“Animals do speak; but only to those who know how to listen”

As far back as I can remember animals have been at the forefront of how I experience the world.  In fact, as someone who was bullied a lot as a young child; animals were truly my best friends.  They comforted me when I was upset, played when friends scarce, and never left me feeling alone…ever.  Animals made me a better human.  It was this consistent, unconditional love that inspired me to forever make them part of my life’s work. I wanted (and needed) to give back to the creatures that were always by my side and asked nothing in return, but kindness.

This deep passion for helping those without voices (human voices that is) thrust me headfirst into working in animal welfare and animal sheltering.  I spent 16 years in various positions in animal shelters across the country from Adoption Counselor to Humane Law Enforcement Officer and everything in between.  I saw it all from the very dark, soul crushing challenges of animal cruelty cases; to the heartwarming moments of previously abused dogs finding their safe, and happy forever.  I learned more about life in those 16 years; then I believe I would have in a lifetime.  Even though much of the darker side of things left me with the emotional scars of PTSD; I wouldn’t change the experience for anything.  It was these years that helped prepare me for my intimate relationship with animals and their humans.

In the last few years of my animal shelter career I focused on behavior, training, and enrichment in the lives of shelter animals at a large non-profit animal shelter in New England.  It was at this point where my eyes were opened to a whole “new” way of approaching behavior and healing in animals.  A local woman (Michelle) who provided holistic options for treating pet animals stopped by on a whim to talk to me about a program she was interested in creating for animal shelters that utilized volunteer Reiki practitioners to help promote healing in homeless animals; PHUR (Providing Healing Using Reiki).  I was immediately intrigued and like many times before; jumped right, welcoming this amazing woman to sit and chat for a while.  Within a year we had collaborated on creating this program and growing our team of 30 plus volunteers.  We worked in groups with a variety of species of shelter animals; but our main focus was on the “difficult” dogs.  These were dogs with behavioral challenges that were holding them back from the adoption process.  These were “MY dogs”.  Dogs who showed aggressive behavior, dogs who were completely shut down, dogs…who had no one rallying in their corner.  Time and time again, after our PHUR sessions; the animals we worked with would be adopted within 24 hours or; at the very least; began to show significant positive changes in their behavior.  I watched, I participated, and I saw with my own eyes how the intuitive information we were gathering during the sessions and the Reiki itself was saving lives one by one.  In the coming months, and years my relationship with Michelle grew into a friendship of a lifetime.  I learned from her and WE learned from the animals.

It was during this pivotal point that I met my soul dog, Johnny at the shelter.  He was part of  pending court case in dog fighting and animal cruelty.  He was only 10 weeks old, but the mental trauma he had experienced showed as clearly as a neon sign in his eyes.  Johnny’s resilience and sensitivity inspired me to dive head first into combining traditional science based dog training with more holistic alternatives to healing.  Johnny attended many of our workshops on Animal Reiki and Intuitive Animal Healing.  Watching him work as a demo animal for Michelle was something to behold.  From how he would seem to know when it was his turn to teach; to how he would sit quietly and kindly by a participant in tears and rest his head on their laps; this dog’s resilience and heart was second to none.  Later he became my Service Dog and only recently has retired from that work.  Johnny is now the face of this new chapter of my life.  He has taught me how to open up to my intuitive self that had been there all along.  It is through his story that I see the importance of healing, love, and letting go.  It is through his eventual legacy; that I strive to offer a combination of communication, training, and healing modalities for animals and their humans.

Welcome to this new way of strengthening your connection between you and your beloved companion through both science and that which is un-quantifiable and un-deniable (Reiki/Animal Communication).  I am here to help you have the same beautiful partnership with your animal that I have been honored to have with mine.  Remember, every animal comes into our lives for a reason (whether for a fleeting moment or many years);  they are the greatest teachers.  We owe them to be worthy of their devotion.