building on THE STRENGTH OF THE HUMAN-ANIMAL BOND 

working at the  intersection of humans and animals

 Over the last two and a half decades, I have collaborated with university-based research teams and non-profit organizations to more rapidly translate scientific discoveries into everyday use to improve children's mental health and family well-being.   While some of these discoveries have improved the lives of children and families, many of these "evidence-based" therapies are still not widely available.  Problems of access to specialty care, cost of that care, and the appropriateness of that care continue to hamper improvements in children's mental health.     

As such, in 2020, I decided to merge my experience in children's mental health research and the design and delivery of evidence-based care with my passion for and appreciation of the strength of the human-animal bond, and pursue work in the emerging field of veterinary social work.  This field broadly includes animal-assisted interventions, animal-related grief and bereavement counseling, compassion fatigue and conflict management, and the well-known link between human-animal violence.  It also includes expanding the ways in which we serve the human-animal dyad, including Human Animal Support Service models that keep them together, or insure that they can remain together in situations of interpersonal violence.

I am currently working on my master's degree in social work (MSW) at Cleveland State University, and Veterinary Social Work Certificate at the University of Tennessee, a unique certification for professionals who work at the intersection of human and animal relationships.   I look forward to working with my new colleagues in the veterinary social work field, both on programming that supports and leverages the strength of the human-animal bond and all of the benefits it confers, as well as developing and disseminating animal-assisted interventions that improve children's mental health and family well-being.
News and Notes
I'm honored to have been appointed to the International Association of Veterinary Social Workers Board of Directors
About the Equine Therapy Research I am involved in at NYU
​(Reining in Anxiety) 
How to Realign D & I Science to Improve Children's Mental Health ... 
Some of my favorite furry family friends ......