Supporting Behaviour Change in Animal Owners - Online Course

Using Motivational Interviewing to support animal owners with behaviour change. Delivered by trainers who are experienced in Mental Health, Education and Animal Welfare

Who is the course for?

The course is designed for anyone working in animal health, care or welfare with direct contact with owners, and others who need to make behaviour changes for the welfare of their animals. The course will help those who need to have difficult conversations with animal owners, and others, about issues such as weight, euthanasia, breeding, general care and health, numbers of animals, including animal hoarding and with re-homers or guardians and repeat welfare reporters. This course will be delivered online via Zoom and has been redesigned for this method of teaching and learning. The learning outcomes and experiences are the same as our face-to-face training.

Course overview

Motivational Interviewing is a well-researched, evidence-based method of working with people to support human behaviour change in the
most difficult areas such as addictions, but it has been found to be useful across a range of human behaviours. Only a handful of people have been using motivational interviewing to support behaviour change in animal owners. Bronwen Williams is one and is an experienced teacher of Motivational Interviewing to NHS and other staff, working with difficult-to-manage human behaviours, as well as several national animal charities. She also used Motivational Interviewing in her own voluntary equine welfare role, as well as in her clinical and teaching work. She has written about human mental health and animal ownership, including bereavement in animal owners and animal hoarding.

Autumn 2022 Course dates - Participants need to be able to attend all the dates below:

Wednesday 14th September – afternoon intro session
Thursday 15th September 9 – 4.30
Thursday 22nd September 9 – 4.30
Thursday 29th September 9 – 4.30
Thursday 6th October 9 – 4.30
Thursday 13th October 9 – 4.30

Course cost

  • Taught course online
  • Over 35 hours of taught time
  • £550 per person

The online course is delivered to 10 people, so places will be limited to allow for individual support and coaching from trainers for all participants.

For more information/bookings contact Bronwen Williams: bronwen.williams@yahoo.com or t: 07880 716 250

Bronwen will be joined in delivering the course by World Horse Welfare's Head of UK Support, Sam Chubbock, who is experienced in equine welfare and who uses MI in their work. The course is practical and interactive; attendees will be practising skills on each of the days and experimenting with Motivational Interviewing as an approach. To better understand behaviour change in others we will work with our own behaviours. This helps us to understand why others make, or don’t make, changes. Many participants find they too make changes during or after the course and you may finish the course having made some behaviour changes for yourself, or being ready to do so!


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