Bio

For 18 years I worked as a certified professional dog trainer and dog behavior consultant, specializing in public safety / dog bite prevention, and rehabilitation for anxious, reactive, and traumatized dogs. During that time, I also spent 10 years working in Animal Assisted Interventions through volunteer visiting with my registered therapy dogs in various nursing homes and schools, directing a program to train other human-dog teams and connect them with sites in Los Angeles (including The LA Mission, The Edelman and Antelope Valley Children's Courts, and The Jewish Home for the Aging), working with The People Concern's k9 Connection and Pet's Landing programs, developing and facilitating a CE workshop for healthcare professionals in collaboration with USC faculty, and conducting an accreditation review and preparation for Dogwood Therapy. I am also a licensed occupational therapist and hold a master's and a doctorate in occupational therapy, with advanced clinical practice in community-based mental health. During my residency, I worked with Painted Brain, Inc. and Psychological Care & Healing Services in Los Angeles to develop group and individual OT services to support community reintegration for adults who had experienced trauma and were labeled with serious mental illness.

Now I'm building a private practice: Human Canine Collaborative. I aim to support neurodivergent dog guardians and dog care professionals in building skills for co-regulation and somatic consent so that they can find ease and safety with dogs while cultivating confidence and grounding in themselves.