has raised over 4 million dollars, feeding over 765,000 members in need throughout the local communities. This volunteer organization launched with the mission to collect funds and distribute them during the holiday season, and has since expanded to include food drives, community feedings and food gift cards for those in need. To learn more, visit https://mayorsfeedthehungry.org/.
 
ABOUT IMPACT100 SRQ
Impact100 SRQ is one of more than sixty chapters worldwide and joins its sister chapters in embracing the local collective giving model. Formed in 2017, Impact100 SRQ brings together a diverse group of women that annually fund transformational grants to local nonprofits in both Sarasota and Manatee Counties.  The model is simple. At least 100 women each give a $1,000 tax deductible donation, and together they collectively award grants in increments of at least $100,000 to local nonprofits in five focus areas: Arts & Culture, Education, Environment & Recreation, Family and Health & Wellness.  Each member’s annual donation strengthens the power of giving and funds the innovative projects that make a high “Impact” and sustainable difference in our community. To learn more, visit https://impact100srq.org. The 2021 Impact100 SRQ Membership Drive is underway. Click here to become a member.