When Talking Feels Difficult, There Can Be Another Way In
Some children find it difficult to sit opposite an adult and talk about how they feel.
They may become uncomfortable, give the answers they think are expected, struggle to find the words or simply switch off.
Animal-assisted coaching can create a different starting point.
Walking alongside a horse, spending time with the goats or quietly being around the animals can take some of the pressure away.
Conversation can develop naturally while we are doing something together.
The animals don't replace the coaching. They can help create the connection that allows the coaching to begin.
See How Animal Assisted Coaching Can Help
Sometimes talking face-to-face can feel difficult. Working alongside the animals can provide another way in.
In this short video, I explain how I use Animal Assisted Coaching to help children, young people and adults feel calmer, build confidence, understand what may be happening and begin making practical, positive changes.
Animal Assisted Coaching isn't simply about spending time with animals. The animals help create real opportunities to explore emotions, communication, confidence, boundaries and different ways of responding — skills that can then be taken into everyday life.
More Than a Conversation: Real Experiences That Build Real-Life Skills
When your child is overwhelmed, anxious, frustrated or struggling to explain how they feel, trying to talk things through can sometimes make everything feel harder.
You may be seeing meltdowns, withdrawal, anger, low confidence or a child who finds it difficult to trust, communicate or try something new.
Animal-assisted coaching offers a different way to connect.
Working alongside the animals creates a calmer, less pressured environment where your child can begin to feel safe, understood and able to engage at their own pace.
Through carefully planned activities, I can help your child to:
- build confidence and trust
- recognise and manage big emotions
- develop communication and social skills
- cope better when things do not go to plan
- practise boundaries and problem-solving
- reduce frustration and overwhelm
- become more willing to try unfamiliar things
- build resilience and belief in themselves
More Than Time With Animals
This is not simply about spending time with a horse, goat or sheep.
I use the interaction with the animals as part of a personalised coaching programme, helping me understand what may be sitting underneath your child's behaviour and giving them practical opportunities to practise new skills in a way that feels natural.
I also help you as the parent understand what we are seeing, what may be helping and how you can carry that progress into home, school and everyday family life.
From Overwhelmed to More Confident
The aim is not just for your child to enjoy the session.
It is for them to leave feeling calmer, more capable and more confident, with skills that can begin to make everyday situations easier.
"I don't know what else to try."
"I understand my child better, I can see progress, and I know what we can do next."
Could Animal Assisted Coaching Help Your Child?
If your child is anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, lacking confidence or finds it difficult to explain what is happening, it can be hard to know what kind of support might help.
I have created a FREE Animal Assisted Coaching Roadmap to help you understand how working alongside the animals can provide a different way to connect, build confidence and practise skills that can transfer into everyday life.
Discover how Animal Assisted Coaching works, who it may help and what the next step could look like for your child.
Meet the Animal Assisted Coaching Team
Jazz & Star
Helping children feel calmer, safer and more confident
Sometimes children find it difficult to talk about how they feel. They may become anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, withdrawn or lose confidence in themselves.
Working alongside Jazz and Star gives children another way to learn, without everything relying on sitting down and talking.
Horses respond to body language, emotions, confidence and consistency. This gives children immediate, natural feedback and helps them begin to notice how they are feeling, how they communicate and what happens when they try something differently.
The value comes from taking these skills beyond the session. A child who learns to stay calm when approaching a horse can begin to use that same skill when something feels difficult at home or school. A child who discovers "I was nervous, but I did it" begins to build evidence that they are capable.
That is where Jazz and Star become much more than part of the session — they help children experience change, rather than simply talk about it.
- build confidence and self-belief
- manage anxiety and overwhelming feelings
- develop trust and communication
- understand boundaries and relationships
- practise patience, problem-solving and emotional regulation
- experience success in a way that feels real and meaningful
From feeling unsure, anxious or unable to cope…
…to feeling calmer, more confident and able to take the next step.
Billy, Betty, Bo & Belle
Helping children turn frustration, worry and "I can't" into confidence, flexibility and "I can try again."
Billy, Betty, Bo and Belle are curious, cheeky and full of personality. Things do not always go exactly to plan with goats — and that is exactly where some of the most valuable learning can happen.
For a child who becomes anxious when things change, gets frustrated when something feels difficult, worries about making mistakes or quickly decides they cannot do something, the goats provide a safe and playful way to practise doing things differently.
Working with them can help children learn to pause, adapt, problem-solve and try again. They begin to experience that getting something wrong does not mean they have failed, and that unexpected situations can be managed.
With the focus on the animals rather than on having a formal conversation, children often feel less pressure. They can learn through doing, laughing, observing and having another go.
The real value is what happens beyond the session. A child who learns, "That didn't work, but I found another way," can begin to take that same thinking into school, friendships and family life.
- greater confidence and self-belief
- improved resilience when things go wrong
- more flexible thinking
- better problem-solving skills
- increased patience and emotional regulation
- a willingness to try rather than give up
From frustration, fear of getting things wrong and giving up…
…to greater confidence, resilience and the belief that they can cope, adapt and try again.
Beatrice, Britney, Brenda & Barbara
The quieter members of the team.
My sheep bring a much quieter, gentler pace to a session. For children who feel anxious, overwhelmed, highly alert or who find it difficult to slow their thoughts and emotions, this can be incredibly valuable.
Being alongside them creates a natural opportunity to pause, observe and focus on what is happening right now rather than worrying about what might happen next.
This can help children begin to recognise how their body feels when they are calm, notice when they are becoming overwhelmed and practise simple ways to regulate themselves before things become too much.
There is no pressure to rush. Progress can happen gently and at the child's pace.
The real value is helping children experience that they can feel calmer, they can manage difficult feelings and they can take the next step.
- slow down when everything feels too much
- reduce anxiety and overwhelm
- recognise emotions and body signals
- develop patience and emotional regulation
- feel safer and more settled
- build confidence through small, achievable steps
From feeling overwhelmed, worried or out of control…
…to feeling calmer, safer and more able to cope with everyday situations.
Jack
Helping children move from uncertainty and anxiety to connection, confidence and feeling safe enough to engage.
For some children, simply arriving at a coaching session can feel difficult. They may be nervous, guarded, unsure what is expected of them or worried that they are going to be made to talk about something they would rather avoid.
Jack helps take some of that pressure away.
Friendly, curious and full of personality, he gives children something positive to focus on from the moment they arrive. Instead of thinking, "I'm here because something is wrong," they can begin with, "I'm going to see Jack."
That change in focus can make a real difference.
The added value is that connection comes first. When a child feels safer and less under pressure, it becomes much easier to explore worries, practise strategies, build confidence and work towards meaningful change.
Jack may be the reason a child wants to come through the gate, but the confidence, trust and progress they build can travel with them far beyond the session.
- feel more relaxed at the start of a session
- build trust and connection naturally
- reduce anxiety around talking or joining in
- feel more comfortable being themselves
- develop confidence through simple interaction
- become more willing to engage with the next step
From feeling anxious, reluctant or shut down…
…to feeling connected, comfortable and ready to take part.
The Animals Open the Door. The Coaching Creates the Change.
For a child, young person or adult who feels anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, stuck or unsure how to talk about what is happening, the animals can make the first step feel easier.
They help take away some of the pressure.
Rather than sitting face-to-face trying to explain everything, we can use real situations with the animals to explore what is happening, practise a different response and build confidence through experience.
What happens with the animals then becomes something we can take into real situations at home, school, work, friendships or family life.
That is where the real value lies.
Every activity has a purpose. Every session is individual. Every step is designed to help create progress that matters in everyday life.
- feel calmer when emotions are building
- understand what triggers anxiety, frustration or shutdown
- build confidence and self-belief
- practise communication and boundaries
- become more flexible when things do not go to plan
- develop practical strategies they can use in everyday life
From
feeling overwhelmed, stuck or unsure what to do next
To
greater understanding, practical strategies, growing confidence and meaningful change that can continue beyond the session
Your Child Doesn't Have to Fit My Coaching
I adapt the coaching to fit your child.
Animal-assisted coaching is an option, not a requirement.
If a child does not want to work with animals, that is completely fine.
The coaching is personalised around the individual child and what will help them engage.
Imagine What Could Change — At Home, At School and in Everyday Life
This work is not just about what happens during a session. The real value is what begins to change afterwards.
For a child who feels anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated or unsure of themselves, progress can start to look like:
Understanding what is happening inside them instead of feeling controlled by it
Using practical strategies they can remember when emotions begin to build
Growing in confidence through real, achievable success
Communicating what they need instead of shutting down, lashing out or giving up
Recovering more quickly when something goes wrong
Becoming more flexible when plans change or things do not go as expected
Taking strategies from coaching into home, school, friendships and everyday situations
Parents beginning to understand behaviour differently and feeling clearer about how to respond
Less conflict, less confusion and more confidence about what to do next
Not a "perfect" child. A more capable one.
The transformation is not about creating a "perfect" child.
It is about helping them understand themselves, feel more capable, develop strategies that work for them and begin to believe:
"I can cope with this."
"I know what to do."
"I can try again."
For parents, it means moving from constantly wondering "What am I supposed to do?" to having greater understanding, practical tools and a clearer way forward.
The session is the starting point. The real value is the change that begins to show up in everyday life.
The Clare Crump Method™
UNDERSTAND
We begin by looking at what is happening now and what may be driving the difficulty.
RESET
We identify what needs changing first.
BUILD
We introduce practical strategies around your child and your family.
PRACTISE
You use them in real life, not just during a coaching session.
ACHIEVE
We review what is changing, build on progress and decide what needs attention next.
From "Something Isn't Right" to Knowing What to Do Next
You do not need to have all the answers before asking for support.
You may just know that your child is struggling. Mornings feel harder than they should. Emotions become overwhelming. School is becoming difficult. Confidence is dropping. Behaviour has changed. Or you simply have that feeling that something isn't right.
You do not have to work it out on your own.
Together, we can look at what is happening, understand what may be sitting underneath the behaviour and identify the practical next steps that could make everyday life feel more manageable.
Animal-assisted coaching can be especially valuable for children who find talking difficult, become overwhelmed easily or respond better when learning feels natural, active and less pressured.
The aim is not simply to have a nice session with the animals. The aim is change.
If you are thinking, "Something needs to change," this can be the place to start.