Jennifer Lisa Ganz is a nationally certified school psychologist with over 20 years of experience in U.S. schools and abroad. In her tenure, she has primarily worked with students with emotional and behavioral disabilities in a Washington, D.C. area school district. Jennifer is also a consultant for Mzima Youth Development and Wellness Consulting. In 2016, she entered the field of Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) by becoming a facilitator for Project Mickey, a humane education program that utilizes community partnerships and volunteer animal-handler teams to foster social-emotional learning (SEL). In 2022, she earned the Canine Assisted Intervention Specialist (CAIS) certificate from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection, and went on to achieve the Certified Professional Practitioner of Animal Assisted Play Therapy (CPP-AAPT). As a former educator with a passion for combining AAI and SEL, Jennifer enjoys supporting the growth of other professionals and acting as an advocate for ethical and goal-oriented interventions with animals in school.
Jennifer has fostered over two dozen dogs and is trained in a range of modalities related to animal welfare, including Animal Reiki. In 2022, she completed Level 1 training in canine behavior with world-renowned R+ dog trainer, Pat Miller, and she looks forward to continuing her dog training certification journey. Jennifer’s late, great canine companion and retired-racing greyhound, Charm, was her first animal therapy partner. Now, she partners with laid-back rescue cat Finn and is training two energetic two-year-old rescue dogs–Owen and Layla. Jennifer is hopeful that Layla’s resilience and confidence as a dog with three legs will inspire students experiencing adversities in the future.
Contact:
Jennifer Lisa Ganz, MA, CAS, NCSP, CAIS, CPP-AAPT
jenniferlisa180@gmail.com