About Your Counselor
Judith Liu, LCSW
Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy, Pet Loss Counseling, and ESA Evaluations
LCSW · C-AAIS · Nyack, NY and Stamford, CT
"For more than twenty years I have combined professional mental health care with extensive experience working directly with animals, helping clients navigate grief, anxiety, fear, and life transitions."
Founder and Clinical Director of Steady Compass Counseling Services. In-person appointments in Nyack, NY and Stamford, CT, with telehealth across five states.
About Judith
A clinician who brings the whole picture
Judith Liu is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the founder of Steady Compass Counseling Services. Since earning her Master's degree in Social Work from New York University in 2003, she has built a practice that bridges traditional mental health care with the healing potential of the human-animal bond.
Her work centers on four areas where that bond shapes mental health most directly: animal-assisted psychotherapy, emotional support animal evaluations, fear and phobia related to animals, and pet loss grief. As a Certified Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS) through the American Association of Animal Intervention Professionals, she ensures animals are incorporated into sessions ethically, intentionally, and purposefully, with the welfare of the animal weighted as carefully as the progress of the client.
Her specialized training in Pet Loss Counseling through the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement gives her the tools to guide clients through one of life's most misunderstood forms of grief, with both compassion and clinical insight. That same clinical grounding shapes her approach to emotional support animal evaluations, which she treats as genuine assessments of whether an animal supports a person's mental health needs rather than as paperwork. She also facilitates the APLB pet loss support chat room on Sunday evenings, a free peer space where people grieving an animal can be heard by others who understand.
Judith holds an Animal Behavior and Conservation certification from Hunter College, which deepens her understanding of animal behavior and supports safe therapeutic interactions. That background matters especially in her work with clients who carry fear, avoidance, or phobia around animals, where careful pacing and an accurate read of the animal are what make exposure work safe. Her training in Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy through the EAGALA and Natural Lifemanship models allows her to work alongside equine specialists in experiential sessions that build trust and emotional growth.
She is also a Registered Therapy Animal Evaluator and Handler with Pet Partners, which allows her to prepare other therapy teams to safely share the healing power of the human-animal bond. Her background includes more than ten years of hands-on experience across a wide range of animal settings: volunteering with rescues, fostering animals in need, working extensively with horses, and providing animal-assisted therapy on a farm.
Whether the goal is to process grief, work through fear, strengthen coping skills, or experience the comfort of working with animals in a therapeutic setting, Judith provides a safe and compassionate space that honors each person's unique journey.
Credentials & Licensure
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
- Certified Animal-Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS)
- Certified Pet Loss and Bereavement Counselor, APLB
- SIFI Certified in Clinical Supervision, Adelphi University
- Pet Loss Support Chat Facilitator, APLB
- Founder and Clinical Director, Steady Compass Counseling Services
- EAP Provider
Office Locations
Telehealth
Virtual sessions are available to clients located in New York, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts.
Areas of Focus
Where the human-animal bond meets mental health
Four specialties, each requiring a different kind of expertise, and all of them grounded in the same understanding of how deeply animals shape our emotional lives.
Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy
Therapy sessions that include a trained therapy animal as an active part of the clinical work, useful for clients who feel stuck or guarded in traditional talk therapy. Every session is structured so the animal's welfare and the client's goals are held together.
Nyack, NY and Stamford, CT
ESA Evaluations
A clinical assessment of whether an emotional support animal meaningfully supports your mental health needs. This is an evaluation rather than a form, and a supporting letter is issued only when the assessment supports one.
In person and by telehealth
Fear and Phobia of Animals
Treatment for fear, avoidance, and phobia involving dogs, horses, insects, or other animals, drawing on cognitive behavioral approaches and paced exposure. Understanding animal behavior is what allows that exposure to be built safely.
In person and by telehealth
Pet Loss and Anticipatory Grief
Support through the death of a companion animal, and through the stretch before it, when a diagnosis is known and a decision may be coming. Grief for an animal is often dismissed by everyone around you. It is not dismissed here.
In person and by telehealth
Supervision & Team Training
Building a team that can carry this work forward
Specialized care in pet loss, animal-assisted intervention, and emotional support animal evaluation is scarce, and it is scarce because very few clinicians are trained in it. Judith's answer to that has been to train them.
SIFI certified in clinical supervision through Adelphi University, she provides clinical supervision to licensed clinicians and graduate-level interns across the practice, and mentors those pursuing specialty certification in pet loss and grief. That supervision covers the clinical fundamentals every social worker needs, and it also covers the parts of this work that no graduate program teaches: how to sit with a client deciding whether today is the day, how to evaluate an emotional support animal request with clinical rigor, and how to bring an animal into a session without asking more of the animal than is fair.
The result is a team, not a solo practice. When someone reaches out to The Gentle Paw, they are reaching a group of clinicians who have been trained specifically in the work they need.
What supervision here covers
- Clinical supervision for LMSW clinicians working toward licensure
- Supervision of graduate-level social work interns in placement
- Mentorship for clinicians pursuing pet loss and grief specialty certification, including Jodie Goldberg, LMSW
- Training on ethical, purposeful animal involvement in clinical sessions
- Preparing therapy animal teams as a Pet Partners Registered Evaluator
- Standards for emotional support animal evaluation as clinical assessment
- Facilitating peer grief support, including the APLB chat room on Sunday evenings
Training & Certifications
Specialized expertise, clinically grounded
Animal Behavior & Conservation
Certified training in animal behavior and conservation, deepening understanding of animal responses to support safe and effective therapeutic interactions.
Hunter College
Pet Loss & Bereavement Counseling
Specialized certification to guide clients through the complex grief of pet loss, with clinical insight and deep empathy for the human-animal bond.
Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
Animal-Assisted Intervention
Certified specialist in incorporating animals into therapy ethically and purposefully, ensuring every session meets rigorous clinical and welfare standards.
American Association of Animal Intervention Professionals
Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy
Trained in equine-assisted models that promote trust, emotional growth, and healing, working alongside equine specialists in experiential sessions.
EAGALA & Natural Lifemanship
Registered Therapy Animal Evaluator & Handler
Registered evaluator and handler who prepares therapy animal teams to safely and effectively share the healing power of the human-animal bond.
Pet Partners
Clinical Supervision (SIFI)
Seminar in Field Instruction certification, qualifying her to supervise graduate social work interns and to train clinicians in specialty areas across the practice.
Adelphi University
Affiliations & Certifications
"I provide a safe and compassionate space that honors each person's unique journey, and the animals who have walked it with them." Judith Liu, LCSW
Common Questions
What people ask before reaching out
What is animal-assisted psychotherapy?
Animal-assisted psychotherapy is licensed mental health treatment that includes a trained therapy animal as a deliberate part of the clinical work. It is not a visit from a friendly dog. The animal is incorporated toward specific treatment goals by a clinician trained in both therapy and animal intervention, and the animal's welfare is protected throughout.
How does an ESA evaluation work?
An emotional support animal evaluation is a clinical assessment. Judith meets with you, reviews your mental health history and current functioning, and evaluates whether an emotional support animal meaningfully supports your needs. A supporting letter is issued only when the assessment supports one, which is what makes the letter credible.
Can therapy help a fear of dogs or other animals?
Yes. Fear, avoidance, and phobia involving animals respond well to cognitive behavioral approaches and carefully paced exposure. What matters is that the pacing is led by someone who can read the animal accurately as well as the client, so that each step is genuinely safe rather than simply hopeful.
Is grief over a pet really a reason for therapy?
It is. The death of a companion animal can bring grief as intense as any other significant loss, and it is frequently dismissed by the people around you, which makes it harder to carry. Support is available both for grief after a death and for the anticipatory grief that comes when a decision is approaching.
Where does Judith practice?
In person at 48 Burd Street, Suite 306 in Nyack, New York, and at 1200 High Ridge Road in Stamford, Connecticut. Virtual sessions are available to clients located in New York, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts.
Does anyone else at The Gentle Paw offer this work?
Yes. Jodie Goldberg, LMSW offers pet loss counseling to clients in New York, pet loss coaching nationwide, and emotional support animal evaluations, working under Judith's clinical supervision.
Ready to Connect?
Let's talk about
what support looks like for you
In-person appointments in Nyack, NY and Stamford, CT. Virtual sessions available in New York, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, and Massachusetts.