Two Disciplines.
One Practice.

Alex Orton, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and certified dog trainer — two credentials that rarely share a business card, and that Canine Therapists was built to bring together.

With a clinical background in trauma, attachment, and somatic approaches, Alex understands what it takes for a canine partner to be truly useful in a mental health setting — not just well-behaved, but behaviorally stable, emotionally regulated, and responsive to the complexity of clinical environments.

Alex developed the Clinical Canine Institute to provide the credentialing framework that didn't exist: one that evaluates clinical readiness alongside canine behavior, and holds handler-dog teams to the standard that clinical work actually requires.

Canine Therapists is based in Richmond, Virginia and serves clients throughout the state via telehealth and in-person training.

A woman with wavy light brown hair and pink lipstick smiling outdoors in front of a tree and a wooden fence, wearing a white t-shirt with mushroom and sunflower graphic, layered gold necklaces, and visible tattoos on her arm.

Training and Certifications

  • Animal Behavior College
    Certified Dog Trainer
    Certified Service Dog Trainer

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)

  • VA Board of Social Work Approved LCSW Supervisor

  • Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (Basic Training)

  • Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (Dr. Janina Fisher)

  • Polyvagal Theory (Levels I & II) (Janet Evergreen, MA)

  • Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (Janet Evergreen, MA)

  • Perinatal & Postnatal Psychology (Tonya Ridings, LCSW & Janet Evergreen, MA)

  • Culturally Based Trauma w/ EMDR (Mark Nickerson)

  • Child First Forensic Interview Protocol

    Additional: Hospice Care, Dementia Care, Disaster Behavioral Health