1. Preteen canines bring calm and create
Shared Experiences
By Jeanna Osborn
Calo Canine Director
The Calo Canine Therapy
Department utilizes four canines--
Diesel, Neptune, Glamour, and
Nugget--to help students. Through
daily interactions with the canines
the students develop a deeper
understanding of commitment and
acceptance. The student provides
security for the canines through
basic care, management, and
training. This leads to attunement
and alignment where co-regulation
is practiced with a caregiver. The
students will experience making
mistakes with the canines and feel
empathy, love, and acceptance as the
canine quickly forgives and provides
unconditional love. This allows
students to practice safe and healthy
attachment.
The Preteen canine program
reflects many of the stages of our
clinical model:
Students show commitment
through providing or helping
caregivers provide for the dog’s
basic physical needs.
Students show acceptance by
providing or helping to provide for
the dog’s mental and emotional
needs through training, exercise,
attention, and affection.
Students show attunement and
co-regulation by exercising self-
control and through considering
how their actions or lack of
attention affect the dog.
Students experience joy as the
canines experience joy through the
interdependent relationship that
student and dog share.
Students are automatically
enrolled in the Preteen Canine
Therapy program upon admission
to Calo Preteens. Using
conventional animal-assisted
therapy, students can find comfort
and support through the canines.
Although students are not
assigned a particular dog, three
canines are available to preteen
students at any hour of the day for
comfort and companionship.
Caregivers
and
students
work
together to
provide
care for the
dogs, and
care
activities
like
feeding
and
walking
are built
into the
student
schedule.
CALO PRETEENSUPDATE
October2015
Family Days Set
for October 14-15
Parents will be arriving on the
Preteen campus on Wednesday,
October 14, in the morning for
the first of two Family Days.
During the two-day event,
families will have a chance to
spend time with their preteens,
have some family time off
campus, and participate in
parent workshops.
Wednesday begins with some
activity time in the Calo gym
with parents and preteens,
followed by lunch in the
Preteen homes. Following
lunch parents will say “good-
bye” to preteens and attend
afternoon workshops on such
topics as emotional and
physical regulation. Dinner will
feature activities, as well as a
catered meal.
Thursday morning begins with
breakfast in the lower
conference room in the teen
program’s building, followed
by a seminar. After the seminar,
parents will return to the
Preteen homes and play some
games with their preteens.
Lunch will be followed by a
pumpkin carving activity with
parents and preteens. Parent
support groups will convene
after the pumpkin carving. At 4
o’clock students leaving with
parents will check out for the
weekend.
Preteen canine “Diesel”
Preteen canine “Neptune”
Preteen canine
“Nugget”
Meet Tasha
Callaway, Teacher
With 21 students now enrolled
in the Preteen Academics
program, Tasha Callaway is
joining the department at an
exciting time. The Special
Education-certified teacher of
seventh and eighth grade boys
and girls shares that excitement.
“I love it here,” she says.
The first-year teacher received
her BS in Education from Drury
University in Springfield, MO,
and is currently enrolled in
Drury’s masters degree program,
specializing in teaching and
technology.
“In my first few weeks here,
I’ve really tried to get kids
interested in the curriculum,”
Tasha says, “and that seems to be
working now.” Using media and
technology, she has focused on
social studies and science. “We’re
doing lots of writing too.”
Tasha is the mother of two
children. When she isn’t
teaching Calo Preteens or
parenting her own children,
Tasha is an avid photographer.
Two of her photographs of
eagles have been published by
the Missouri Conservation
Department.

2. Karen Moist Uses Hulk
to Treat Preteen Trauma
Working with her Calo preteen girls,
therapist Karen Moist often tells them the
story of The Hulk, the comic book
character. The Hulk, a huge, green giant, is
the alter ego of Bruce Banner, a mild-
mannered physicist. When Bruce
experiences fear and anger he transforms
into the Hulk, often destroying anything in
his path. In one storyline, Bruce discovered
that in the serenity of the Amazonian
rainforest, he was able to tame the Hulk.
“For my girls, I want to be their
rainforest,” says Karen.
Because so many Calo Preteens
students struggle to manage their own
feelings of fear and anger, Karen’s analogy
of the Hulk is an apt one. A comic book
hero is likely to appeal to preteens and the
metaphor is straightforward. “I use lots of
art and toys with the girls,” Karen
explains. “Their language is play.” Because
many of her students have experienced
trauma before they had language to talk
about it, toys and play are especially
effective therapeutic ways for students to
access those traumatic experiences.
Karen Moist brings a wealth of
experience to her new work at Calo
Preteens. Karen comes to Calo from the
Children’s Home Society of Missouri in St.
Louis, where she
was a therapist.
She has also
worked in
private practice
and for many
years worked
with children in
the Woodland
School District
in Gurnee, IL.
But most
important for
Calo Preteens,
“I have a
passion for
trauma work,”
Karen says. “I
love that we
have the opportunity to do a wide range of
therapies.” She is certified in Eye
Movement Desensitization Reprocessing
(EMDR), Neurosequential Model of
Therapeutics, and Rhythmic Movement
Therapy. All of these specialized therapies
give Karen ways to treat traumatized
children beyond just “talk therapy.”
Karen earned a B.A. in Psychology
from Ashland University in
Clinton, IA. Her masters degree
is in forensic psychology from
The Chicago School of
Professional Psychology, where
she is also working on a
doctorate in international
psychology with a trauma focus.
Karen stresses that she has been
in the shoes of many of her
students’ adoptive parents.
Karen has served as the guardian
for five teenagers, who are all
now young adults. “I’ve been
there, and I know how hard it
can be,” she says. That’s why in
her work with parents she
stresses acceptance and
forgiveness. “I’ve found that I’ve
had to learn to forgive both my children
and myself,” she says. “Trauma isn’t the
child’s fault,” she concludes
Q & A with Laurie Laird,
Executive Director
What drew you to Calo Preteens program?
For years I have been following Calo, either
by crossing paths with people in leadership
positions or aware of students who
attended Calo. I have always been
impressed with Calo’s focus on children
with developmental trauma and brain-
based treatment. When the opportunity
presented itself to work at Calo, I was
thrilled to help build the preteen program.
How has your background prepared you
for this role? I have dedicated my life to
working with youth; as an educator for 16
years and as the education director at a
residential program for the last 15 years.
My years of managing a department and
working closely with other departments
such as clinical and residential have proven
to be invaluable in preparation.
What has been the biggest surprise for
you so far? I really like the Lake Ozark
area! It was not in my life’s dreams to live
in Missouri but happily, I’m adjusting and
finding the area to be welcoming
and breathtakingly beautiful.
What do you see as the program’s greatest
assets? By far, our people. I’m so
impressed with the supervisors, therapists,
nurses, and other direct care staff who
work with our children. I’m grateful to
work with people who care deeply about
helping and healing children with
emotional dysregulation. Their dedication
inspires me on a daily basis.
What do you see as the program’s
challenges? I know it takes great trust and
hope for a parent to place a young child in
treatment. Earning this trust is important
to me so my challenge is to make sure we
have a program that is worthy in every
way to ensure a parent knows they made a
correct choice in placing their child at Calo.
What are your longer-term goals for the
program? To become the best preteen
developmental trauma program in the
country. I believe this is possible with the
right employees and the right metrics to
measure our success. With those two
assets, we can create and sustain the best
treatment possible.
CALOPRETEENSUPDATE/OCTOBER2015
“What will be your focus for
the rest of this year? Since
the preteen program has only
been open for 10 months, my
focus for the rest of the year is
to align our metrics for success
so we have a proven record for
best treatment and care.”