Person-Centered Dog Training is a continuing education course for dog professionals that blends counseling-informed concepts with real-world dog training work. It’s designed to help you build stronger relationships with your human clients, reduce burnout, and feel more equipped to handle the emotional side of your job.

Rather than focusing on protocols or behavior plans, this course centers you—your people skills, communication, boundaries, emotional resilience, and ability to hold space for the complex people who come with the dogs.

Whether you're a trainer, behavior consultant, or vet-adjacent professional, Person-Centered Dog Training offers tools to help you stay effective, grounded, and human in your work.

We're building emotionally intelligent dog training.

Nope! Although Jess Adam is also a licensed therapist in the state she resides, all services offered by Handlers & Humans LLC are considered coaching and/or educational in nature.

Unlike traditional therapy, this is not a space to explore anything and everything. 

Handlers & Humans educational and coaching services stay focused on the emotional challenges that relate to living with or working with complex dogs.

Also nope! Jess Adam is not a professional dog trainer. But with over a decade of lived experience navigating her own dog’s behavioral and emotional challenges, she’s been deeply immersed in the dog training world... and has worked with a lot of canine professionals.

She’s well-versed in the language, concepts, and nuances of the dog world—but her role is to support humans, not train their dogs. Jess does not offer dog training or behavior modification.

Jess Adam of Handlers & Humans LLC offers individual emotional support coaching, group support programs, educational courses, webinars, and resources for dog guardians and canine professionals.

The aim of Handlers & Humans is to support the mental health of dog people, by offering support and skills that hold up the human side of the leash. 

In general, coaching is a collaborative and transformative process where a professional partners with clients to clarify goals, overcome obstacles, and achieve personal growth.

Through supportive guidance, insightful questioning, and tailored strategies, coaching empowers individuals to unlock their potential, make meaningful changes, and live more fulfilling lives.

Handlers & Humans LLC offers niche coaching focused on the emotional experience of living with or working with complex dogs.

That said, the emotions and challenges that come up around your work are often deeply connected to other parts of your life. While we may touch on topics beyond dog behavior or training, our work will always circle back to how those experiences relate to dogs.

If, during our initial conversation, I believe your needs fall outside the scope of this coaching—or that therapy would be a better fit—I won’t move forward with services. If we’ve already started working together and it becomes clear that another type of support is more appropriate, I’ll end services and refund the unused portion of your package.

And if we uncover the need for deeper, broader, or longer-term support unrelated to your dog, I’ll recommend you connect with a licensed therapist to ensure you’re getting the care you deserve.

Handlers & Humans offers emotional support and coaching for dog guardians and it is NOT a substitute for therapy or professional mental health treatment.

If you’re experiencing mental health symptoms or challenges related to substance use, coaching is not the right fit, even if some of your stressors are connected to your dog.

If you’re already working with a therapist and wondering whether this space could complement that work, I’m happy to explore that with you on a consult call first.

I have many clients who also work with a therapist and a dog trainer. They tell me I feel like a blend between the two!

And if, during our work together, I believe your needs are better served in a therapeutic setting, I’ll let you know and refer you to appropriate care. If we've already started working together, I’ll refund the unused portion of your package.

If you’re in crisis, please call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for immediate support.