The Clinical Animal Behaviour Mentoring Process
At Second Nature Behaviour, we understand how challenging it can be to find high-quality mentoring and supervision within the clinical animal behaviour industry. That’s why we are committed to offering structured, supportive mentoring for those working towards accreditation as a Clinical Animal Behaviourist or Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist, as well as for professionals seeking ongoing development and guidance.
Our mentoring process is built around a collaborative and compassionate learning environment, with a strong community of like-minded practitioners at different stages of their professional journeys. We offer a range of mentoring opportunities, including observing live cases, leading cases under supervision, and taking part in structured case roleplays, all designed to build confidence, competence, and ethical clinical practice.
Clinical Supervision: The Nitty Gritty of What to Expect
Find out more about what to expect from the clinical animal behaviour mentoring process with Second Nature Behaviour below.
- You can find our mentoring services table here,
- Read our full mentoring terms here,
- Find out more about the mentoring rules and guidance, or
- Get in touch with us here!
Contact Us
give us a buzz now to find out more
What is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist?
On veterinary referral, a Clinical Animal Behaviourist works one-on-one with an animal and their caregiver, often in their home environment or in a clinic. They take a detailed case history and assess the reasons behind the animal’s behaviour problem. This leads to a behaviour treatment plan, which the clinician then helps the animal and their caregivers work through over a period of time, ranging from a few weeks to several months.
How do I become a Clinical Animal Behaviourist?
There are many different routes available for becoming a clinical animal behaviourist – practitioners have come to the job through many different paths. Essentially, though, there are two sides to the job that you need to develop to practise as a clinical animal behaviourist: academic knowledge and practical experience. We have followed the CCAB route because we found it to be very structured and transparent, plus it is currently the only independent accreditation scheme in the UK for vet and non-vet behaviourists.
We do encourage our students to work towards CCAB, too, but it is not an essential requirement for being mentored by us. If you’re starting out, we can discuss the different options that would work specifically for you, depending on your background, what’s going on in your life, and what you’re aspiring to.
Whatever you need or whatever point you are in your career, we can brainstorm with you and point you in the right direction.
I’d like to start seeing cases today – can you help me?
Generally, we expect our mentees to have some academic knowledge of the field before we allow them to sit in on our cases or shadow our work. It is generally recommended to attain ‘CCAB Pre-Certification’ or graduate from a course recognised by CCAB Certification or ABTC before considering any form of clinical practice yourself. That doesn’t stop you from working on gaining any of the important practical handling and training skills needed for any work with animals, such as through helping at training classes or at a local rescue centre.
Once you have gained the academic knowledge necessary for the job, we offer two key forms of clinical supervision to help you gain the required practical knowledge: either you can sit in with one of us, or one of our mentors can sit in on your cases!
If you have just graduated and are starting out, we recommend that you sit in and observe us conduct a range of cases first. Then, you can start leading on certain cases under our supervision at a rate that commiserates with your abilities. When you start leading, your mentor may well pipe up and join in the consultation with you quite a bit, but as your clinical skills grow, your mentor will gradually take more of a backstep and eventually just give you feedback at the end of the consultation.
Our Clinical Animal Behaviour Mentoring Services
Picking our Brains
As well as direct case supervision and shadowing, we offer more general mentoring support, including with your cases that we have not observed. Your mentor’s remote assessment will be limited, so we will only be able to provide more general advice around certain case types, but it should give you some food for thought for your own case management. Pick our brains on any questions you may have.
We can also discuss other issues, such as how to design treatment plans, dealing with the human side of CAB work (i.e. owners, vets and paraprofessionals), professional and ethical conundrums, business strategies, interesting research papers, or figuring out how to make this fascinating yet tricky work we do work for you and your life.
Find out more in our services table.
Contact Us
give us a buzz now to find out more
Observing Our Cases
You will be provided with any clinical history and behaviour questionnaire about a case before the consultation. We would have a brief chat about the case before the consultation.
Please dress smartly but practically, bearing in mind we will be dealing with often reactive animals and may spend part of the session outside in any weather. Leave food and valuable items hidden and locked away (i.e. in your car). During the consultation you can take notes, but you will play no part in the consultation itself (please turn off your cameras and microphones if ‘sitting in’ virtually).
Generally, a consultation is split into history-taking at the start, establishing a behaviour diagnosis/assessment, and then developing a treatment plan. We may take a brief break in the middle after the history taking to discuss the next stage. At this point, your mentor may give you the opportunity to ask a few questions of the client.
After the consultation has ended, you can ask your mentor questions, and we will discuss the case to check your understanding of key points relating to the case. There will also usually be a follow-up session with you to discuss what the treatment path of the case may take, as well as the relevant scientific literaturure.
See our services table for more information.
Source Your Own Case to Lead
Everyone has different needs, and have different ways of working. At a set hourly rate, you can have one of our mentors support you from start to finish of a case. We can sit in on your consults and follow-ups, provide you with feedback on your client and vet reports, and work out the next stage in a BMP. Whatever or however much you need, we are here to provide it.
If a case is conducted under our direct supervision, we reserve the right to interact with your clients when the mentor feels it is necessary for our duty of care to the animal. However, you are responsible for your case and the full provision of the service to the animal, its owners and the referring veterinary surgeon. You will need written confirmation from the clients and the referring vet that they are happy for the case to be supervised by our mentors, and that they are happy with any other students sitting in on the consultation.
Find out more in our services table.
Flock Mentoring: Leading Cases Under Our Supervision
Lead a case under our supervision from start to finish at our learning clinic, supported by your peers.
What happens during the consultation process?
-
You will meet with your mentor immediately before and after the consultation to discuss any questions, concerns, and to debrief.
-
The mentor will open the consultation, introduce those present, and explain the CCAB accreditation and mentoring process to the client.
-
You will then lead the history-taking. The mentor may ask additional questions if needed, or step in if any safety or ethical concerns arise.
-
Once history-taking is complete, you and your mentor will discuss your interpretation of the behaviour, its aetiology, and potential behaviour modification strategies (away from the client where possible).
-
You will then present the behavioural assessment and treatment plan to the client. The mentor will only intervene if clarification or adjustments are required.
-
At any point, you may discreetly hand over to the mentor if you feel unsure. This is a normal part of the learning process, and you will be supported to resume leading when appropriate.
-
Following the consultation, you will prepare a full report for the client and referring veterinary surgeon. This will be reviewed by your mentor before being shared.
What’s included?
- An initial report review by your mentor (2 drafts max. included).
- WhatsApp client discussion or diary emails, reviewed by your mentor.
- Monthly Hive Mind Days for case planning and troubleshooting.
- Resources share: Submit all case paperwork and material to the shared flock drive.
- Buddy system: All follow-up reports and paperwork will be reviewed by your buddy under your mentor’s supervision.
- Flock Support WhatsApp group.
What we expect from you: Multi-stage report drip-fed to clients; 2 vet reports (initial assessment, then followup); 3 months of remote client support, regular contact with client either via WhatsApp or weekly diary review emails; monthly follow-up visits/calls (can delegate parts of BMP to our colleagues if clients need further face-to-face practical support); engagement in the hive mind; resources share and buddy system. Note that if you need extra direct support from our mentors, our ‘brain picking’ hourly rates will apply.
Find out more in our mentoring rules and guidance, and our services table.
Read our full mentoring terms here.
Contact Us
give us a buzz now to find out more
Report Masters Series
Grow your confidence in report-writing under the wing of one of our mentors. A safe space to develop your writing style with three of your peers through a series of six fortnightly, tailored classes.
Be Our Shadow
Join us in the passenger seat as we travel around our caseload on a typical full day of clinical work 8am-8pm. This can include up to two new cases and three follow-ups. On the go, between the appointments, you can pick your mentor’s brains and get a snapshot of what a busy CAB practice looks like. At the end, let’s grab some grub and debrief. Suitable wherever you are along your career path.
Case Roleplays
A minimum of 3 people are needed for a 90-minute session. One person acts as the client, one as the behaviourist, and one as the observer providing feedback. After 30 minutes, roles will rotate. It’s a great way to practice and build confidence without having the pressure of a real case!
Professional Conduct
All of our mentees are expected to adhere to the following rules at all times:
- Accept the risks and be prepared: you may well get bitten! Although we try to minimise the likelihood, working with animals carries risks of injury and unexpected behaviour. You are responsible for your own actions and advice given to others. We ask that all my mentees be fully insured, even if they are just virtually and silently observing our cases.
- Ethical practice: Although you are not one yet, you are expected to always follow the CCAB Code of Conduct.
It is very important to only ever work on written veterinary referral and never to practise outside the limits of your competence. If you’re ever in doubt about your ability to take on a particular case, then either refer it to a more qualified practitioner or see it under their supervision/mentorship. If you’re not sure about what any of this means, then give us a buzz!
- Absolute confidentiality: Never record a case except by anonymised written notes. Any case information released to you must be stored securely and then deleted within three months.
- Support each other: respect, trust and care for your peers, including each other’s professional and personal development, intellectual property and business interests. Let’s grow together.
For more information, see our mentoring rules and guidance.
Emma
Faye
Rosalind
Hannah
Charlie
I feel your mentoring is very personalised. You provide more than just mentoring through cases – it’s career mentoring. You take into consideration a person’s individual circumstances and make suggestions on how best to support.
Carole
Sue Harron
Rachel Williams
Zoe is a very supportive mentor, providing valuable feedback on how I carried out my consult and written communication with clients. Being able to shadow Keeley during an in-person follow up session was invaluable too. Highly recommend Second Nature Behaviour to anyone seeking support during their behaviourist career.
Lauren Sharkey
Alice Watts
Zoe has been a fab mentor, supporting me through tricky cases with advice and experience. I’m really pleased to have passed my CAB exams with her support. Thank you Zoe!
Kyra Algazi
Zoe is a great mentor. She always makes sure that I understand why we have to write certain things or not. Zoe continues to help me to increase my knowledge about dogs and English. Kyra Algazi
Lesley Townsend
Zoe at Second Nature Behaviour is a phenomenal mentor. She’s empathic, knowledgeable and experienced. She’s also super approachable which means our sessions never feel like an imposition or a chore and I look forward to our meetings. I’ve learned lots working with her and I highly recommend her services.
Carole Valentine
Sara Valverde
Hannah Burton
Lynne Taylor
Emma Simmons
