Who We Are

Heather White

Heather has devoted her life's work to mutually beneficial Human-Animal Interactions. Working for an east coast-based therapy dog organization for several years, evaluating, training, coordinating, and supporting handlers and their dogs as well as creating new visiting therapy dog programs for human health professionals in varying departments of agencies large and small, Heather has a substantial understanding of all aspects of therapy dog programming. In addition to her work in the canine field, Heather also works with equines, having worked as Program Director for a therapeutic equestrian facility in New York, coordinating, creating, and implementing ground-based equine programs. Heather's Master's Thesis, "Optimizing Animal Assisted Interactions within Psychiatric Facilities" won her CUNY Hunter College's Jacob Goldfein award. Heather enjoys keeping up to date with the latest developments in the field of Human-Animal Interactions, having completed multiple post-graduate certificates through several Universities and hands-on learning opportunities.

Education:

Doctor of Social Work in Social Welfare - University at Buffalo

Animals and Human Health Certificate - University of Denver

Treating Animal Abuse Certificate - Arizona State University

Post-MSSW Veterinary Social Work Certificate - University of Tennessee

Equine Assisted Mental Health Practitioner Certificate - University of Denver

Certified Canine Fitness Trainer and Master Trainer - University of Tennessee and FitPaws

Canine Assisted Interactions Specialist Certificate - University of Denver

Applied Animal Behavior Certificate - University of Washington

Past Trainings/Affiliations:

Certified Level 1 - Equine Experiential Education Association

Certified Professional (MH) - Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association; 2016-2020

Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning - Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International; 2018-2021

HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response - Team Leader; 2015-2019/ Emeritus Member; 2020-2021

National Animal Assisted Crisis Response - Team Leader; 2012-2017/ Instructor; 2015-2017

Therapy Dogs International Visiting Team

Alliance of Therapy Dogs Visiting Team

The Good Dog Foundation Visiting Team

Delta Society Pet Partners Visiting Team; 2005-2011

Publications

White, H. (2022). Sometimes silver linings have tails: Sandy Hook. In L. Kogan (Ed.), The gifts we receive from animals: stories to warm the heart. Routledge.

White, H. & Ekholm Fry, N. (2021). Trauma informed care; Taking psychological trauma into consideration in healthcare services. HIPPOTHERAPY Magazine, Winter 2021.

White, H. (2021). Applying a social justice and trauma-informed lens to animal welfare

considerations. The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) Journal, 20.

White, H. (2021). Canines, Equines, and Social Work. In L. Kogan, & P. Erdman (Eds.), Career paths in human-animal interaction for social and behavioral scientists. Routledge.

White, H. & Scott, K. (2020). Equine and Animal Assisted Therapies. In N. Harper and W. Dobud (Eds.), Outdoor therapies: An introduction. Routledge.

White, H. (2020). Challenges of Crisis Response Work. In Y. Easton-Stull (Ed.), Animal-assisted crisis response: Specialized canine interventions. NASW Press.

White, H. (2019). In the Presence of Horses; Older Adult Community Embraces EAL. PATH International Strides Magazine, Spring 2019.

Who We Are

Heather White

Education:

Publications

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