Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Rajani.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always had a huge heart—and an undeniable pull toward helping people and pups. I’ve been a dog lover for as long as I can remember, quite literally since I was a baby. Life, however, had its own plans. My personal journey was difficult and arduous at times, shaping me in ways I didn’t yet understand.
Then, in 2011, everything changed.
I adopted a tiny Staffordshire Terrier from a rural shelter in Marion, Arkansas. I named her Shakti, and from the moment she entered my life, nothing was ever the same. Shakti was magic. She melted hearts effortlessly, loved every human and dog she met, and became a true ambassador for her breed. She was a way-shower—joyful, grounding, and deeply present.
Shakti inspired me to begin baking again. Years earlier, I had baked organic dog treats and sold them, but life had pulled me away from that creative outlet. Baking for her rekindled a long-held dream, and in 2012—while I was in graduate school at the University of Kansas and raising my daughter as a single mom—I opened Lucky Paws Bakery & Unique BARKtique.
The shop was open on weekends only, and every treat was organic, baked fresh and locally sourced. Shakti was my CEO (Chief Eating Officer), logo girl, and head greeter. She took her roles very seriously—and she was exceptional at all of them.
While studying social welfare at KU, I became increasingly aware of Shakti’s incredible energy and the way she affected people. It led me to explore the power of the human–animal bond and its role in healing. I took Shakti to Kansas City, where she became a certified therapy dog. As we traveled back and forth to volunteer, I realized something important: there was no animal-assisted therapy program in Lawrence.
So, I created one.
In 2013, Loving Paws Animal Therapy Association was born. Loving Paws still exists today and is more active now than ever, with 33 certified therapy dog teams donating hundreds of hours monthly throughout our community, continuing the mission Shakti inspired from the very beginning.
I graduated (with Honors) from KU in 2014 and entered private practice in 2015—with Shakti by my side. She wasn’t just my dog; she was my confidant, my protector, my co-worker, and the greatest heart-healer I’ve ever known. As my practice grew, I was honored to be nominated multiple times for Best of Lawrence and to be named No. 1 Best of Lawrence Mental Health Provider in 2022, 2023, No.2 Best of Lawrence in 2024, and No. 1 again in 2025.
Shakti, of course, earned her own recognition. She was named No. 1 Therapy/Services Animal, Best of Lawrence in 2024 and 2025 and placed in the Top 3 many other years. She was unforgettable—her smile stretched ear to ear, her tail never stopped wagging, she pranced when she walked, and she could rock a tutu like a pro.
In the spring of 2024, Shakti nearly lost her life. After almost two weeks at a specialty animal hospital, she rallied and came home. From that point forward, the two of us spent our days doing what she did best: bringing joy, showing up for people with broken hearts, and offering unconditional presence. She gave selflessly—100% of the time.
On Christmas Eve, 2024, I received the news I never wanted: Shakti had advanced lymphoma. The following month, I hosted a Celebration of Life for her at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, where hundreds gathered to love on her one last time.
Shakti passed in my arms on March 3, 2025. My heart has never been the same.
In my grief, I felt called to create something that would honor her life, her spirit, and the profound healing she offered so many. From that place of love and loss, The Shakti Place was born.
Shakti represents divine feminine energy—the creative, dynamic life force that animates all of existence. At its heart, Shakti is power in motion: the force that creates, transforms, heals, and renews. She couldn’t have had a more perfect name—she lived it fully.
The Shakti Place exists to honor her legacy and to support creativity, transformation, healing, and vitality. It is a safe, welcoming space offering sound healing, trauma-informed yoga, restorative yoga, and expressive art workshops—a place to heal, grow, and reconnect with what moves us forward. The bond we share with our animals is profound, unconditional, and life changing. When a beloved pet dies, the grief can feel overwhelming—often as deep as the loss of any cherished family member. At The Shakti Place, we honor that truth.
The Shakti Place is a gathering space for those grieving the loss of a beloved animal companion. It exists as a gentle, sacred meeting place where love can be honored, stories can be shared, and grief can be held with compassion and dignity.
Our space may be used to host pet funerals, celebrations of life, memorial services, and other meaningful ceremonies that reflect the unique bond shared between you and your animal. Whether intimate or communal, each gathering is guided by reverence, presence, and care—allowing space for tears, remembrance, gratitude, and love.
Ceremonies may include:
Story-sharing and spoken remembrances
Candle or ritual lighting
Music or sound healing
Guided reflection or meditation
Expressive art or memory-making
Quiet space for prayer, breath, or stillness
There is no “right” way to grieve. Some come needing structure and ritual; others simply need a place where their loss is seen and honored. At The Shakti Place, both are welcome.
This offering was created from lived experience and deep love—for the animals who shape our lives and the humans who carry them in their hearts forever. Here, grief is not rushed, minimized, or explained away. It is met with tenderness, respect, and room to breathe.
Love does not end when a life does.
At The Shakti Place, we gather to remember, to honor, and to heal—together.
Shakti continues to lead the way. Always.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has not been smooth—not even close.
As I built my private practice, launched a group practice (Integrative Therapy Services), ran a nonprofit, and managed a rather large pack of rescue pups, I learned—often the hard way—how to navigate struggle, uncertainty, and repeated setbacks. There were seasons marked by financial strain, exhaustion, and moments when walking away felt like the most reasonable option. There were times I questioned everything. But I didn’t give up. I stayed. I adapted. I kept listening—to my values, to my community, and to the quiet inner voice that kept reminding me why I began in the first place. Each challenge sharpened my clarity, deepened my compassion, and strengthened my resolve. The work became less about perfection or growth at all costs, and more about integrity, sustainability, and service.
My journey has taught me resilience—not the flashy kind, but the steady, grounded kind. The kind that shows up even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard – and that resilience now lives at the heart of everything I offer.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At the heart of my work is a deep belief in healing through connection—connection to ourselves, to one another, to creativity, to our land, and to the animals who walk alongside us.
I am a licensed clinical social worker and the founder of a private therapy practice, a group practice (Integrative Therapy Services), a nonprofit animal-assisted therapy organization (Loving Paws Animal Therapy Association), and The Shakti Place, a healing and creative space dedicated to restoration, transformation, and grief support. My work bridges traditional mental health care with holistic, trauma-informed, and experiential approaches.
I specialize in grief and loss (including pet loss), trauma and complex trauma, nervous-system regulation, and healing through the human–animal bond. I am also known for integrating expressive arts, mindfulness, sound healing, and animal-assisted interventions into therapeutic and community settings. My work is deeply relational and grounded in presence—meeting people where they are, without judgment or rushing the process. I am perhaps best known for pioneering animal-assisted therapy in my community and for building programs and spaces that honor both emotional depth and accessibility. Through Loving Paws, I created a sustainable therapy-animal program where none previously existed, bringing comfort to hospitals, schools, hospice settings, and vulnerable populations for over a decade.
What I’m Most Proud Of? What I am most proud of is that I didn’t give up—on my values, on my vision, or on the belief that healing can be both deeply human and deeply compassionate. I am proud of building multiple mission-driven organizations while navigating real hardship, financial strain, and loss—and doing so with integrity and heart.
I am also proud of the legacy of Shakti, my lovely therapy dog who inspired much of this work. Her spirit lives on through the programs, spaces, and community I continue to cultivate.
What Sets Me Apart? What sets me apart is the way I weave lived experience, clinical training, creativity, and community-based care into everything I do. I don’t separate professionalism from humanity. I believe grief deserves ritual, trauma deserves gentleness, and healing happens best when people feel seen, safe, and supported.
I create spaces that honor the whole person—mind, body, spirit—and the relationships that shape us. My work is not about fixing people; it’s about walking alongside them as they reconnect with their own strength, wisdom, and capacity to heal.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as alignment. Success, for me, is living and working in a way that honors my values, my nervous system, and my capacity—while still being of service to others. It’s not measured by constant growth, titles, or external validation, but by whether the work feels meaningful, sustainable, and true.
Success is creating spaces where people feel safe enough to grieve, to rest, to create, and to heal. It’s knowing that my animals are treated with dignity and love, that grief is acknowledged rather than minimized, and that connection is prioritized over productivity.
Success is resilience—not the kind that glorifies burnout, but the kind that allows for rest, boundaries, and recalibration. It’s choosing to keep going with integrity, even when the road is uncertain, and knowing when to change course without abandoning what matters. Success is impact over scale, depth over speed, and presence over perfection.
At the end of the day, if I’ve shown up with compassion, created something that eases suffering—even a little—and stayed connected to what brings me alive, then I consider that a successful life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.integrativetherapyservices.org
- Instagram: @integrative.therapy.with.raven
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576831107627
