Which Pathway Is Right for You?
Each Professional Certification Pathway is designed around a different professional focus. Choose the program that best reflects the species you want to work with, the modalities you are drawn to, and the type of practice you envision building.
Still deciding? Keep scrolling to compare the pathways side by side and see which program best matches your professional goals.
More Than a Collection of Courses
Our Professional Certification Pathways aren't simply groups of courses packaged together. Each program brings complementary areas of study into a broader educational path designed to help you develop as a more knowledgeable, adaptable animal wellness practitioner.
Build a Broader Toolbox
Move beyond relying on one technique by studying complementary modalities that expand the ways you can observe, assess, and work with animals.
Understand How Modalities Work Together
Learn individual techniques while also developing a better understanding of how complementary approaches may fit together within a thoughtful animal wellness session.
Earn Multiple Credentials
Complete the qualifying certification courses within your pathway and build a professional portfolio that represents multiple areas of education and skill.
Save With a Complete Pathway
Professional Pathways bring complementary education together at a lower overall tuition than purchasing the included paid courses separately.
Your pathway gives you more than techniques.
It gives you a broader framework for observing animals, thinking critically, choosing appropriate approaches, and continuing to grow as a practitioner.
Find the Pathway That Matches Your Goals
Each Professional Certification Pathway has a different focus. Compare the species, modalities, and professional direction of each program to see which one best aligns with the kind of practitioner you want to become.
Holistic Equine Bodyworker
A focused professional pathway for students who want to build their bodywork practice around horses.
✓ Equine Craniosacral Therapy
✓ Equine Kinesiology Taping
✓ ANMR
✓ Creating Flow
✓ Business 101
Holistic Canine Bodyworker
A focused professional pathway for students who want to build their bodywork practice around dogs.
✓ Canine Craniosacral Therapy
✓ Canine Kinesiology Taping
✓ ANMR
✓ Creating Flow
✓ Business 101
Holistic Animal Bodyworker
The broadest bodywork pathway for students who want to work across multiple species and modalities.
✓ Canine Massage
✓ Feline Bodywork
✓ Equine & Canine CST
✓ Equine & Canine Kinesiology Taping
✓ ANMR
✓ Cold Laser Therapy
✓ Animal Reiki
✓ Intro to Myofascial Release
✓ Creating Flow
✓ Animal Behavior & Handling
✓ Business 101
Animal Energy & Intuitive Wellness Practitioner
A non-bodywork-focused pathway for students drawn to energy, intuition, communication, and sound.
✓ Animal Communication
✓ Foundation of Sound Therapy
✓ Tuning Fork Therapy
✓ Sound Bowl Therapy
✓ Advanced Sound Therapy
✓ Animal Connection
✓ Self Care for Animal Practitioners
Still Not Sure Which Path to Choose?
if horses are where you want to build your expertise.
if dogs are the primary focus of your future practice.
if you want the broadest bodywork education across multiple species.
if you are most drawn to Reiki, communication, sound, and energetic work.
More Than Online Coursework
No matter which Professional Certification Pathway you choose, your education is designed to help you develop practical skills, broader professional knowledge, and the confidence to continue growing as an animal wellness practitioner.
You don't have to know everything before you begin.
Choose the pathway that best matches where you want to start. Your education, your confidence, and your professional toolbox can continue growing with you.
Education Designed for Professional Growth
Holistic Animal Studies offers professional education recognized through respected organizations within the animal bodywork, massage, and holistic animal wellness communities.
Holistic Animal Studies Certifications
Successfully complete the required coursework, practical work, assignments, case studies, and assessments for the certifications included in your pathway.
IAHAP Board Certification
Graduates who complete applicable massage training may meet the educational requirements to apply for the independent IAHAP Animal Massage Board Examination.
IAHAP Specialty Designations
Qualifying certification training may also support applications for specialty recognition in areas such as Reiki, Animal Communication, Sound Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Kinesiology Taping, ANMR, and other approved modalities.
Continue Building Your Credentials Beyond HAS
Independent board certification and specialty designations can provide graduates with additional opportunities to document their education and demonstrate continued professional development in the modalities they practice.
Holistic Animal Studies certifications, IAHAP board certification, and IAHAP Specialty Designations are separate credentials. IAHAP maintains its own membership, application, examination, fee, approval, and eligibility requirements. Professional scope-of-practice requirements vary by location.
Hear From the Students Who Have Taken the Journey
Our students come from different backgrounds, work with different species, and pursue different professional goals. What they share is a desire to understand animals more deeply and build skills they can use in the real world.
What Students Are Saying
Feedback from students across our bodywork, energy, communication, and holistic wellness courses.
This course has been very enlightening to me and really truly has helped me bond better with my animals as well as with my clients' animals. I have learned how to ground myself way better and how to let go of energies that used to follow me around for hours after bodywork sessions. It has also helped me view animals more as an individual with a personality of their own.
This course has helped grow my patience with myself and with my animals as I now take more time to really understand the situation through them rather than through my biased human eyes.
This course was very thoughtfully put together. There's a lot to learn and I appreciate all the content. I feel confident with my newfound knowledge completing this course has given me to work with animals.
I've been looking for a comprehensive animal Reiki course for sometime now. This course had everything I wanted and more, including the science, history, and real world experiences to give you the guidance you need to truly succeed.
Comprehensive, compassionate, caring, not to mention courses with the flexibility people really need to succeed in this day and age. 100% recommend.
Another course that I found very interesting, lots of new information and so easy to work through. Thank you so much!
AMAZING!! So much information—explained in a way that anyone can learn this modality with the correct mind set. I am learning so much—GREAT COURSE and FANTASTIC TEACHER!!!
I loved this course and the build up of anatomy behind the actual procedure is highly beneficial.
Very very happy with this course! I love this course so much! I have learned so much and on my own time! I am able to take as much time as I need to fully understand each taping protocol and how and why it works. Very excited for the certification process I am beginning!
I loved this course from the beginning to the end. The videos were beneficial and easy to follow. The tapings I have already performed was a game changer for all the dogs. The owners were impressed with the results.
I reviewed several programs & decided on Holistic Animal Studies. It was the most reasonably priced & I needed an online program.
I appreciated that there was no time limit, that I could go through the course at my own pace... & that the sections will be available to review as long as I need them.
The course is very detailed, professional... When I have had a question, the teacher assistant has responded kindly & quickly. I am looking forward to completing the course, receiving the certification & applying my knowledge to help dogs & their owners.
This was an amazing course. It was in-depth but very well taught. I learned so much and have been so excited to practice my techniques and share them with others.
I love seeing the improvement in horses' overall health and mental well-being by adding regular massages to their schedules. This is a fantastic way to take care of our athletes and best friends and help them be the best versions of themselves. Highly recommend this course.
Different students. Different animals. Different professional goals.
Your pathway should reflect the practitioner you want to become—and give you room to keep growing long after your first certification.
Learn More. Help More. Give Back.
Holistic Animal Studies was built from a lifelong commitment to animals—and that commitment extends far beyond education.
Compassion in Action
The sanctuary provides care and a permanent home for animals who need safety, stability, individualized support, and a place where they can simply be themselves.
Education Through Experience
Living and working with animals every day helps keep our education grounded in observation, real-world experience, compassion, and respect for the individual animal.
A Bigger Mission
Holistic Animal Studies and Angel's Animal Sanctuary share a common purpose: helping people understand animals more deeply while improving the lives of animals in our care.
Education can create a ripple effect.
When practitioners learn to understand animals more deeply, that knowledge has the potential to improve the lives of animals far beyond the classroom.
Learn From a Multidisciplinary Animal Wellness Educator
Science, hands-on experience, and holistic thinking come together to create an educational approach designed around understanding the whole animal.
Science & Anatomy
Understanding anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, and the tissues beneath your hands provides an important foundation for thoughtful bodywork.
Hands-On Experience
Technique matters, but so do palpation, observation, practice, adaptability, and learning how individual animals respond to your work.
Whole-Animal Thinking
Animals are more than muscles and joints. Movement, behavior, environment, nervous-system responses, connection, and the animal's individual needs all matter.
Multiple Modalities
Developing a broader toolbox gives practitioners more ways to approach the individual animal rather than relying on the same technique in every situation.
Dr. Angel is also the founder of Angel's Animal Sanctuary, where living alongside and caring for animals continues to influence the animal-centered philosophy behind Holistic Animal Studies.
Questions About Choosing Your Pathway?
Here are answers to some of the most common questions about our Professional Certification Pathways, online learning, practical requirements, credentials, and professional use.
Choose the Pathway That Best Matches Where You Want to Start
You can always continue expanding your education later. Your first pathway does not have to define everything you will eventually learn or offer.
Compare the Pathways Again ↑Ready to Choose Your Path?
Whether you want to specialize in horses, work primarily with dogs, develop a comprehensive multi-species bodywork practice, or explore energy and intuitive wellness, there is a professional pathway designed to help you take the next step.
Holistic Equine Bodyworker
For students who want to specialize in horses and build a broader equine bodywork practice.
Explore This Program →Holistic Canine Bodyworker
For students who want to work primarily with dogs and develop multiple complementary canine bodywork skills.
Explore This Program →Holistic Animal Bodyworker
For students who want our broadest bodywork education across horses, dogs, cats, and multiple modalities.
Explore This Program →Animal Energy & Intuitive Wellness Practitioner
For students drawn to Reiki, Animal Communication, Sound Therapy, energetic work, and deeper animal connection.
Explore This Program →Begin With One Course and Build From There
You don't have to begin with a complete pathway. Individual courses and certifications are available for students who prefer to focus on one modality at a time and expand their education gradually.
Your education can grow as your goals grow.
Start with the pathway that feels right for where you are now, then continue adding skills, certifications, and specialties as your practice evolves.