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PROFESSIONAL COURSE

Unlocking Resilience: The Big Course

PROFESSIONAL COURSE

Unlocking Resiliency: The Big Course

It’s all in one place.

Everything is connected. It’s difficult to truly understand how the many different aspects of behavior fit together without spending a lot of time with the material. That’s why this course exists – to take all the different pieces of information related to stress and resilience and put them all into one cohesive, in-depth narrative. This one course will cover everything you need to know about the impacts of stress and how we can cultivate the development of resilience in our animals. I am SO excited to teach this course – and I know you’ll love it too!

Take a deep dive into the following topics:

  • Welfare and well-being – what do animals need to thrive?
  • The biology of behavior – evolution, neurobiology, genetics
  • The physiology of stress
  • The impacts of stress
  • Emotion
  • Cognition
  • Why some animals are more affected by stress than others
  • Preventing and mitigating stress
  • Building resilience and stress coping
  • Emotional/mental health in animals

This course includes:

  • 16+ hours of live lecture (it will also be recorded)
  • 16 hours of live discussion and applied activities with Dr. Spaulding  (full students only)
  •  Homework assignments (full students only)
    • Previous students report spending 3 – 5 hours a week on the course (including attending lecture and discussion).
  • Access to the Science Matters Facebook group
  • Certificate of Completion and logo for your marketing materials (for full students, upon succesful course completion)
  • 21 CEUs from CCPDT and 25 CEUs from IAABC for full students
  • 16 CEUs from CCPDT and IAABC for auditors
  • Course access for 18 months as an auditor. If you would like to retake the course as a full student within 18 months, you just need to pay the difference between the full student and auditor price. The course is updated every six months.
  • Want to know more? Check out a partial copy of the course syllabus here.

 

Get the full picture and completely change your approach to training and behavior modification. You’ll be glad you did!

FREE informational sessions:

  • Ask Me Anything sessions: January 7th and 21st at 7:30 pm ET
  • Ask questions about the course – content, set up, coursework or any other questions you have!
  • Ask questions about stress, resiliency, emotion
  • 30 minutes – drop in sessions. Come for the whole thing or only part of the session. There will be a short presentation about the course and the content at the start of each session.
  • No registration necessary
 

Zoom info for informational sessions:

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 872 7685 1383
Passcode: 749523

I would highly encourage my friends and colleagues to take this course as it has really pushed me to reconsider my previous conceptions, and it is very applicable professionally. I have already made important changes to my own consultation curriculum and materials and I believe this course is making me a more empathic and able to communicate with both canine and humans about the need for resiliency. I am so grateful that you have given me the words, facts, and data to support what I intuitively knew…but did not know how to convey to guardians. I have just had a huge mindset shift that is sending my career in a new direction. Thank you for guiding me to this place!
Kirsten WojcikCDBC, FDM
I LOVE that Dr. Spaulding is so open to questions and is so thoughtful and informed about the material, as well as emphasizing the practical applications of scientific research. I appreciate her positive support for all students. This course is an amazing opportunity to learn about the latest scientific theories and research papers, and use the knowledge to transform your work. Be prepared to put in a fair amount of time, effort, and thought, and to have your mind blown at least once a week!
Mason Small
If you do anything to further your education, your views on training, and your ability to help clients and dogs, take this course! It stands alone from all others because it gives you the tools to work with dogs by training you to see the dog from a holistic perspective. Great behavior consulting involves more than just "behavior issue" + "protocol to fix" = better behavior. Great behavior consulting is looking at the whole dog, its well-being, motivational states, stressors, emotions, and SO much more!
Faith ClearyCPDT-KA
I would highly recommend the course to anyone who is looking to increase their current knowledge of animal behavior. I believe this course will become a standard for anyone in the field of animal behavior as it goes beyond understanding behavior or ABC's. It truly is the first course of it's kind to (at least to my knowledge) go beyond the behavior and really looking at the science of behavior from the inside out and is helping to take the 'guesswork' out animal behavior in a succinct informative and engaging way. Kristina is a phenomenal, kind, patient and fun instructor to learn from, she brings the science to life!
Anonymous
Unlocking Resiliency will give you a foundation to understand the effect of stress in animals as well as practical tools to help develop resiliency in animals. Dr. Spaulding takes complicated research topics, presents current understanding, and shows you how to implement that knowledge in your practice. I would encourage anyone to take the full course. The combination of lecture, online and live discussion, and unit assignments provides a well-rounded course that will impact you and your clients in a meaningful and practical way.
Delores CarterKPA, FFP
I have already recommended your class to trainers in my area. While learning theory and applied behavior analysis are important, this class provides the scientific research, knowledge, and tools that allow me to help the dog more completely. Working with dogs is more than seeing a behavior the client wants to change. It is looking at the dog's world from their point of view, asking if their needs are being met, helping the client better understand their dog, seeing what stress the dog may be experiencing, and giving the client tools to help their dog cope with that stress, even become more resilient. It is my belief that I am better able to help clients elevate their dogs' well-being thanks to this class with Dr. Spaulding.
AnnMarie Easton, PhDCPDT-KSA, PMCT, FFP
This is a great overview of why behavior happens the way it does. Kristina also does a great job of bringing everything back to practical ways to help people and their pets have more joyful lives. – Anonymous
Anonymous
I very much appreciate Dr. Spaulding’s obvious commitment to a teaching strategy that asks us as students to be engaged in the process and discover our own creative mental processes and often unrealized knowledge. Dr. Spaulding has a wonderful rapport with her students while keeping a clear teacher/student definition. It encourages students to contribute freely while keeping the learning train on track. The Unlocking Resilience course just gets better and better with each passing week
Chrysann CollatosThe Rosa Project, VMD, PhD, DACVIM LA
Claim my spot

Course details

 
How long we’ll hang out

16 weeks

What we’ll do
  • Weekly live sessions
  • Lecture, discussion, interactive application activities & short in-class assignments
  • Additional assignments to cement your knowledge & gain your CEUs
 
CEUs

CCPDT – 21 for full students, 16 for auditors; IAABC  – 25 for full students, 16 for auditors

Your tuition

$1260* for full students; payment plan available, 6 monthly payments of $210

$780 for auditors; payment plan, 6 monthly payments of $130

*Discounts available for Research Bites members.

Course schedule

  • Registration opens December 17, 2025.

  • The next course will begin on February 4th, 2026*.

  • Lectures – Wednesdays at 6:30 pm ET^ (also recorded) 

  • Discussion – Wednesdays at 7:30 pm ET^ (full students only, live attendance required) 

  • *There is no class on April 22nd. The last class day will be May 27th.

  • ^Note that there is a time zone change in the US in March which may change the course time for international students. To convert to your time zone click here.

Claim my spot

We believe everyone should have access to quality education. Therefore, we have a limited amount of funds available for students who truly cannot afford to pay full price for this course. If you’d like more information on scholarships, please e-mail sciencerocks@sciencemattersllc.com.