GoDaddy’s Onsite Clinic is Top Dog

CHICAGO - March 17, 2015 - PRLog -- In three of its Arizona offices, there is a particular GoDaddy team member who makes everyone smile without saying a word. In fact, employees are happy to stop what they are doing when he shows up for a quick hello, even during a chaotic day. This magnetic presence belongs to Ox, a mixed-breed rescue dog who has quickly become a welcome part of the worksite counseling service provided by CuraLinc Healthcare and GoDaddy’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Ox is a part of GoDaddy’s Total Life Management program, Powered by You. The program has been instrumental in helping GoDaddy enrich the lives of its more than 4,000 employees by helping them fulfill a core element of the company’s mission statement – to live passionately. At GoDaddy, part of living passionately means team members take care of each other and themselves in order to take care of the company’s customers.  The company feels that employees’ health and time away from the office are as important as excelling at work.

The Research Center for Human/Animal Interaction at the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine echoes what many GoDaddy employees feel when interacting with Ox. The center found interacting with animals can increase a person’s level of oxytocin, a hormone which helps people feel happy and trusting. As Rebecca Johnson, the nurse who heads the Research Center recently told NPR, "Oxytocin has some powerful effects for us in the body's ability to be in a state of readiness to heal, and also to grow new cells, so it predisposes us to an environment in our own bodies where we can be healthier."

GoDaddy and CuraLinc piloted the program’s Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) function in the company’s Iowa office two years ago. However, the sudden passing of long-time GoDaddy employee Joe Hanyen was the catalyst for expanding the reach of AAT – and introducing Ox – to the organization’s Arizona locations. The partnership between GoDaddy and CuraLinc to provide employees support in times of need became more relevant than ever.

Joe’s widow, Jessica Hanyen – who works also works at GoDaddy -  – explains, “My late husband, Joe, specialized in investigating reports of online child sexual abuse. A couple years ago, he attended the Dallas ‘Crimes Against Children’ Conference, where therapy dogs were present.  He became completely enamored with them because they made him smile in the midst of a very heavy week. He saw how the dogs could not only provide a refuge for people who deal with viewing emotionally-challenging content, but how they could also help any employee who was experiencing stress. It then became his mission to get therapy dogs into our workplace – and he talked with me about it often. When he passed away unexpectedly, it was important to me that something he was so passionate about became a reality. It feels fitting that a big part of his legacy is bringing comfort to others in need.”

Laurie Brednich, GoDaddy’s Director of Employee Benefits, is especially happy with the helping paw Ox has brought to break down stigmas and easing hesitation for employees to make the most of the EAP. “When employees make an appointment to see one of our onsite clinicians, we ask if they’d like Ox to sit with them during the sessions. We’ve yet to have anyone say ‘no,’” said Laurie.

Although the majority of U.S. companies offer an EAP to their employees, very few employers integrate worksite behavioral health counseling into the program and even fewer incorporate animal-assisted therapy.

“As a complement to a traditional EAP model, the success of a worksite counseling component is dependent on the culture of the employer and the strategy behind which the program is promoted to the employee population,” says Sean Fogarty, President of CuraLinc Healthcare. “Because Laurie takes the time to really understand what makes GoDaddy’s employees tick, she believed therapy dogs would be valuable to help employees cope with challenging circumstances and to remove the stigma of counseling as a couch-based treatment vehicle. She’s always looking for effective ways – from the conventional to the out of the ordinary – to help GoDaddy employees be the best they can be.”

Watch someone pet a dog and notice the expression on their face changes Almost immediately, they relax and seem happier, less troubled. In fact, studies going back to the early 1980s support the notion of dogs improving people’s psychological well-being and self-esteem.

This is exactly what Michael Munion, one of CuraLinc’s onsite clinicians at GoDaddy, sees every day. “Within the therapy sessions, it is clear Ox provides comfort and puts people at ease.  But the impact of his presence on GoDaddy employees is even bigger.  I like to refer to Ox as an ambassador of the EAP. Without him, most people who see me in the hallways probably wouldn’t stop me to ask why I’m there. But when they see Ox, they stop, they pet him, and they ask why he’sthere – which opens the door for them to learn more about the program.”