About

Mission

To educate and inspire mental health professionals to learn about the vital healing bond between humans and animals and how to implement that in their practices.

Vision

To create, educate, and stimulate sustainable veterinary social work services in Ohio and beyond.

lisa_aviva — History

Lisa and Aviva met through the Ohio chapter of the National Association of Social Work. They were both en route to becoming Veterinary Social Workers. Little did they know in their first meet-up at The Loop that their love of animals would lead them to become business partners!
They both grew up with a multitude of pets, though Lisa is called to dogs while Aviva to horses. Their collective knowledge exceeds multiple species and environments. Their professional careers brought them from professional spaces sans animals, into space where the human-animal bond is front and center. Learn more about our efforts to reshape the community and our shared experiences.

Meet the Team

Our Team

Aviva Vincent, Ph.D., LMSW/VSW

Aviva Vincent, PhD, LMSW is a Veterinary Social Worker and co-owner of Healing Paws LLC. She is social work faculty at Cleveland State University and Program Director at Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center. Dr. Vincent is trained in Results Based Accountability for organizational strategic planning and evaluation. She holds facilitator training through the Harwood Institute, Sustained Dialogue, and the Institute for Social Change. As a social justice advocate, she centers DEI in her practice inclusive of Access and Belonging. She is on the board of trustees for PATH International Board of Trustees wherein she chairs the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, and she chairs the conference committee for the International Association of Veterinary Social work. Dr. Vincent was awarded Cleveland Crain's 40 under 40 (2023), and the Early Career Success Award by Case Western Reserve University (2022). She has twenty peer-reviewed publications and chapters in Career Paths in Human-Animal Interaction for Social and Behavioral Scientists, The Comprehensive Guide to Interdisciplinary Veterinary Social Work, The Handbook on Human-Animal Interactions and Anthrozoology, and Integrating Horses Into Healing.
Learn more at www.avivavincent.com and www.csuohio.edu/news/dr-aviva-vincent-social-work

Lisa Wiborg, LISW-S/VSW

Lisa Wiborg is a licensed independent social worker and Veterinary Social Worker in Cleveland, Ohio. She earned her MSW from The Ohio State University and completed the post-graduate VSW certificate program at the University of Tennessee. Lisa is the project coordinator for the University of Tennessee’s Inclusive Vet Med program, focusing on improving well-being and increasing inclusion for veterinary students. Lisa also works as the lead social worker for Bella Care Hospice where she provides support to patients and their families helping them cope with end of life. She has been using the human-animal bond in her work to bring comfort and emotional support to patients during these difficult journeys. Lisa is the co-founder of Healing Paws LLC, providing veterinary social work education and supervision to other mental health professionals. She is an active member of the Human-Animal Interactions group within Ohio’s National Association of Social Workers. Lisa is also a graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Fellowship Program, with research focused on reducing burden transfer and stress in the veterinary field utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Training. In her free time, she loves to travel with her husband and spend time with her dogs Scrabble, Lincoln, and tri-paw Pretzel.