Relational Neuroethology
Professional Formation Program
You do not heal by commanding.
You heal by remembering the covenant:
To stand beside, not above.
Chris & Jesse
Relational Neuroethologists
We share this work only when it is right.
Orientation
This is not training.
Relational Neuroethology is the study and practice of nervous system based relational work between humans and animal kin.
Behavior is the nervous system trying to stay safe.
We work where safety returns.
Curriculum Overview
Program Overview
From Development to Therapeutic Presence
This curriculum moves from developmental foundations to applied therapeutic practice.
The focus is on presence, nervous system regulation, and relational clarity between species.
Modules 1–2 — Developmental Foundations
Developmental Psychology Across Species
• Prenatal and neonatal imprinting
• Critical periods of psychological formation
• Every dog—rescued or purchased—is fundamentally adopted
• Parallels to child development
• How early environment shapes emotional stability for life
Core Understanding:
We look at the dog’s inner world, not the behavior it shows.
Modules 3–4 — Neuroscience & Behavior
The Biological Architecture of Emotion
• Neurophysiology and endocrine stress cycles
• Emotional systems vs. cognitive control
• Motivation, impulse, and regulation patterns
• Learning and memory as safety strategies
Core Principle:
Behavior is the nervous system trying to stay safe.
Not a choice. Not disobedience. Not a “problem.”
Modules 5–6 — Trauma-Informed Perspective
Where Disorder Begins
Trauma is not the event.
Trauma is the break in connection the nervous system had to create to survive.
• Dissociation and fragmentation in dogs
• Adaptive survival behaviors mistaken for temperament
• Why behavioral therapy can mask symptoms but cannot resolve state
Core Principle:
When dignity comes back, the fear goes.
Module 7 — Relational Dynamics
Where Dog and Human Intersect
• Emotional projection and transference
• Co-trauma states between dog and human
• When dogs carry what humans cannot feel
• Separating the dog’s emotional truth from the human’s emotional story
Outcome:
Shared sense without merging.
Connection without collapse.
Presence without control.
Modules 8–9 — Therapeutic Practice
Presence Instead of Technique
• Observation without interpretation
• Stabilizing without correcting or soothing
• Working with anxiety, shutdown, hypervigilance, compulsive states, dementia
• Restoring the nervous system’s ability to return to itself
Core Principle:
We do not intervene.
We remove what interrupts.
die Formatierungsleiste zuzugreifen.
Modules 10–11 — Professional Integration
Working with Humans
• Boundaries without hardness
• Clarity without explanation
• Standing without rescuing or collapsing
• Supporting owners to re-enter relationship
Outcome:
You do not teach clients what to do.
You help them remember how to stand with their animal without fear.
Formation Statement
This is not a course.
This is formation.
The Neuroethologist Program
Where science remembers its origin.
This isn’t another certification.
It’s a return — to what we’ve always known but forgot.
You’ll walk through neuroscience, psychology, and trauma theory — and through the old ways of listening, passed down through generations who lived with animals, side by side, sharing the same breath of trust.
It’s not about methods. It’s about presence.
It’s not about behavior. It’s about the nervous system’s silent logic — in dogs, in humans, in us.
There is no fixed timeline. No pressure.
You move when you’re ready, pause when you must.
You study alone — but never without connection.
Some call it education.
We call it remembering.
Contribution: $ 18,000
Not for access — for belonging.
Who This Is For
Veterinary professionals seeking psychiatric specialization. Dog trainers ready to burn their treat bags. Those working in sanctuaries and rescues who refuse to kill what the industry calls “unadoptable.” Practitioners who fight to keep families together instead of processing animals like inventory. Therapists who see the human-animal bond as clinical territory. Anyone with heart and spine who knows behavior is smoke, not fire.
People who see suffering and refuse to “treat” it with a louder “NO!” People who know the difference between rescue and trafficking.
