hello@athenaherd.org
Elizabeth is committed to helping others discover new ways of thinking about themselves and of interacting and connecting with other people.
Qualifications
- Masters degree in Education – Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL, USA
- Bachelor of Arts – Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Level 7 Certificate in Equine Assisted Services
- Level 4 diploma in Equine Facilitated Learning
- Level 2 Certificate in Equine Facilitated Interactions
Memberships
- Registered Practitioner (Athena)
- Fellow Member of ACCPH
- Mentor with Athena Herd Foundation
Experience
Elizabeth owns Bittersweet Farm LLC, where she focuses on providing Equine Assisted Services to both families and individuals, often in conjunction with parent coaching. She also does business as Xanthos: Equine Assisted Leadership Development, bringing Equine Assisted work into the corporate and organizational realm.
Elizabeth has been a trainer for the Foundation, Level 2 Course at her farm in Evanston, at Ancora Imparo Equine Center in New Hampshire, and has supported many groups of learners online. In February 2025, she spoke at the Horses and Humans Research Foundation conference on well-being for both horses and the humans they interact with. Elizabeth’s Action Research Project for the Level 7 certification looked at creating and evaluating an equine assisted program to mitigate sibling conflict within families. She continues to deliver this program to families in the Chicago area.
Elizabeth is an experienced therapeutic parent with experience in pervasive developmental trauma, epilepsy, clefting, LNSS, facial differences, intellectual delays, cerebral palsy, ODD, and PTSD. These experiences give her an understanding of the families who come to Bittersweet Farm who are struggling and for whom horses can open a door to a new way of approaching life.
Bittersweet-farm.com/xanthos
