Your path through the process

Your path through the process

What will you experience when you go through the WeStopFear process?

Choose the program

When you join, you start by choosing your program, based on what type of pet or horse you own and how extensive you want the therapy to be. The programs are recommended for certain types.

Each program has solutions for all the eight different types, so you can basically choose the program that suits you (and your budget): Dogs, outdoor cats, indoor cats, horses, pet birds, small mammals, exotic pets, or solution for households with various types of pets. You can run simultaneously one pet type solution, and the horse solution.

You will receive emails with your access information. Inside the member’s area you choose your pet type or horse solution. You receive an email to welcome you to Step 1 of your solution.

Instructions

In the beginning, you need to read the Quick Focus page or watch the introduction video.

Further instructions are also available in the members area: Main instructions, Important details, Fear signs, Keep everyone happy, Scary event coming?, 6 factors of success, and audio device, MP3 sounds and CD discs instructions.

Determine locations

Your first task is then to think about where your pet or horse can be hearing various sounds, inside and outside. Those would be the locations where you should play the sounds to make them get used to them, (called habituation).

Playback Devices

You also need to find out what audio playback devices you have to play the sounds. If they are connected to the Internet, then you are good to go using the streaming players on the members area steps pages. You might also have a playback device where you need MP3 sound files, or even a CD player.

Volume setting

When you have determined this, the next thing is to find the right volume setting on your playback device(s) in each location.

You find the volume setting by playing a piano tune that is provided, and you set your device to a comfortable listening level, not very low, not very high.

If your playback device has markings or numbers that show the volume setting on the device, then you only need to find this setting only once on an audio device in a particular location.

You write down the setting, and simply set the volume on the device to that same volume every time, throughout the process. This is one of the key factors that make WeStopFear simpler and easier to manage.

Start the process: Step 1

After this simple preparation, you can start Step 1 of the WeStopFear Simple Secure Steps therapy process. You choose the location for the day and prepare the playback device. Then you choose the playlist to play.

The streaming players are set to play the sound in a random order, each sound once, and then the playback stops automatically. This makes it really easy to do this. In Step 1, the volume of the therapy sounds is very, very low, like a whisper.

Behave correctly and stay happy

Your pet or horse should not realize that you are managing the sounds, and it should not realize that the sounds come from your loudspeakers. They should appear as a coincidence, just like when the real sounds appear in daily life. You should keep an eye on your pet or horse, to see everything is okay.

There is a list of the signs of fear for each pet type or horse inside the solution’s member pages. While the sounds are being played, you can do whatever you want. Don’t let this process burden you or other family members. If the sounds become annoying, simply put on headphones and listen to your favorite music or audiobook!

From Step 1 to Step 2

You play the sounds several times a week, rotating through the locations you chose. When you see that your pet or horse has become used to the sounds in all locations, you go to the bottom of the Step 1 page and click the green “finished” button.

This will bring you to the Step 2 page. Encouraging reminder emails because of Step 1 will stop, and you will start receiving encouraging reminder emails for Step 2. You set the volume on your playback device to the same setting in each location. This time the sound files  are set to a slightly louder volume.

You rotate through the locations, playing the sounds, in the same manner.

Progress through the Steps

When you see that your pet or horse is relaxed and indifferent over the sounds in all locations, then you finish Step 2 and go to Step 3. You will then go to Step 4 and Step 5 in the same manner.

The implementation is exactly the same. You set the volume on the playback device(s) in the same way. The only difference is that the therapy sounds are set to gradually increasing volume levels. When your pet or horse is relaxed and carefree over the sounds in all locations, you have reached your goal!

The ongoing Maintain Success stage

After this, you finish Step 5 and go to the ongoing Maintain Success stage. You will need to maintain the good level of success by playing the sounds periodically again, into the future.

Just like with physical exercise, you cannot just stop and maintain the good physical condition for the rest of your life. You need to train regularly to maintain your success level. It is the same here.

It is as simple as this!

The new Simple Secure Steps process design makes this simpler and easier, and the timed access to the Steps 1 to 5 make the process safer for the pets or horses. Certain mistakes, of playing the sounds too loudly too early, are practically impossible. The drawbacks have been designed out of the process.

What this means for your pet or horse

This process should mean that your pet or horse has gotten used to a much greater variety of strange sounds than it would have, and it will be less likely that it will become fearful, perhaps with horrible consequences, when unusual sounds are heard randomly in the place(s) it frequents.

MP3 sounds and audio CD discs

Do you have an MP3 player not connected to the Internet, or a CD player? You can get access to the sounds as sets of downloadable MP3 audio files, if you join with annual payment (where you pay the subscription fee once a year, instead of monthly). Audio CD discs are currently not offered, but you can burn your own CDs, using the MP3 sound files, if you want.