2025 Level II What Happened To You?

Drea is a WA State Certified Counselor, Board Certified Life and Health Coach, former H.E.A.L Equine Assisted Learning Designated Instructor, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Psychology undergraduate with a minor in Trans-Species Psychology and is currently a Clinical Social Work graduate student. Drea’s lifelong passion for non-human animals, nature, and the environment along with her commitment to empowering people to heal their relationship with self, each other, our animal kin, and the natural world led her to create the trauma-informed nonprofit; One Heart Wild Therapeutic Sanctuary and ROOTS Institute. ROOTS Institute certifies therapists, educators, and others working within the human-animal interface, in Animal/Equine Assisted and Nature Based Therapeutic Services. ROOTS Institute meets the American Counseling Association facilitator competencies for Animal Assisted Intervention training. Drea’s advocacy to end suffering and heal psychological harm for our animal kin is highlighted in One Heart Wild’s humane education programs and the foundation of ROOTS Institute philosophy. "We cannot take what we need from our animal friends to improve the lives of humans and call it animal/equine assisted therapy or self development. We have to heal in relationship with each other. If our relationships are not mutually beneficial, they are almost always exploitative." Trans-species psychology teaches us that social animals and birds are more alike than different from us and that is an ethical and moral paradigm shift that is addressed fully in the ROOTS Institute curriculum.