New Year, New Resolutions, New You…?
It’s been some time since my last post as it’s all been happening. Several things have happened with HumAnima CIC, starting with the addition of two Directors to the Board.
Dr John Hegarty, has 40+ years of experience as an applied psychologist working in a university department, where he has carried out action research in collaboration with organisations for people with special support needs. He has a private practice in hypnotherapy and nature-guided counselling. He was a member of the EU scientifiic panel COAST 866 on “green care in agriculture” and has researched and published on people’s connectedness with nature and its health benefits. He is on the board of directors of two farm-based social enterprises and has established “Green Age” as a not for profit social enterprise offering day support on his farm for older people.
Mrs Susan Turner, has also joined the Board of Directors. Mrs Turner has a background in counselling and has worked extensively as a Counsellor and also in the learning disability field as a Senior Day Centre Officer. She has had a career-long interest in Gerard Egan’s Model, which is expanded upon in his book “The Skilled Helper“.
With our new Directors on board, HumAnima CIC will be able to deliver a more professional service. We will be working together to ensure that our work is of the highest standard and that we continue to deliver high quality, engaging, motivating and supportive services; be that through counselling or workshops.
Also, in light of the recent Permaculture course I went on, I am continuing to explore the nature in therapy theme. On the 14th January 2012, I will be attending a course at Keele University in their new Sustainability Hub buildings where Dr Hegarty will be delivering “Nature as Co-therapist” together with Janet Heath. For more information, please click here.
With the New Year, come new ideas, new resolutions and new responsibilities. 2012 looks set to be a promising year for CIC’s, however, it will all depend on how we each offer and develop our services. Now that Christmas is over, it’s time to get it together and start (or re-start!) some hard work!
This year will see an Introduction to Animal Assisted Therapy course being developed and run, along with an Animal Assisted Therapy in Care Farming, Animal Assisted Therapy in Counselling and Animal Assisted Therapy in Mental Health courses being developed. If you think you might be interested in attending anyof these courses or know somebody who would, then please get in touch info(@)humanima.co.uk
I’m brimming with ideas for the new year and will be getting them down in hard copy in the hope of securing HumAnima CIC’s future and the future of furthering counselling and animal assisted therapy here in the UK.
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! May 2012 be filled with love, laughter, good health, success, friendship and peace of mind!
Permaculture ponderings on people, plants and planet
On the 8th October 2011, Dinky (Flossie’s son) and I, embarked upon an adventure we would have never been able to foresee. Yes, I knew I was going on a Permaculture Design Course at Treflach Farm, yes I knew we were going to be staying in a yurt (…more about that later) and yes I knew we’d be in the middle of nowhere. What I didn’t know was how wonderful the people would be, the amazing things I’d experience and learn (I kid you not) and last but by no means least, I had no idea of the impact the course would have on me (and indeed on Dinky!).
I imagine all of this might sound a bit hippyish, or at least fluffy but I will start by saying you have to do it in order to have an inckling of the “Wow!” factor this experience can have. In truth, I am still processing the experience now and I imagine I’ll be “chewing the cud” on this one yet for quite some time…
Get on with it! … Ok! Ok! But just before I start I will have to make it quite clear, that for me to write up the solid goings on of 2 weeks of permaculture play and pondering… well it ain’t gonna happen! 
I think we can start with the welcome! We arrived at a calm and leisurely pace on the Saturday and had plenty of time to settle ourselves down into our various styles and modus’s's’s's’ of accommodation. For Dinky and myself and a friend, we’d opted for the yurt. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of shelter, a yurt, is a very nice looking, wooden framed and canvas covered tent. It is round in shape with a pointed/ rounded roof. Ample space inside for sleeping bags, cushions, mattress, luggage, dog and oh,… a stove too! Yup, a stove.
Other’s stayed in caravans, vans, tents and the other yurt in the field. It was quite a mish mash of shelters. Dare I forget the teepee. This was however, our “social” shelter, where every evening various combinations of individuals from our group would congregate to make music, laughter, song and general merriment and conversation. In fact it very quickly became apparent that in our midst, we were honoured with the presence of some extraordinarily talented and creative souls – folk musicians, woodworkers, craftsmen and women, chefs and “chicken whisperers”. Richie, who frankly is one of if not the most amazingly talented individual I have met, can make instruments (the real kind, not something that makes a sound, but a classic and traditional harp for example!) AND play them and he makes a meeeaaannnn squash vegetable hotpot thingy!
The Treflach crew kept us well fed over the entire duration of the course, to the extent that I put on 2.5lb (thankyou very much……) but not once did I feel lacking in energy and I knew instinctively that not only was my stomach and body being nourished but also my soul.
What did we learn though! Wow… where to begin. Peak Oil held a big theme throughout the course and society’s dependence upon oil was very much highlighted and explored. It is astonishing how relatively recently we have discovered, accessed, used, abused and completely exploited this natural resource. I suppose in a way, the repercusions of using oil and other fossil fuels are nature’s way of karmicly dishing out our just deserts… We watched the film “Food Inc” which really highlighted for me just how far our world has been injected (to an almost subconscious degree) with oil and fossil fuels and how we simply do not realise just how dependent we are on it. I didn’t know that oil is used in the production of charcoal… It’s almost likely those magical mathematically tricks where you start “Think of a number…” and the chances are I’ll be able to guess the number you’re thinking of – only in this case, it’s “Think of a product…” and you can bet your bottom sterling, that oil was involved in its production. Scary and sobering to say the least.
But what about permaculture? What is it? The Permaculture Association states that:
“it combines three key aspects:
- an ethical framework
- and understanding of how nature works
- a design approach.
The word ‘permaculture’ comes from ‘permanent agriculture‘ and ‘permanent culture‘ – it is about living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can sustain human activities for many generations to come, in harmony with nature. Permanence is not about everything staying the same. Its about stability, about deepening soils and cleaner water, thriving communities in self-reliant regions, biodiverse agriculture and social justice, peace and abundance.”
In essence, in permaculture we are trying to discover ways of benchmarking, applying and working in harmony with nature’s natural systems. In practice though, this might involve NOT digging up the soil (giving it a chance to establish, settle, enrich itself and thus turn into the “black gold” it’s meant to be!), creating “swales” (little parallel mounds on hillsides which slow down soil erosion and help keep water in the soil) or planting a “forest garden” – these really take my breath away, as they truly show the potential of permaculture in action. If you put plants with deep roots, together with plants that have medium and shallow roots they will work together bringing each other the chemicals the others need e.g. nitrogen. Natural harmony at its best. The video below gives a good intro into forest gardening.
The practical side of things was amazing. Whilst I’m more than happy to get a numb posterior in a lecture hall or similar, getting out and about on this course really did help us put the theory into practice and see permaculture in action. We made several visits – one to the grounds of a gentleman, Mr Chris Dixon, who purchased 7 acres of land back in the early 1980′s. Back then the land had been thoroughly devastated by grazing sheep and was stripped bare of anything that might be green or grow. Employing permaculture principles to the land and encouraging biodiversity and wildlife through positive conservation management means that now the place is a veritable Welsh rainforest of a place! Wetland, forest garden, food forest and forest aswell as land which is being grazed by a very small number of sheep and some horses. I would recommend everyone visit Tir Penrhos to see the result.
Other visits involved picking grapes from a vineyard and apples for cider. My “Yurt Buddy” keenly decided to give Bachus a run for his money and promptly hopped into the trug to try out squishing the grapes per pedes (by foot). Whilst I applaud him for his willingness to try out new things, I didn’t jump quite so keenly at the chance to try out the foot squished grape juice… Yummy!
Practical sessions on the course included woodworking with Richie, who taught us how to use a number of traditional woodworking craft tools. This was an incredible experience and certainly gave me a very healthy respect for the craftsmen and women who take painstaking time and dedication to create some of the most beautiful things known to us. Richie himself is amazingly talented and I was astonished when upon passing his caravan, to see the stunning silhouette of his own harp. Difficult not to be nosy when you see something like that flickering in the candlelight. It is quite evident that handmade items such as (perhaps especially) musical instruments and things like chairs have their own soul and perhaps even a smattering of the soul of their creator. Richie had each of us working on parts of what was to become a Windsor Chair. Each of us spent alot of focus and attention trying to best create our own little piece of the “Treflach Permaculture Throne” – some of us a little clumsier than others but everybody enjoyed the sessions greatly and the immense sense of satisfaction you can get from making what looks just like a smooth stick (that you know will become a chair leg!) is brilliant!
My own enthusiasm was stoked when Kevin taught me how to use a traditional peg loom. Dinky even decided to help… Making the wool rug, from twisted and dyed sheep’s wool was very easy and great fun and best of all you saw the result instantly. I got so into it, that I
ended up asking Richie to help me make my own peg loom using the tools we had. It still needs some tweaking but essentially I now have my own peg loom. Just need some sheep now…. for their wool… That said, I have been promised some wool by Treflach’s very owner farmer Ian. The resulting wool rugs are SO warm and soft and comfy!! It was exactly what we needed on the cold nights by the fire in the teepee and I temporarily borrowed one at night for Dink to sleep on. The nights were very cold despite the sleeping bag, stove, second sleeping bag, borrowed duvet, thermal pj’s, playsuit and woollen socks! Still I survived to tell the tale so I must have been doing something right!
Before I make this post too long, I will quit while I’m ahead and leave you kind people to digest the first dose of our permaculture adventures. Meanwhile, I will further digest my thoughts on the experience to hopefully come up with an AS exciting follow up to this post! Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment!
Getting HumAnima “out & about”!
It’s been a while since I last updated the blog but simply because I’ve been rushed off my feet. September has been a busy month and I’ve been doing my best to get our presence out there and known.
I haven’t been to business school or done a business degree course but knowing a little about psychology and being interested in what makes people “tick”, I thought that thinking about marketing and doing marketing would involve employing my creative capabilities, psychological knowledge, counselling expertise with a pinch of patience, a dash of money and a smidgen of luck. Well suffice to say that if that’s what I thought (which I naively did) then I was on another planet….
Respect to the marketing executives, creative directors and general marketing know-it-alls out there. “Doing” marketing is like learning another language. I kid you not. It requires as much “oomph” as learning the past participle superlatives and demonstrative pronouns of any language – be they North, South, East or West! I can honestly say this learning journey is going to be without a doubt the hardest and the longest – it is going to continue non-stop and hopefully develop (with my growing marketing ‘awareness’ [for now]).
My existing marketing expertise amounts to – and the best advice I can give ANY emerging enterprise – go out and network! Even if you think it might not be relevant or that a given event is only marginally relevant to what you are doing, still go! You never know who you might end up chatting to whilst enjoying your cup of tea during break, who might sit next to you whilst listening to the latest about micro-enterprises or who might spot your name on the delegates list and actually come up to you and say “So, tell me more about what you do?! I’m sure I’ve seen you at one of these events before!”. Trust me. It’s happening. It takes a good long while but it does happen. Especially if you are one of the people who actually puts their hand up to ask a question, make a comment, share an opinion or simply congratulate the speaker.
In the last month or so I’ve been to a couple of events: “Personalisation and possibilities” which was hosted by Community Catalysts at BVSC in Birmingham and the Long Term Impairment Partnership Board – Disability Conference. Both were fascinating in their own way and as with every event I seem to attend, each gave me a little something and with that gave HumAnima CIC a little something.
At the first event in Birmingham, I wasn’t too sure about how relevant it might be to HumAnima’s development but it turned out to be very relevant. I discovered that HumAnima can be termed a “micro enterprise/ micro provider” due to it’s size (it’s not all about size, but the quality!!!). This was very enlightening as I hadn’t really come across the term before. We were given a fantastic introduction to the various relevant policies and white papers that might affect us or vice versa, such as “The Right to Control” policy and “The Vision for Adult Social Care” and were given further enlightening insight into the reality of personalisation especially from a service user perspective. This was illustrated wonderfully by a recently set-up micro-enterprise called “Pulp Friction Smoothies” – an amazing set-up by a Mother and Daughter who were able to set-up the social enterprise, which helps other young people with disabilities into work through their smoothie bar. The young people make smoothies on a bike… yup. On a bike. The bike and smoothie are connected and the pedaling motion powers the smoothie. Awesome no?!
We later took part in workshops. The workshop I attended looked at “An approach to quality” and introduced us to Commcats Quality Mark. In essence it is a quality stamp but specifically for micro-providers. It is available through Commcats and in the local authorities Commcats operate in, is available at no cost to the organisation. At present Commcats doesn’t have a presence in Wolverhampton but does in nearby Sandwell and Dudley and Walsall. Therefore HumAnima CIC is now going to be working closely with Commcats in those areas to bring our services to the people of those areas. As it is I did not want to limit HumAnima CIC to just Wolverhampton. I want our services to be available all across the West Midlands, where possible so this is a step in the right direction to get the business out there.
More recently, I attended the Long Term Impairment Partnership Board – Disability Conference, which was held in Wolverhampton. They certainly had us working hard from the outset at this event! There was an encouraging mix of service users, service providers and council staff. Naturally the scene has been pretty much determined by the budget cuts and this event aimed to establish where service users wanted the money that is still there, to be spent. The difficulty in this instance, I feel, lay in the fact that there were so many different disability groups present and that some will have felt that perhaps their issues should be prioritised against other. However, it seemed that there definitely was a consensus with regard to such matters as Ring & Ride and access to mobility scooters in town.
What I wanted to see, and didn’t, was perhaps a raised awareness of the mental health impact of disability and long term illness not only on the service user but on their carers and family. I can’t deny that there seems to be a great cavernous gap where this issue undoubtedly exists. However, I will be contacting carers groups and disability groups in the near future to see if HumAnima can assist in some way with this challenge.
As for getting out & about,… Well we’re off to a companion dog show tomorrow with Flossie and Dinky (Flossie’s son and his first dog show) but there will also be fliers available in the Mander Centre in Wolverhampton for HumAnima CIC as there is going to be a “City Style” show. One of the stalls there will be with Equinox Therapy Centre with whom we shall be working in the near future! Exciting stuff!
Practical Therapy Dog Training with SCAS Part 2
Well it’s been a couple of weeks but I’ve finally been able to sit down and tell you all about Part Deux of our (mine and Flossie’s) big adventure at our Practical Therapy Dog Training being run by the Society for Companion Animal Studies (SCAS) at The Dog’s Trust HQ near Uxbridge. For those of you who are new to our blog, please see our previous post, “Exciting Times developing with HumAnima’s Therapy Dog, Flossie“. This time round we did things…. the hard way…. It was a Bank Holiday weekend and so public transport options left a lot to be desired. So we stayed with a friend in Hertfordshire and prior to our training day, thoroughly wore Flossie out with a very healthy walk/ run/ ball throwing session in the park, fields and one of her favourite places, the woodland. Suffice to say, she was a pooped pooch. We had a very early start to get from Hertfordshire to The Dog’s Trust but we made it thanks to the kindness of my friend giving us a lift. Now Flossie is very familiar with our friend’s car and loves (and anticipates) the forthcoming adventures with relish (please forgive my anthropomorphism!). However, she is not so keen on saying “Goodbye” and parting ways with our friend as she has a very strong attachment to said friend. Flossie was, hmm… decidedly surprised to find our friend gone, and us landed in a hall with a healthy number of other four-leggeds and two-leggeds. After some initial sulking, during which we were introduced to day 2, Flossie was happy enough to get on with it and “strutt her stuff”. We started with (what I had quite dreaded) our homework. On the first day we had been taught some techniques and ideas for target training. Target training, as the name suggests, works on the principle of teaching the dog (or other animals) to use a particular part of their body to make contact with an item or object. Flossie has already done some minimal target training where she touches my hand with her nose. She is also capable of touching her paw to my foot.
Our homework had been to learn “Chin, chin”. Using a face cloth, treats and our trusty clicker we managed quite nicely to get Flossie to lay her chin on the face cloth in different places. Now you may be wondering how this is relevant to therapy. If we condition Flossie to perform “Chin, chin” whenever and wherever she see’s the facecloth, this can be used as a nice greeting for service users. For example, if I place the face cloth on a client’s knee and say “Chin, chin”, Flossie can then place her chin on the washcloth and gaze up adoringly at the service user. A gentle “Hello!” if you like. This is very important as not all service users are happy or able to welcome a bouncy, bounding, enthusiastic dog into their arms! Manners, manners! In short… Flossie got an A* for her homework.
"Chin, chin!"
The day was more than a little full of challenges (that we were both very up for!) as activities we later took part in would try to establish what Flossie’s limits were and would stretch my existing training abilities! But there’s nothing like an opportunity to learn something new! One of the very relevant activities we set to training Flossie was trying to teach her to look at another person or “Say Hello”. We worked with another person and together we tried to figure out the best way to train this. No easy feat I can tell you. I worked with Jo-Ann and one of the first things we very quickly realised was that it was impossible for me to tell when Flossie was making eye contact with the other person. Therefore, Jo-Ann agreed to indicate with a “good” every time she made exact eye contact and I would instantly click and treat. This took some working out on Flossie’s part as well as it wasn’t easy trying to communicate to her what it was we wanted her to do. No amount of me flapping or indicating or talking “LOUDLY AND CLEARLY” could transcend the human-dog communication barrier. A shame but none-the-less a reality! I realise now there might have been other, better ways of doing this. Jo-Ann is familiar with dog training and would have been quite able to use the clicker to indicate when she and Flossie were making eye-contact. I could have simply given the command and subsequently the reward. The important thing was that Flossie realise that she is not to look at me but the other person. Quite an unusual task. The trainers delivering the session had over the period of our course been able to get to know and suss out our dogs personalities a little and their quirks, likes and dislikes more or less. We were now faced with mock scenarios whereby Vanessa would play a service user and Nina would whisper to her the condition she might be suffering from that Vanessa had to then act out for each individual dog and their handler. At one point, Vanessa played a service user in a wheelchair who had suffered a stroke and had left side paralysis. (Note that none of us knew at the beginning of the scenario, which condition Vanessa might have and the potential features of that condition) She sometimes played quite a shy and withdrawn and sometimes a more outgoing and expressive service user. This all depended on what the trainers felt the dogs could cope with and what might push them that little bit further.
Now I am pretty confident that Flossie is bomb proof. That said, she does have her quirks and obvious her own limitations and I need to know where to draw the line when potentially putting her into a situation that she might not appreciate or may even dislike. I don’t want her to become aggressive so it is important I do my best to understand her and know when enough is enough. Flossie’s “challenge” was a service user who was in a wheelchair but was VERY insistent that they wanted to stroke her. All over. Non stop. In her face. Holding her tail. Tugging lightly. Now I know I certainly wouldn’t be happy with this kind of approach but when faced with it for the first time you can end up pretty speechless and a little flabbergasted (shocked for those of you from across the Pond;)). I tried to keep my cool and stay calm as I was acutely aware that Flossie may indeed take her cues from me. Thankfully, she was beyond golden and listened to me, focused on me and did as I asked – I asked her to get on her mat and do a down (just out of reach). Now this didn’t stop the client from trying to reach Flossie but it made it a little harder. It’s important to note that this could be dangerous for the person in the wheelchair as had she continued to lean out she could have toppled from the chair. However, this being a mock scenario, as long as we took it all into consideration that was enough on this occasion.
Pushing the boundaries
At any time Flossie could have quite easily decided that enough was enough by either getting up or using doggy body language or behaviour. It was difficult for me to pick up too much as there was so much going on in such a short amount of time but she didn’t growl, stare, bark or even try to bite. She just focused on me. Whilst I walked away from this activity a little shocked I was also immensely proud of my little girl. She’d been put in a trying situation and had reacted well. This was perhaps a questionable way of testing Flossie’s boundaries but it was within as safe an environment as possible, Flossie wasn’t hurt and the “client” was in fact a very experienced dog trainer and behaviourist and so was able to read Flossie’s body language and reaction probably better than myself. Had I not been entirely confident with the situation I would not have put Flossie through it. Which bring me to point out that not all service users are suitable for Animal Assisted Therapy. Whilst some may not wish to interact with a therapy dog, may have a phobia, or allergy others may not have an appropriate attitude or approach to interacting with the animal. It is my responsibility to ensure that not only am I safe and the client safe in our counselling sessions, I must also make sure that the therapy animals are safe. If I feel that somebody may be behaving inappropriately within a counselling session in which Flossie is present, then I will address the matter having taken Flossie out of the situation. At the end of the day she is not only my co-therapist and my companion but a sentient being that is able to think and feel.
If you have any questions about counselling with HumAnima CIC and Animal Assisted Therapy (A.A.T.) please feel free to contact Kathryn on 07971933221 or email her at info@humanima.co.uk
Natural Horsemanship & Us
Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a days course entitled “Introduction to Natural Horsemanship” at Kingdom Horse CIC near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. The course had been arranged by Kingdom Horse CIC and the wonderful Growing Rural Enterprise, who support those in or who want to start in rural enterprise.
The course was led by Ingela Larsson-Smith, an incredible professional horsewoman with an innate ability for Natural Horsemanship. Ingela’s no-nonsense approach quickly became clear but with an injection of humour she came across as a dynamic and motivating teacher (“Leader”). I have put “Leader” there as this is what much of our learning involved in the morning… Learning about horse dynamics.
Now I suppose I should start by saying outright that I am NOT a horsey person. As much as I would love to be, this was a past-time that evaded my youth, primarily because of its expense and also due to a lack of access to any horses! I have a very healthy respect for horses and I would add a mild intimidation of them, due to their size, power and perhaps, I am now realising, their ability to look straight into your soul, know what’s their without a second glance and read you like an open book. I have been horse riding on several occasions throughout my life, mostly in Poland when I was on holiday and when I lived there. I learnt to trot and canter (once) but the lessons were stretched so far apart that there was no continuity. As a result I didn’t get a chance to really build a relationship with any of the horses I worked with, which I can quite clearly see created a massive barrier to any developments I might make in horse riding or with horses. I have always felt that it is essential to create a relationship, a bond with any animal, human or non-human before making strides in any direction for requests or expectations of the other individual. Seems quite logical to me AND respectful.
So I was very interested in the way Ingela started our workshop by telling us about the structure of the herd and the different roles within the herd. I was aware that horse hierarchy is matriarchal but that was as far as it went. Dog dynamics, no problem but horse? As a prey animal they have to operate very differently to the way wild dogs or wolves might. As with any animal they rely on their instincts and senses and I have to say, I see them up at the top of the list when it comes to sensitivity. Many horsemen and women will agree. I’m now toying with the idea that my feelings of unease are some kind of counter-transference with the horse and that I am in fact picking up on the horses unease. This is not impossible but… who knows?
We were told about the Lead, Dominant and Passive horses within the herd and how each role is played and what their goals are. Fascinating and at the end of the day my brain could not stop processing the comparisons and similarities between the herd dynamic and pack dynamics and our own human social dynamics. Very different but the conclusion I came to was simply that, horses and dogs seem to have established dynamics that work for them, their species, their needs and function. Whilst we may be very “developed” or “advanced”, there seems to be quite a mess and hodgepotch of dynamics that well… don’t really work for us humans. We haven’t found that perfect way of working that we can all agree on that keeps everybody happy. Will we ever find such a dynamic?
After a VERY hearty, generous and delicious vegetarian lunch we went to the outdoor arena where for the first time in my life, I saw horses interacting very enthusiastically. It was stupendous. From grooming, whinnying, kicking to chasing we saw it all. And within such a small arena it felt very intense. We were seeing herd dynamics in action.
The activities that we then engaged in took more than a little courage for me to start off with. Walking across the arena boldly through the horses I was acutely aware of how I was feeling and couldn’t help but avoid eye contact. I didn’t want to upset any of the horses even indirectly. And back again… diagonally. Every body had a go and everything went fine. Whilst I wasn’t surprised it went fine, I was still glad to have gotten through it without event.
Later we paired up with a horse of our choosing with whom we were going to work. We’d had the chance to check out some of the horses, observe them in action, their personalities emerging and despite the lack of “Hey who are you? Pleased to meet you. What do you like?” it soon became apparent who was easy going (passive) and who was a little more… shall we say… headstrong (dominant). No names mentioned, ELGAR! I chose Charlie, a relatively easy going chap although a little reserved. He wasn’t 100% certain about trusting me and the same went for me so I guess we were even. We worked together over a series of activities replicating the behaviour we had seen between the horses – swishing the halter rope end gently over the back of the horse, around their legs and back legs similar to the way the horses do with their tails. Charlie was not against this although a little reticent. Slowly through our activities, Charlie became more willing and I more trusting. The bond was being built.
We finally moved to getting our horses to move in a certain way using a combination of the activities we’d done and pure intention. This was a fascinating concept for me. I am a believer in the power of intention and energy. It strikes me as completely logical when working with an animal that is able to read miniscule muscle contractions that we ourselves are not aware of and where the luxury of spoken communication is not available. Admittedly, I did feel that time was not on our side and felt a little rushed. I think Charlie picked up on this. We did achieve what we were aiming to do on a few occasions but it wasn’t a case of “Do ‘A’ then ‘B’ and the horse will do ‘C’”. Not at all. This was the start. The first tentative steps and beginning of what could/ could have become a wonderful relationship.
I imagine many of you are wondering, “but what has this got to do with HumAnima? What’s it got to do with counselling? Or AAT with dogs for that matter?”. Good questions. I am a very abstract thinker and like to think outside the box. I have been aware of Natural Horsemanship for a number of years and as a dog trainer, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the principles of Natural Horsemanship could be translated to human-dog interaction/ relationships. I’m still wondering this. There are principles and building blocks in place in Natural Horsemanship that could be applied to human-dog relationships, such as the herd dynamic vs. pack structure. Now whilst I am very much aware of the consternation amongst some dog trainers and behaviourists about the carrying over of wolf pack structure to domestic dog relationships with humans, there are undoubtedly elements of these relationships that we can use as principles or ideas to further out own relationships with our companion dogs and other animals. Also, the initial activities we took part in with the horses to build our relationship with them should go without saying when interacting with unfamiliar animals with whom we are to have a future. You don’t walk up to a complete stranger and say “Marry me. I want your children. I want a future with you.”.
As for the counselling, some of you may have heard of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) or Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP). This is an approach which is a form of Animal Assisted Therapy and works with the clients challenges or issues through their interaction with the horse. Horses have been seen to have particular qualities that make interacting with them whilst in a vulnerable place (emotionally) supportive and comforting but above all else, clients are able to see their own behaviour, energy and its influence through their interaction with the horse and the horses response to them. It can be an extremely powerful approach especially as these animals are willing to offer unconditional positive regard and empathy up front without “payment in advance”. Qualities that are necessary in good therapists!
For the same reasons as before I am curious whether the principles of interaction with horses through EAP/ EFP can be translated or adapted into a structure that can be used with other animals. And if not, whether there are elements of EAP/ EFP that can be benchmarked to apply within other forms of AAT.
At the end of the day I felt happy. Fulfilled. Accomplished and very pleased that I had met some wonderful people but also some amazing horses. I felt a bond with them. I wasn’t afraid but felt calm within. I can see why people love horses so very much.
Remembering the Spirit of Community in light of the Riots
I think we’re all a bit shaken up after the recent events happening across the country. Whilst unrest was on the cards I know I certainly didn’t expect it to the extent that it did occur. So many people were injured, businesses destroyed, goods stolen and damaged and people’s livelihoods obliterated.
Watching the videos of it all unravelling, listening to the young people embroiled in such displays and acts of violence and blatant disregard for… well… anything, I was angry; no — furious. But at what or at whom? “Who is to blame?” was one of the first questions cropping up in people’s minds, alongside “How could they?!” and “Why?”. In essence people were grieving very shortly after the destruction not only for the material goods damaged, lost, stolen or burned but for the displays of violence, anger, pain, disrespect, greed and so many other qualities we don’t like to think of. Humanity; humility; modesty; shame; pity even? Where were any of these qualities in the people on the streets erupting in what can only be described as wild behaviour. That said, I can’t help but think that some wild animals would only display such emotions and behaviour with good reason. And so the question on everybodies lips is just that, “Why did this happen?”
I, my family, friends and colleagues have all had the conversation that is the topic of the week or soon to be month and just discussing it raises temperatures and emotions. Theories are ranging from “wild disregard and a lack of respect” to the unsurprising “state of the economy”. I would like to add to that my own “state of society” theory. What is “under the surface” or under everyone’s skin? What is behind the scenes and what is the root cause for all of this?
There is no one reason. It comes back to the nature vs. nurture argument – was it genetic or was it how they were brought up? I believe that it is both, all and everything. Now that may not sound very helpful but bearing in mind so many people were involved (all with different genetics and different upbringings) you can’t really bring it down to any one reason.
I can’t deny that whilst scary, I was not in the slightest surprised at the riots nor that many of them were young people. Being in school at the moment and considering a future must be very intimidating bearing in mind the recent increase in fees at university, the general malaise amongst society with regards to jobs and combine that with an existing population that is very deprived such a reaction and unrest could only be expected. The word that comes to mind is despair. I am by no means justifying their behaviour or what they did. Not at all! But in trying to find a solution to the problem, we must first understand the cause. Otherwise we are all guilty of simply putting a “sticking plaster” on what is now turning into not a cut or a scratch but a gaping wound. It is undeniable that there is great pain behind the riots, both in cause and effect.
I don’t claim to understand the “whys” of the riots but I want to be a part of the solution. I believe that the solution is in a very special word, a very special action and a very special structure – Community. We seem to have lost any sense of community in our society and broken families don’t help that equation. I have a dear friend who visits me from his town in Hertfordshire. He openly says that he feels a greater sense of community here in the West Midlands and that he knows more of my neighbours here than in his own town! For me that speaks volumes.
My friend is also a keen allotment holder. Now whilst I am not an allotment holder I am a keen veg grower and I have visited a few allotments over the last few years. Both my friend and I agree that allotment holders are some of the nicest people you can meet! On the other hand I have met some lovely people in places that I wouldn’t have expected to – from trains, shops, pubs and buses to dog walks and queues (have you guess yet that I use public transport a lot?!). And it’s in these people that we meet and the friends we make that we can remember what community really means.
A perfect example of community was just after the riots here in Wolverhampton. The streets were strewn with glass and debris and people were scared. I was in town the day after the riots and there was a clear air of fear, paranoia and intimidation. Heads were down and eyes did not make contact. However, through facebook, a mighty clean-up crew (two actually) was born and although much had already been cleared and cleaned up people still came to help out. The spirit of community was very much alive and this is an example of the result.
You can’t help but smile.
The residue from the riots is still settling but as we slowly try to return to a “normality” we should try and remember our humanity, community and think of others. If we can help, we should. Be selfless. As the Sikhs say “seva” or “selfless service” is what we need right now.
I would be very interested to hear what others think and feel.
HumAnima is interviewed by West Midlands BIP!
Hello again everybody!
Recently HumAnima CIC was fortunate enough to be interviewed by the lovely Judith Radcliffe of West Midlands Business Information Partnership (BIP). You can find out more about HumAnima CIC’s origins and the Director’s inspiration, reasoning and influence behind starting this social enterprise! It is in 2 parts so please find the links below:
Please find attached (click the above link) the latest Animal-Human Interaction Newsletter. Filled with lots of information regarding the human-animal bond and the latest research from contributors all over the world. HumAnima CIC’s Director & Counsellor, Kathryn has herself contributed to this edition of the newsletter! Enjoy!!
It’s been a year and 7 months since HumAnima CIC was officially formed. It’s been a journey and a half and it can and I imagine it will be comparable to an oceangoing voyage across calm and stormy seas. I am, Chris Columbus, discovering new lands and peoples, expanding my perceptions and knowledge and seeing what I can bring to others. An adventurer I guess. The ship needs to be well maintained, cared for, ship-shape and tip top and so far since her launch we are getting a feel for the waters and charting our route.
Last weekend, I had a fantastic time with Flossie on the Society For Companion Animal Studies (SCAS) newly set up Practical Therapy Dog Training. The training took place at the Dog’s Trust in Uxbridge and admittedly getting there was the first challenge of the weekend. We arrived at Denham late Saturday afternoon and our first trial involved finding our way to the B&B. Because of where the training was we had to stay overnight. We stayed at a wonderful B&B called Tilehouse Lodge. Flossie and I had a lovely 2 mile walk to the B&B along country roads and next to a small air field and next to a small caravan club. It was a beautiful day and we were very lucky to have beautiful weather and quiet conditions during our stroll. Flossie was packed with her little pannier and I with my trusty rucksack, we were like Dick Whittington and his cat (I don’t think Floss would approve of that comparison…).
We arrived at the Lodge gone 6pm and were welcomed by our hostess who welcomed us warmly and took us to a quaint little room with a single bed and all the amenities we needed for the night. The tv was a bonus 
At this point both Flossie and I were in dire need of a rest and welcomed the bed with open arms! It was a relaxing evening with Flossie collapsed on the floor fast asleep and me chilled on the bed getting as much rest as possible before the training day ahead.
Having been an assistant dog trainer for the best part of 7 years I had an inkling as to how engaging the next day might be. We had already had some preliminary work to prepare us for the training covering the basics on AAT, training and dog body language. It was good material that gave us an adequate precursor to prepare for the days activities. Some of the material included some fascinating videos with dog body language that gave you an idea what different postures and behaviours and expressions meant in dog language. It reminded me of a WONDERFUL book that I once read, that really did have a crucial impact on my ability to understand and interact with dogs positively: Turid Rugaas’s book “Calming Signals” gives a valuable insight and helps us to communicate better with dogs. As a dog trainer I have found this priceless and I would even go so far as to say that it has probably saved me from being bitten on a few occasions. A massive problem I often see when working at puppy class, are mis-communications between owner and dog or rather the owners inability to understand when, for example, their dog has had enough and actually isn’t playing but giving a warning to back off. Too often I have to step in and stop situations from escalating because owners are misunderstanding certain behaviours and postures – ears up, tail stiff, shoulders stiff…. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their relationship with their own or other dogs!
The morning greeted us with exquisitely sunny weather and despite a rather difficult night (some neighbours of the B&B had decided to hold a very late night and loud party…) we felt quite chirpy and were ready to meet what the day brought us. Upon arrival most humans had their eyes downcast whilst supervising our canine companions as they went through the ritualistic meet and greet that some furry four leggeds were familiar with and others less so… No bloody was shed but the dogs pretty quickly established who liked whom and who was a no-go. To be fair, there weren’t any outcasts and even Flossie (who sometimes prefers to avoid doggie greets!) behaved quite impeccably. I was impressed with the little lady that she is (but yes I know I’m biased!) and secretly relieved and overjoyed.
Nina Bondarenko, our trainer, otherwise known as the “Dog Guru from Oz” pretty rapidly got down to business. She has a very no nonsense approach that initially had me cringing with minor embarassment at my dogs shortfalls but it sank in very quickly and easily that any shortfalls of Flossie were my responsibility and ultimately fault. I take this on board with open arms and agree although it didn’t make it any easier for my ego. My “perfect” therapy dog has flaws. None of them are safety issues that would impinge her therapy career as such but she’s not squeeky clean.
From the outset, one of the pre-requisites had been for the dog to not pull on the lead. This is an issue I have battled with with Flossie since she was a mere pup. Now, I have known all along that I created this problem as it was the one problem I was worried about, thus self-perpetuating it, however, I recently decided to take the bull by the horns and see if there were any other ways to keep her by my side (literally!). I had tried a method offered by Mick Martin (of Dog Borstal) unsuccessfully and had used a canny collar (whilst it does stop the dog from pulling it of course doesn’t address the issue at all). Now I was trying clicker training (always go with your instinct and go with what you know!) which was how I initially worked in dog training and lo and behold the penny appeared to be dropping with the young lass. However, she still wasn’t quite there. During a morning break I shyly asked Nina if she had any suggestions and within a space of 20 minutes Floss was walking perfectly on the lead. My jaw was on the floor… no joke. What did she do? I hear you cry. Ah well you’ll have to ask Nina for that explanation. It was very simple (which didn’t really surprise me) and I chuckled when I heard Nina say “most of teaching a dog to walk on the lead properly involves standing still”. Sure enough the first 5-12 minutes involved lots of stop-starting. With a loud “thunk” and a hearty laugh, I can proudly announce she is now walking very nicely on the lead. Will it last? That’s up to me and whether the penny dropped with me sufficiently and with my using the technique correctly with Flossie. More importantly and relevantly to her work in therapy though, will she pull someone else? Flossie and I won’t really be walking much with other people but I am determined to ask friends and family to walk Flossie (having given them the basic technique) so she soon realises what is and is not acceptable. She’s very quick on the mark so I have every confidence in her success.
I will admit to once or twice, prior to the training, wondering whether I would be learning anything new. Whilst I dislike how cocky that sounds (please excuse the pun!), having been an assistant dog trainer I was very curious to see what we would be learning. In no uncertain terms it was a shifting of perspective. A VERY welcome one at that. I needed someone with an abstract or different perspective to open my own eyes to how to approach my work with Flossie in therapy or interacting with others on PAT visits. To give you an idea, we looked at tricks and things the dogs already knew. Now Flossie has a small repertoire of tricks she can do. I use these not only to entertain other people but more importantly to keep Flossie on her paws and using her little grey cells. Getting a dog to think is AS important as physically exercising them. So she can do high fives, roll over, leaving a treat and shaking paws. Shaking paws or giving a paw is perhaps the most common trick amongst companion dogs. What I hadn’t considered was HOW Flossie gave her paw. Working with people who are immuno-compromised, their skin may be thin and easily bruised or torn/ damaged. When Floss gives a paw her paw can be a little stiff with her claws being the first thing to touch you. The risk of scratching is increased and with that infection. Therefore, I am now trying to teach her to relax her paw when she does give it. Enlightenment no less!
I don’t want to give too much away or say too much about the course. You need to find it out for yourselves. But suffice to say that it is an EXCELLENT course that is worth doing with your dog if you are only even considering using them as a PAT or Blue Cross education dog. Working on our exercises and homework together, Flossie and I will be strengthening our bond and I can’t tell you what that means to me. Yes it’s great to have a therapy dog I can work with, but to have a companion dog first and foremost who I can share so much with is even more important to me. We are a team and I couldn’t be doing this without my girl!
“Public Mental Health & Communities”
Last Thursday, I prepared myself to attend what looked to be an interesting event. I had no idea what to expect but being a free event and relevant to my field and work I couldn’t help myself and jumped at the opportunity to mingle and learn more.
The stage was set by Councillor Sue Anderson of Birmingham who introduced us to the speakers, programme but more importantly gave us a preview of the stats and current public mental health scene. Some information to contemplate included:
- 1:6 people will experience mental illness symptoms at some point in their lives (1:4 is a more frequently used and widely accepted)
- Mental health costs the economy £105bln per year
- There are distinct connections between mental health, housing, employment and criminal justice (whilst this may seem obvious, this relationship is rarely referred to or reflected upon within treatment or accessing services in each of these areas. Multi-agency interaction is poor and lacks linking up and communication. [My opinion])
- Current models of care are unsustainable in the current economic climate
- An estimated 90% of people with a mental health condition are unemployed
These are all pieces of information that had the desired effect of making people sit up and listen. But what really struck home is the current need to “Do more with less money. Doing things differently in a cost effective way for better outcomes. How can we meet what the individual needs in our cost envelope?“
And YET AGAIN… the conclusion that we heard echoed (over time as well as geographical space) was PREVENTION.
Dr Neil Deuchar (Medical Director of West Midlands Health Authority) started us off with a very informative presentation that gave a fantastic background to existing white papers concerning mental health and what the current plans are for approaching mental illness in the community. He gave a succinct and much appreciated (by me at least!) summary of “No Health, Without Mental Health“, the government strategy that supersedes “New Horizons“ but importantly highlighted the need for prevention stating that “tackling poor mental health could reduce our overall disease burden by nearly a quarter”. The positive economic impact this would have does not require a genius to realise!
Dr Deuchar went on to mention the “Foresight Report: Mental Capital Wellbeing” published in 2008 by the GOS and the resulting “Five Ways to Wellbeing” published by the New Economics Foundation this year. Documents that are going to the top of my reading list.
Interestingly and more importantly, Dr Deuchar brought to our attention possible prevention approaches that might be adopted by “the powers that be” in order to address mental health issues in society:
- Universal Approach – mental health promotion via e.g. schools, parents (the approach was compared to vaccination programmes in schools)
- Targeted Approach – Primary prevention aimed at sub-populations who might be at risk e.g. women at risk of Post Natal Depression (PND)
- Screening Approach – Secondary prevention targeted to individuals with early signs of certain conditions
- to develop an integrated approach to tackle mental health conditions
- to redesign services to address demand and diversity
- to optimise resources
- to create an integrated health check for people with mental health conditions
- mental health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK contributing up to 22.8% of the total burden
- the annual cost of inequality in England is estimated at £56-69bln
Ms Benge also re-introduced us to the NEF’s “5Ways to Well-being” report, highlighted the need for mental health awareness training and that there should be a focus upon early intervention services dealing with psychoses and early identification and referral with particular regard to those in high risk groups where “access is disproportionate to prevalence”.
