Professional Development Workshops & Seminars and Conference Presentations
In addition to offering training and certification, Lead The Way provides professional development in animal assisted interactions (AAI) for professionals who would like to know more about how the human animal bond (HAB) could enhance their professional practice.
Our team are experts in their fields and can provide dynamic presentations to a wide variety of professional audiences. Accompanied by our visiting therapy dogs, presentations are designed to be engaging and hands-on. We offer training at introductory through to advanced and professional levels.
Clients and Their Assistance or Companion Animals:
For Mental Health Therapists
Presenters: Kaye Griffin Mind Matters Counselling, and Melanie Jones, Lead The Way Institute
This fun and interactive workshop explores the role, benefits and pitfalls of working with client’s own companion animals or service/assistance dogs in therapy.
Workshop details
Therapists learn how to work with the dyad of client-animal and client-therapist including:
- Which animals should and shouldn’t come into the therapy room
- The benefits of the oxytocin effect
- Establishing and maintaining safe boundaries for animals, clients and therapists
- Tools to creatively engage your clients and their animals in the therapeutic process, whether in the room or not
- Understanding the nature of client-animal interactions, and how these reflect psychological processes, including unconscious patterns, somatic experiences, and regulation
During this workshop, you will be provided with opportunities to workshop clinical cases, develop a toolkit of questions and responses for use in sessions, and experience for yourself the impact of human-animal interactions. This will include both large and small group discussion and roleplays.
Suitable for
- This workshop is suitable for qualified therapists and mental health clinicians, including social workers, psychologists and counsellors, who work with clients who have or report a strong bond with their animals. You do not need to work directly with animals yourself, or have experience working with therapy animals or in animal-assisted therapy.
- There will be Certified Therapy Dogs on site at the workshop, who will be engaged during activities and role plays
- This workshop will be recorded for later sale (excluding participant role-plays)
- Minimum and maximum participant numbers apply
Cost: $450 inc. GST
(Group discounts for 3+ participants from the same organisation $400 ea)
Venue: Lead The Way Institute Training Centre, 5/91 Dorset Road, Ferntree Gully, Vic. 3156
Dates: New dates to be released mid 2024
In partnership:
Professional Development, Seminars & Conference Presentations
Recent Professional development offered by our expert team include:
- Guest Lecturer Latrobe University – Animal Assisted Therapy for Healthcare Professionals short course
- Role of a School Therapy Dog – Department of Education Mental Health Professionals Network
- Therapy Dogs and School Groups – School Focused Youth Service Statewide Meeting
- Therapy Dogs in Schools – Parent and Teacher information sessions (various schools)
- Interpersonal Neurobiology in Animal Assisted Therapy – St. Vincents Hospital Eric Seal Seminar
- Happiness is Hugging a Therapy Dog: Exploring the use of Animal Assisted Interventions with Homeless Youth – Council for Homeless Persons Conference
- Certification and Training Standards For Therapy Dog and Handler Teams – Animal Therapies Ltd Conference
- Animal Assisted Psychotherapy and How the Human Animal Bond Heals – Mission Australia
- Animal Assisted Therapy in Child and Adolescent Mental Helath – Royal Children’s Hospital
- Two Legs Good, Four Legs Better – Melbourne Universisty MD Student Conference
Please contact us to discuss your specific requirements.