Mitchell Spero said he has spent 10 years training his pet turtle to do things like sit, heel, stay and roll over.

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Spero, a psychologist, said his turtle, Florida, has helped children deal with the trials and tribulations of life.

When 7-year-old Ariana Wible started having nightmares a year ago, she went to see Spero. She said before she was able to face her fears, she found a new friend in the turtle.

"I thought he was pretty slow at first, but when I saw him run, he was really fast," Wible said. "Faster than a regular turtle could run."

She showed her sister, Alexandra, the tricks that Florida can do.

"I thought it was really cool that you could train a turtle to do that, and I thought anything is possible," Spero said.

Spero said he used the turtle to show children how to overcome obstacles, like dealing with divorce.

"I put a doll on the back of the turtle, and he literally carried her from one house to the other, back and forth," Spero said. "And she finally understood the concept that Mommy was going to have a house and Daddy was going to have a house, and it was OK for her to go back and forth."

Spero said the children catch on quickly, but adults are more skeptical.

"They think I'm kidding," he said. "'Your turtle does tricks; what are you talking about?'"

Like Florida the turtle, Spero said the therapy can move slowly. However, in the end, there is a lesson that even parents can take home -- rewarding good behavior works.

"I'll often say, 'You know turtles; they can be pretty difficult. Kids are easy,'" Spero said.