My Journey with Joey
Joey has been my faithful companion and loyal friend since February of 2015. He began training to become my psychiatric service dog to help me lead a more independent and fulfilling life by learning tasks to help me manage my severe anxiety disorder. He would accompany me to stores, restaurants, gas stations, or anywhere else in public that my anxiety had prohibited me from going. He was my date to several events and inspired me to speak openly about my mental illness and educate people about stigma and the use of psychiatric service dogs. On our journey together, we met incredible people and found love and support from our community and from all over the country; I'm beyond thankful. A lot has changed in my life within the past year and a half. After several years of drastic medication changes, my doctors finally found the correct combination. This balance allowed me to develop coping skills and focus on my treatment. I was discharged from the intensive therapy program I had bee