Personal & Professional Growth

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

WARRIOR PROGRAMME

ONE TO ONE COACHING

COACHING QUALIFICATIONS

CORPORATE TRAINING

TRANSFORMATIVE COACHING THROUGH HORSES (AND DOGS, ACTUALLY)

PERSONAL COACHING (ONE TO ONE)

What is one to one coaching?

Transformational one to one coaching is suitable for you if you are ready to make changes in your personal or professional life, but wish to do so out of a group situation.

As your coaches we will create a safe and supportive environment in which you can fully explore all aspects of your thinking and feeling, leading to new awareness aiding your personal development.

READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

BENEFITS

Our Approach

We are skilled in working intuitively and energetically to help you see unconscious patterns, beliefs and behaviours which may be limiting you and preventing you from achieving the results you want.

Awareness

Raise your awareness of your unconscious patterns and processes, putting you in a position of choice about the life you are creating and the stories you choose believe.

Challenge

Confidence

Increase your self-belief by exposing your inner critic and revealing the ways in which you sabotage your own success.

Empower

Encourage you to be authentic– to face your fears and follow your heart.

Sessions

You will meet with your coach for an agreed number of sessions. Each session lasts for 60-90 minutes.

HERE TO LISTEN & GUIDE

EXPERIENCED & APPROVED

TRUSTED FOR OVER 20 YEARS

OUR AFFILIATIONS

PROFESSIONAL COACHING

TRAIN AS EFL / EAL COACH

LEADERSHIP & TEAM TRAINING

Train as an
EFL / EAL Coach

Train and qualify with us over this extensive 12 month programme.

Attain full accreditation as an Equine Facilitated Coach and top level practitioner.

Ready to begin your transformation?

Speak to the team today and we’ll schedule an initial conversation to explore your journey to becoming a qualified coach.

COURSE OVERVIEW

Combine the powerful medium of horses with transformational coaching

This year long accredited programme powerfully combines Sarah Ilaria Northe’s unique Transformational Coaching with Learning to Listen’s expert equine facilitation. It offers a profound and personal journey into Equine Facilitated Coaching.

The programme enables you to use the powerful medium of horses with a transformational coaching approach and successful completion of the training leads to:

The ability to deliver transformational coaching sessions in partnership with a horse or horses
An understanding of the transformational coaching process and the language of the horse, enabling you to utilise these together to create powerful client experiences
Competency in horse management and health and safety practices to ensure the well-being of your client and the horse
Understanding the power behind equine facilitated practice
A unique offering- helping clients who have been unsuccessful using other more traditional methods.

Successful completion of this programme leads to certification as an ‘Equine Facilitated Coach’ and may result in an invitation to practice under the supervision and guidance of the provider. The programme itself has historically been accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and will in future be accredited by The Association for Coaching (AC), enabling students to become AC Accredited Coaches with the necessary experience, CPD and Supervision.

Applications are now being taken for the next open programme.

Introduction: 'Every horse has something to teach and every human has something to learn'

We appreciate that there are a variety of Coach Training Programmes and Equine Facilitated offerings available in the current marketplace and no industry-wide validating body to set single standards or guarantee consistency of product and quality. Our offering of Equine Facilitated Coaching is unique and cutting edge and therefore comparison to other trainings is difficult.

However, the information below is designed to demonstrate the quality and depth of this programme and our approach and help you decide if our programme is the right one for you. We welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.

Please be aware that in the design and delivery of our coaching programmes we strive to ensure best practice whilst offering a flexible approach to the needs of programme participants. We are guided by the ethical code provided by the European Coaching and Mentoring Council and promote the importance of continuing professional development and supervised practice.

What you will learn when you train as an equine coach

With this training, you will find:

An in-depth psychological approach to coaching
A range of theories, processes, concepts & techniques
Regular coach practice sessions with feedback from course tutors and fellow participants
Over 125 hours of facilitated experiential learning
Self-managed learning sets
Requirement to build up a minimum amount of equine facilitated coaching practice in-between workshops
A variety of written & practical projects to maximise learning
Supervision of practice
1:1 support from Lead Facilitators
A coaching approach based on the development of emotional intelligence
Strong focus on the personal development of the coach.

More about our approach and style

We will give you the theory of coach training and equine facilitation; however, this alone will not make you an effective coach.

Coaching, after all, is a practical activity and any coach training of value must be grounded in sound professional practice. Much of our focus will be on your development as a coach through experiential learning, practice and feedback. During the modules, you will be given the opportunity to experience the roles of coach, coachee and observer.

These sessions will facilitate both your skills development and personal growth.

The personal development of the coach is an element of training often overlooked and this can result in poor practice. We believe that the coach needs to address and work through their own issues in order to operate with the emotional intelligence required to be effective in coaching others. On our coaching programmes you will be supported and challenged to address your own developmental needs in a safe and supportive environment. In line with this we are firm advocates of coaching supervision as essential to good professional practice and offer this during and beyond the programme.

We believe in a psychological approach to coaching because invariably coaching issues are grounded in the cognitive and emotional. It is common for the presenting issue to be a symptom of the client’s existing patterns and belief systems. Without addressing the psychological dimension, it is likely that the client will find that they are unable to sustain behavioural change. As part of our training we give participants the tools to explore the client’s inner world and therefore facilitate greater understanding and sustainable change.

Alongside tutoring on our programmes the lead facilitators continue to work directly with clients, always developing our own knowledge and skills and drawing on our own experience to enhance our teaching.

Who is this coaching programme for?

Essentially this programme will meet the needs of anyone wishing to effectively facilitate the growth and behaviour change of themselves and others through the medium of coaching and horses.

This may be through working as a coach, a line manager, an HR professional or training consultant, a mental health practitioner, an educator, a riding instructor, a therapist or any other context where you are interested in developing others.

If you want a thorough grounding in a powerful transformational coaching methodology, to develop your coaching skills and grow on a personal level then this programme may be right for you. We will always meet with you prior to the programme to ensure your questions are answered & that this is the right course for you.

Course structure

The equine facilitated coaching programme follows the following structure:

Monthly facilitated modules
Pre and post session reading and research
Self-facilitated learning groups
Personal support from lead facilitators
Supervision
Assessment requirements.

Full course content

This is the full roster of content you will learn throughout the modules:

Purpose of coaching – exploring the benefits of coaching to the individual
Health & safety – keeping clients & horse’s safe during sessions
Anatomy checks – sustaining the emotional & physical wellbeing of horses
The natural horse – how horses interact & why they are such good facilitators
The power behind equine facilitated practice – the benefits of being around the horses
The language of the horse – learning to facilitate the information provided through the horses
Horse management – expected standards of external and internal environments
Coaching models and theories – drawing on a wide range of tools & concepts to facilitate growth & change
Creating the coaching relationship – building rapport & creating a safe environment that enables challenge, learning & insight
Managing the coaching relationship – contracting, holding boundaries, considering ethics & maintaining good practice
Coaching competencies and skills – active listening, effective questioning, creating rapport, challenging, awareness & process
Key dimensions of a coaching session – going beyond the client’s content & uncovering the inner game
Psychological approaches to coaching – exploring psychological concepts relevant to coaching such as Neuro Linguistic
Programming & drawing on thinking from a range of therapies
Self-awareness & use of self – becoming aware of one’s own internal processes as a source of information & material for intervention
Understanding preference – to understand personality types & work more effectively with others
Practice and skill development – skills practice within modules & regular coaching between workshops.

How assessments work

Assessment for certification consists of:

Written assignments relating to coaching with & without the horses
Several short, written assessments throughout the programme to maximise learning
A reflective journal which participants will complete throughout the programme providing a record of personal development, coaching practice and reflection on practice
Coaching Sessions – participants are required to complete a minimum number of coaching practice sessions with external clients
Coaching Assessment – participants will be assessed on their coaching skills during observed practice towards the end of the programme. This may be filmed.

Ready to begin your transformation?

Speak to the team today and we’ll schedule an initial conversation to explore your journey to becoming a qualified coach.

READY TO TALK TO US?

Leadership & Team Training

Grow as a leader.

Horses bring a thought provoking approach to the idea of leadership development skills and set a high bar when it comes to authenticity, getting the job done and keeping your people with you.

You and your leaders will learn a lot about your leadership style by working alongside the horses to achieve different goals. These new insights can be mapped directly across into your leadership and management techniques in the workplace and used immediately.

READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

Develop your team

Horses bring a new and different approach to the idea of Team Development and are unique in their approach to working together to get the job done. Your team will develop by working alongside the horses to achieve their different goals.

The insights they gain into working together as a team can be translated into the workplace, developing their skills to perform as a team.

Who are the leadership coaching programmes for?

If you are looking to develop your leadership skills or your leaders within your business, then our leadership development programmes are designed to inspire and challenge you. We do this by giving you the opportunity to work with a half ton animal with a mind of its own – the horse.

Between you and the horse, one of you will become the leader. If you don’t step up into the leadership role the horse will and before you know it they will be doing exactly what they want to do, which is mostly eating grass!

Who are the team development coaching programmes for?

No horse experience required

No horse experience is necessary at all as you will be taught basic skills and be given a health and safety brief on the day.

READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

CORPORATE TRAINING DAYS

Team Building

Transform your corporate culture and empower your team with the Learning to Listen transformative corporate training days.

Our comprehensive training is tailored to your needs and designed to help your team develop skills that will enhance their communication, boost productivity and strengthen relationships with colleagues and clients.

Our trainers are experienced professionals who have worked with a variety of organisations to help them achieve their team building goals. We use our unique set of techniques and tools to ensure that our training is engaging, practical and effective.

We offer full day (including lunch) and half days (including breakfast or afternoon snacks) to give your team an enjoyable and transformative away days from the office.

READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

COURSE DATES TAILORED TO SUIT YOU

A day I will never forget

CORPORATE TRAINING

“When I was informed that the Living Room had secured an opportunity to visit an equine therapy centre for a day, and that a group of us could go along to experience equine therapy, I immediately knew that it wasn’t for me and I told Mike and Michelle that I wouldn’t go as I was terrified of horses. They said that was ok and that nobody would be forced to go and that I could simply stay away from that session.

However, over the next few weeks, I had a nagging thought in my head which kept telling me that maybe I could go and just stand at the back and watch. You see I was bitten by a horse at the age of 7 and for the next 52 years I’ve held a healthy but fearful respect for these beautiful but scary animals and never gone anywhere near another one. I could look gaze at them from afar but never close enough to see their eyes, or worse still their mouth, and zillions of razor-sharp teeth inside them. That nagging thought kept rearing its head saying, ‘go on, you can stand at the back… The others will get bitten first’ and I became determined to try to conquer the fear that had been carried around with me all my life, selfishly believing that if anyone was going to get hurt that day it definitely wouldn’t be me.

So I signed my name up, not knowing how things would go and how I would react. I secretly half expected a huge drama with me having a meltdown, causing a huge scene and ultimately embarrassing myself and robbing the others of a potentially beautiful experience.
When we arrived at the centre we were put in groups randomly and placed with an experienced equine therapist who told us how we would enter the field and approach the horse as slowly as we felt comfortable to and just see what feelings were brought up for us as we did so.

I trusted the therapist completely and although I was terrified I managed to walk towards the horse, with the therapist right beside me, stopping just to the side of his face… DJ the horse was huge… tall, white and very regal looking … he even had a plaited tail which matched my plaited hair which was a lovely coincidence. I couldn’t contain the tears that started pouring down my face because of the fear which I felt all over my body and the therapist reassured me that he and I were ok. It was ok. I could be in his field and he was ok with that. I nervously put out my hand to stroke him and I felt the memory of the terrified child rush into my head but I held my nerve and carried on stroking his neck… It was an amazing feeling and I kept repeating that I couldn’t believe I was stroking a horse. It was mind blowing and I realised I was crying tears of relief and joy mixed with a tiny bit of fear but it felt good.

After lunch we had the opportunity to go back into the field for a second chance to touch the horses and to walk with them if we wanted to. My fear had returned a little and I ventured back into the field with the therapist. This time, DJ was in the far corner of the field busily munching the grass…. I was secretly happy he was away from me and it wasn’t my fingers he was enjoying. The therapist asked how I was feeling and I explained that I was remembering the horse who bit me and what had happened. She asked me to go back in my mind to being the 7 year old child and what I would have wanted to happen. I responded that, ‘ I had wanted to simply go to the horse and to feel confident and happy to stroke it’ – up to that point I had had no fear around horses – and it was right at that moment that that DJ looked up and slowly walked over to us. It was as if he had heard me speaking those words. He put his head down and sniffed my arm and my hand … this scared me a little but the therapist reassured me that it was ok, he had heard me and knew what I wanted so I felt brave enough to stroke him again and the river of tears started again.

This time I knew it was tears of joy, relief and pride in knowing that I’d been able to walk through that wall of fear that had been in front of me all my life. It was an unforgettable experience and I went home feeling exhilarated, emotional, relieved and excited. I knew that I had faced a life-long fear and overcome it. I could face anything from here on. I felt invincible.

The following day I decided that I wanted to challenge myself further, without a therapist with me, so I drove round to a nearby field where there are horses and I parked the car so that I could stand by the fence and watch them. As I stood there a young child walked towards me, leading one of the horses with her. She asked me if I was ok and I explained that I had been scared of horses so was just trying to overcome it by coming to look at them. She said I could stroke him if I wanted to… shock/horror – her confidence and trust in him was beyond belief to me and I felt so much admiration and love for her and the relationship she clearly had with the beautiful monster beside her. She could only have been about 10 years old and there was I, a 59 year old woman, crying like a baby. I apologised for crying and she said, ‘it’s ok… would you like to give him a sweet?’ Bearing in mind the day before we’d been told not to feed horses by hand, but to throw treats in the grass for them, I said I couldn’t and that it would bite me. The child laughed and said, ‘look, he doesn’t bite, as she fed him polos from her bare fingers. I agreed to give it a go and she put a polo in my hands and told me to hold my hand out flat towards him… I did… my fingers remained intact and I watched in awe and amazement as I saw Captain’s tongue, and beautifully straight teeth, nibble at my palm with little soft whiskers sticking out from his around his mouth, to get the polo from it. It felt incredible and I knew I was cementing the work of the therapy day before and taking it one step further.

I felt incredible and I thanked the child for being so kind to me and letting me face the fears I’d had all my life. She probably thought I was some crazy old woman but she showed such humility for such a young girl and I felt privileged to have spent a brief moment in time with her.

A short while later the owner of the horses came over to me, leading another horse with her, and asked if I was ok. I explained why I was there and she was so understanding and kind and offered me the opportunity to visit whenever I wanted to and, if I felt brave enough, I was welcome to help with grooming the horses sometime. Obviously, a tiny tear fell again and I explained that I was just overwhelmed with the feelings around this fear and the joy of feeling that I was overcoming them and the gratitude I felt at her warmth and kindness to a complete stranger.
I haven’t yet taken her up on her offer but I have visited the horses a couple of times since then and observed them from afar… if they’d walked to the fence line I would have stroked them but they stayed close to their stable and I felt comfortable watching them.

In summary, I feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time at the equine therapy centre where I was able to let go of a 52 year old phobia/fear of horses which gave me the confidence and knowledge to feel that I could literally face my fear, touch it, feel it and nothing bad happened. In fact a wonderful thing happened and I realised that whilst fear is a real feeling, walking through it smashes it down and helps me grow.

The equine therapy day is a day I will never forget and am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go and get in touch with the fears I had and conquer them with the help of the majestic DJ and the amazing therapist. Thank you so much.“

So grateful for the experience

CORPORATE TRAINING

“Thanks for the opportunity to join you at the Equine therapy, I’m not sure what I expected & I was overwhelmed by the experience in a good way.

In my first session & with a few probing questions, I couldn’t believe I started to well up to the point I couldn’t speak for a moment.

The second session was equally powerful when i attempted to lead the horse. I wasn’t confident & almost expected the horse not to comply & unsurprisingly, he didn’t. The therapist explained that I had to mean & believe what I was saying & with a slight adjustment inside me, I attempted to lead the horse & this time he started walking with me.

The whole experience has resonated with me as throughout my life, I’ve felt misunderstood or unheard & if unconsciously I’ve been portraying the same signals of doubt when communicating, it’s really no surprise. Additionally, with aspects of my life, in my head I know I need to do something although the fear I have at my core has prevented me & so much like the horse I was leading, internally I pick up on my fear & so also don’t move forward due to the unpredictability & therefore, the perceived danger.

I’m still processing the information as these things I’ve learned are about me at my very core.

I’m so grateful for the experience & so thank you again for making it possible!

Kind regards,

Phill C”

A positive and spiritual exercise

CORPORATE TRAINING

“On Friday 3rd March twelve clients and three staff from The Living Room, St Albans visited East Hall Farm equine therapy centre at St Pauls Walden.

We were greeted by the proprietor and two members of staff. Whilst we had hot drinks, the staff explained how the day would proceed. Also they gave background to the centre and how horses sensed people and things.

We visitors introduced ourselves and our expectations for the day. We were divided into three groups of four and accompanied by a member of staff to the horse paddocks.

The day was divided into two sessions. For the morning, the groups were allocated a horse and paddock.

Accompanied by a staff member we individually entered the paddock and approached the horse. If it was willing and we were confident, an approach was made to the horse from the side for a stroke of its neck. It was very therapeutic to be up close and personal with a large animal.

We then broke for lunch and a warm up.

For the afternoon session, the groups were mixed up and allocated a different horse. Similar to the morning, we entered the paddock with the intention this time of clipping on a lead rope and leading the horse round the paddock.

DJ was the horse my group was given. On my turn I approached him and was delighted when he pushed his head into my chest and I was able to return by rubbing my head against his neck.

After a bit of stalking round the paddock I managed to clip the rope on his halter and tugged on it to lead him. This was in part successful, although it was more likely he was leading me around!

It was a privilege to be able to accomplish this, bearing in mind we were strangers and on the horses territory. One has to be aware that this can only happen if the horse permits it.

Once back indoors we debriefed on how we felt about the day. Everyone gave positive feedback, including those who admitted they were scared of horses.

I would recommend this as a positive and spiritual exercise that would benefit all sorts of people. Not only us in recovery.

Thank you to East Hall Farm, The Living Room and the mystery benefactor who made the day possible.”

Eric

THE WARRIOR PROGRAMME

What is the Warrior Programme?

The Learning to Listen Warrior Programme is a personal and professional development programme designed to get to the heart of what you need to work on in this moment.

You may be looking to raise your confidence, speak up more, be more honest, take stock of your life, improve your relationships, work on your leadership skills or deal with conflict in a healthier and more effective way. Whatever your reason, the Warrior Programme will help you explore where you need to achieve a breakthrough.

We do encourage you to visit us before embarking on the programme; this is an opportunity to have all your questions answered, meet us and the horses and make sure this is the right choice for you.

READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

BENEFITS OF OUR WARRIOR PROGRAMME

Know Thy Self

Leadership

Adversity

Teamwork

Success

Ready to make a change?

THE BRIDGING PROGRAMME

What is the Bridging Programme?

A bespoke programme designed for parents, carers and professionals involved in the wellbeing of our students. Designed to bridge the gap between the unique Learning to Listen practices and life away from the farm.

READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

Outstanding Trainers

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“Having done 1-2-1 and also the warrior program this definitely felt better. Being smaller group for me personally was nice and with people who are in similar situation. Having them closer together was nice too. But I personally found weekly tuff going mentally. I feel I took home more from this time than in the larger group. And of course not to forget the trainers were outstanding too.”

Already Missing the Sessions!

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“We have just finished the last of the six sessions, and I have to say that I really miss the weekly session. However, I now have the time to go out and practice what I have learned, and develop my skills further in order to have more productive professional and personal relationships. Within my role I am recommending the course for our young peoples’ parents/carers and any other adults working with them.

Being able to speak the same ‘language’ as them when discussing their issues, worries, behaviours, is incredibly helpful. The parents on the course with me endorsed the usefulness of this also.”

An Amazing Course

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“Thanks for the opportunity to attending another amazing course.”

Made Me "Rethink"

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“Interesting relevant models, which made me rethink. For instance was aware re need for connecting but, sometimes / often forgot to do it. Practising with the horses helped. Also thinking about how to be more self aware. Also leadership model very relevant.”

Gave Me Clarity

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“As a professional who commissions places at L2L for students on my school’s roll, I wanted to attend the training in order to understand what it was that I was sending my pupils for!

Although I was already aware of equine-based therapies and had an idea of what could be learned through them, I admit that it only became clear once on the course.”

Very Beneficial

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“I found this course over my other session with L2L much more beneficial.”

I Highly Recommend

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“Highly recommended.”

Each Session I Learned More

BRIDGING PROGRAMME

“Surprisingly for me, I wasn’t just there to learn about what they do, but to take part in it myself. This meant that I got the full experience of the impact of the learning and the work with the horses that it can have on our young people.

Each session I learned more about myself and how I relate to people not only in my professional life, but also in my personal life. Working in a small group, each of the participants bonded quickly over the new discoveries and learning we made each week.”

COURSE DATES

Weekly for 6 weeks

Fridays 10.15am – 2pm

Please contact us for the next course dates.

BENEFITS OF OUR BRIDGING PROGRAMME

Connecting & Contracting

Communications – learning to whisper

Control Dramas

Courage & Action

Practice & Integrate

Reflect & Celebrate

£550.00 per person

Ready to make a change?

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY