In the course of a couple of years Teri Arbues lost her father, mother, and 23 year old son. Finding it difficult to talk about her grief in traditional therapy groups, she turned to equine-assisted therapy and NCEFT. Teri’s exposure to special needs individuals as a child, her mother worked with children with cerebral palsy (CP) and her family fostered a child with CP while she was in high school, had instilled in her a fondness for the very types of kids NCEFT treats.
Two years later Teri is a regular face at NCEFT, faithfully showing up each Thursday to volunteer as a sidewalker. When asked about her favorite part of volunteering with NCEFT she says it’s got to be “seeing the smile on a child’s face the first time the horse trots or hearing them speak when they are sitting backwards.” Outside of sessions Teri likes to connect with other volunteers and staff who have similar stories of loss and who share her feeling that animals have a unique ability to heal. “I don’t think it’s any accident that we are all up [here], together, silently supporting each other,” she says.
After watching the ease with which Teri interacts with NCEFT’s patients, it comes as no surprise she has a background in nursing. Having attended S.F. State and later CSM for nursing school, Teri went on to work for Peninsula Hospital for 35 years and now works for Sutter Skilled Nursing. When she’s not working with the children at our facility, she’s spending time with her own kids, Kyle (25) and Stacie (15).
We asked Teri if there was anything else she wanted to share with our readers and she had this to say:
We get thanked all the time for volunteering and are made to feel very appreciated by the NCEFT staff, but I need to thank NCEFT for the peace I receive every time I am there. You often hear people say that they get more out of volunteering than they give and this is certainly true for me. This is a very special place with wonderful therapists, horse handlers, caring people who work very hard and of course very special horses. Thank you NCEFT staff from the bottom of my heart.
