About Genie Joseph, PhD: 

 

Creator and Program Director

 

 

Genie Joseph, PhD, served on the Board of the Human-Animal Bond Program at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.  There she did many therapy visits with patients and staff, as well as help evaluate potential therapy teams, and designed several therapy dog programs.  She created a curriculum for at-risk youth, combining dog training skills with personal development training.  She has done visiting therapy dog programs in the women’s prison in Hawaii, and has helped veterans evaluate and choose the right Emotional Support Animal through adoption at the animal shelters. 

 

She is a certified Trust Technique Practitioner, a dog trainer, and does several methods of natural healing techniques, such as animal massage, Reiki, TFT, TTouch, as well as other energy healing methods.   She has done over a thousand hours of volunteering for various animal shelters and rescue organizations and specializes in rehabilitating shy or traumatized animals.  She is currently developing her animal communication skills to help pet parents have more satisfying and well-informed relationships with their pets. 

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Her PhD dissertation was on the human-animal bond and the use of animals as therapeutic partners.  She is a published author, and someone reads one of her online articles every four minutes.  Ms. Joseph is the creator of Act Resilient, which uses therapy animals, laughter therapy, and improv comedy, to help people restore faith and optimism.  Act Resilient has been presented to over 4,000 US Service Members, as well as their families.  For this work, she was awarded President Obama’s Volunteer Service Award in 2014.

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She is an award-winning filmmaker, and has made several short films on the Human-Animal Bond, and was host of her own cable TV show in Hawaii, “Dogs Are Healers,” and is beginning her podcast “Animal Connections,” interviewing experts in the field of animal studies.

Ms. Joseph has extensive experience creating curriculum, is an Army Family Team Building Instructor, and has been teaching at Chaminade University (online and on-ground) since 2003, where she teaches media and communication classes. 

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She lives with and trains Sophia, a rescue dog, who is her service animal.  Sophia teaches her on a daily basis what it means to be a better human.