BeeLeaf Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy

Talk with the Animals

Written by Pamela Gawler-Wright, Director of Training for BeeLeaf Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy

Presented at the NLP Conference in London 2008

A Message From Dibley

I am a 9 month old miniature Labradoodle, owned by BeeLeaf Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy which is a not-for-profit Social Enterprise and UKCP Accredited Training and Accrediting Organisation. I am training to become a Certified Therapy Animal Assistant and I also help the BeeLeaf Trainees to learn Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy. I am here today as part of my training. If I interfere in any way with your learning or comfort, please immediately inform one of my handlers, Pam or Mandy.

Please help keep me safe and able to learn better

You can do this by:

Keeping all bags and bobs, like pens and tissues, out of my reach. The bins have been put up on high surfaces for this purpose. Please don’t put them on the floor.

Remembering not to feed me – it confuses me and gives me an upset tummy. If you want to give me a treat, you can get one from Pam or Mandy and I will do a trick for you to earn it – I am a working dog, you see.

If I do grab something of yours, it is because I am curious and I want you to play with me. Don’t chase me to get your possession back – that just makes me think you like the game and I am very good at dodging people, it’s fun! The best way to get something back from me is to say in a jolly voice “Give it to Pam!” I like this game too and will then give Pam the item and it will be returned. Don’t then put the thing back in my reach again or I’ll think you want to play the game again….playing is something I’m very good at.

Today I am learning:

Four Paw Law
I love being with people and this group is a very exciting place for me, so sometimes I forget things I’ve learned. You can help with this by only petting me if I am sitting, lying down or standing with all my paws on the floor.
If I jump up on you, please help me to learn by immediately looking up and away and crossing your arms. Stay still like this until my paws are back on the ground and then pet me or praise me and I will understand.

There are better ways to get attention than barking

This is hard for me, especially because I am so excited that you are here and I want your attention very much. I have to learn that sometimes other things are going on and I can be quiet and stay involved by watching. This has become even more challenging for me in the last few weeks as, now I am a teenager and my testosterone levels have shot up, I’m really needing to question how I fit in socially.

If I bark, please ignore me, literally do not look at me. My handlers will know if it is a bark because I need something or just because I am learning about my boundaries. When I am quiet you can smile at me and mouth “good boy” and that helps me to understand that that is the better way to get your attention. I have been trained to understand human smiles and eye contact as rewards. Not many dogs know this, but I am very clever.

An example of a human projection of a dog’s projection onto humans – and it works!

A Representative Balance

Written by Pamela Gawler-Wright, Director of Training for BeeLeaf Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy

A Training MO shares its experience of creating a representatively diverse membership and explores how an active Equal Opportunities and Diversity policy grows from both conscious and unconscious dynamics.

As new kids amongst the neighbourhood of UKCP Training Organisations, BeeLeaf Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy has had an interesting and challenging couple of years. One example of how UKCP works well is having access to so many models of good practice and the generosity of the community to share literature and developed protocol. Due to this collective and diverse wealth, we have been inspired and empowered as an organisation to improve several aspects of how we do what we do in the preparation of effective and ethical psychotherapy practitioners.

Only Connect - A conversation with Dr Ernest L Rossi

Written by Pamela Gawler-Wright

Dr Ernest L Rossi provided the scientific basis and clinical method for not only much of the influence of NLP on health but also many of the more credible advances in complementary therapy during the 1990s. He is a walking treasury of first hand experiences, having studied directly with Fritz Perls, Franz Alexander and, most famously, Milton H. Erickson, whose papers he edited after Erickson's death. Pamela interviewed him at a workshop in the Lake District.

Skills of Love

Written by Pamela Gawler-Wright

Stephen Gilligan is the world's foremost modeller of Milton Erickson. A member of that hallowed circle of individuals who were in the original Bandler/Grinder set at UCSC, he soon departed from the pure structuralist approach of fledgling NLP to study with the man himself. Having received five years of free hospitality in Milton's house, he never paid a penny for the tuition he received. Milton Erickson asked for just one thing in return; "Pass on what you have learned here". Pamela was there when Stephen was doing just that.