Jill Cantor Lee
Hello and welcome to Amani Mediation and Counseling at Amani Farm in Aiken South Carolina. Here I combine my love of animals, passion for children, and deep respect for the natural world to promote healing, growth, and peace at all levels.
I grew up in Kentucky riding horses and exploring the woods. I have worked and traveled throughout the United States, Africa and Europe. In 2024 I relocated from Fort Collins, Colorado to Aiken, South CarolinaI combine counseling, coaching, facilitation, and mediation skills with my lifelong experience as a horse woman to serve Aiken’s equestrians and others in the community needing my services. I miss the west, it’s land and culture, and make frequent trips to serve my clients there as well. Of course, I love working with those outside of the livestock and equestrian worlds, but I believe my background is tailored to serve these folks in a unique and powerful way.
I am licensed as an LPC to practice therapy in Colorado and South Carolina. I work nationally and internationally as a coach.
Most of my adult life I have had ties to the livestock industry. I have served as a policy maker and social scientist specializing in land tenure and pastoral peoples for international aid agencies in Africa. I have spent time working cattle, monitoring rangelands, and breaking colts on ranches in the American West and have taken numerous Holistic Management Courses and did research on Holistic Management for the World Bank in the early 1990’s. I married a cowboy and my son has grown in to being a fine hand.
I have a M.Ed., specializing in Community Counseling, from Colorado State University, as well as a M.S from the University of Wisconsin. I am also a Mediators without Borders Certified Dispute Resolution Specialist, Court-appointed Decision-Maker, Parent Coordinator, and a United States Dressage Federation Certified Instructor. I am Certified in Brainspotting and Relational Life Therapy (RLT) and have been very privileged to train extensively with Terry Real.
I am an international level dressage rider, USDF Certified Instructor, top dressage competitor and have worked and trained in Germany. I co-founded Horses for Humanity, a grass roots organization that used the art of dressage and the beauty of horses to raise money for women survivors of war. I served on the board of the Colorado Chapter for Holistic Resource Management and on the Advisory Board for Healthkind, an organization bringing maternal healthcare services to South Sudan.
If you are wondering what Amani means, it’s ‘peace’ in Swahili and hope in Arabic. I chose the name for a few different reasons. First, I use to live and work in Africa as a social scientist, and I left a part of her heart there. Second, the war and civil strife in parts of Africa have become devastating and the impact on families and children horrendous. The name Amani reminds me of this and of how easily a lack of empathy can ignite conflict in homes, schools, and communities anywhere in the world. The name Amani is representative of my hope to promote peace at all levels and in all places.
