Motivational Interviewing and Its Applications in Dog Training& Behavior Consulting Presentation by Maureen Backman

Presented by Maureen Backman

The most recent definition of Motivational Interviewing is

“a  collaborative,  person centered  form  of  guiding  to  elicit  and  strengthen  motivation  for  change”

As dog trainers, we need competence not only in the field of dog behavior change, but also human behavior change. Motivational Interviewing is an evidence-based set of techniques to facilitate compliance and behavior change in clients. Designed for brief interventions and applied over a wide range of disciplines from health care to smoking cessation, Motivating Interviews can help trainers resolve more behavior cases and create more effective consultations with their clients.

Learning Objectives

•     Develop less client resistance.
•     Ensure more  successful case resolutions.
•     Helps reduce trainer  burnout.
•     Learn road-maps and scripts to help effectively coach difficult clients.

About The Presenter

Maureen Backman, MS, CTC, graduated with honors from Jean Donaldson’s prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers, and has a graduate degree in rehabilitation psychology. After working in San Francisco as a social worker, she combined her lifelong love of dogs and her strengths in counseling and coaching to forge a career as a dog trainer.

Maureen’s particular strength is combining her knowledge of counseling and coaching along with her studies in positive reinforcement training techniques to help humans understand how to communicate and work with their dogs. She is strongly committed to using only humane, positive training methods that are based on animal learning science, and frequently consults with her colleagues at the Academy to further her knowledge in training methods and best practices.

In addition to her master’s degree, Maureen is a member of the Pet Professional Guild and the Association for Pet Dog Trainers. She is one of the founders of Dog Connect SF, a positive reinforcement training blog and social network (which just won the Bay Woof 2013 Beast of the Bay Award for best dog social networking site!). She is the founder of The Muzzle Up! Project, aimed at erasing stigma and spreading education related to dogs wearing muzzles. She also leads the volunteer training team Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco.