Background:
Founder/Director BJ Szwedzinski has been professionally training dogs for
over 28
years, with
an impressive resume spanning the dog industry. Her spectrum of knowledge
encompasses a wide array of disciplines and is drawn from her work as a humane
society educational program administrator, her hands-on duties in animal control
management and operations, as well as her expertise as a professional trainer
and animal behaviorist.
She is also a credentialed special education teacher in varying exceptionalities of mental health disorders, dually diagnosed disability, mental retardation, gifted, and bi-polar disorder. In her personal life, she is a single parent who has raised two daughters, one of which, is 28 years old and who has severe schizophrenia/ bi-polar disorder. Her daughter is now doing well after 13 years of comprehensive treatment that included the aid of a psychiatric assistance canine. Consequently, Szwedzinski’s insight on the trials and tribulations that individuals and their family’s face with these types of disorders, is drawn directly from personal experience and is far greater than one could extrapolate from textbook or case work studies.
During her tenure as a teacher, she would bring a dog into the classroom and she noticed the natural peace that prevailed over the classroom. The idea of pairing children and dogs together to affect positive, personal behavioral change was germinated then and has been with her since 1991. That concept was the impetus for the formation of Project C.H.A.N.C.E. Project C.H.A.N.C.E is an acronym meaning: Canines Helping Anyone Needing Courage and Empowerment.