A New Event for Diamond Members!


Hosted by Grisha Stewart, the Empowered Animals Book Club will be an informal and conversational Member Event, with participants invited to share favorite parts of the chosen book to guide our discussion. We will take more than one session to explore each book, usually covering a few chapters at a time. Sessions will be recorded, but you are always welcome to ask for the recording to be paused if you would like to share your thoughts in a more private space.

Our first book as chosen by Diamond Members:
Motivational Interviewing, Fourth Edition: Helping People Change and Grow
by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick.


Much like BAT provides a clear way to approach dog-centered reactivity work, Motivational Interviewing gives us a framework for working with people in ways that strengthen their motivation for healthy change. Grisha has found it helpful in many kinds of conversations and is excited to share it with you.

The Empowered Animals Book Club next get together is on Wednesday, November 19th, and will run from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm Pacific, with an optional afterparty for those who want to stay a little longer. We aim to hold regular meetings on the third Wednesday of each month.

  • Included with your Diamond Membership All Access Pass.

  • Our first book:
Motivational Interviewing, Fourth Edition: Helping People Change and Grow
by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick.

  • Accessibility note: This book is available in print, audio, and eBook formats. The ePub version works with a refreshable Braille display and can be converted into embossed Braille through specialized services.

  • Second session focus: Chapters 5-9 (or read as much as you can).

  • Suitable for everyone. Bring your curiosity! Not a Diamond? Find out if an All Access Pass suits your needs right now.

Read What Folks Are Saying About The Book Club!

5 star rating

Worth reading slowly

Kristi Reck

Confession: I thought I could read four chapters quickly, and there are only 50/50 odds that I can attend the first session, so I grabbed a copy and started...

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Confession: I thought I could read four chapters quickly, and there are only 50/50 odds that I can attend the first session, so I grabbed a copy and started to skim. Half a chapter in, my heart and brain knew I needed to take time with this book. It is simple to read, but it is profoundly re-arranging how I listen to and respond to people. Specifically the people who see me and my dog having fun and stop me to ask "how do you do that?" and then immediately start to interrupt with reasons why they cannot achieve the same relationship with their dog (have you had that experience of wanting to say: "honestly, friend, it is not the flavor of treat or breed of dog that matters; it's about the relationship :)"? ). There are well-studied, research-based conversations and attitudes in MI to turn the pushback I find so frustrating into a gateway to learner growth and an opportunity for me to be the patient, empathic listener I want to be. I am loving this! Anyway, this is the book I need to be living with right now, and I am very excited to have the opportunity to explore it with this particular accepting and growth-oriented community.

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About the Instructor

Dog Trainer, Author, Singer-Songwriter

Grisha Stewart MA, CPDT-KA, KPACTP

I'm a collaborative dog trainer, author, international presenter, singer-songwriter, and keynote speaker of European ancestry (best guess based on DNA and some genealogy is Scotland, "England & Northwestern Europe," Wales, "Germanic Europe," Ireland, and Norway). I've been helping people and dogs professionally since 2003. My passion projects are community building, songwriting, and woodturning.

I'm fascinated by animal behavior (including humans), somatic awareness, spirituality, psychology. My work is directed at wholehearted living for all beings. For over 20 years, I've been coaching people to help dogs with a history of aggression, frustration, or fear as well as puppies. My other favorite species is humans.

My Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT 2.0 book and BAT 3.0) is used worldwide to help dogs gain confidence and social skills. Well over 200,000 people have learned about BAT so far.

As an outgoing introvert, I refresh my batteries by singing, expressing grief in community, and savoring life with my husband (Tom), Labrador (Joey), cat (Garbanzo aka "Adventure Kitty" and "Baby Panther"), and Little Brown Dog (Zuki). I identify as a queer (pansexual), neurodivergent, middle age, white, raised in poverty and now of middle class, and US citizen. My pronouns are she/her. I am still working on finding ways to live in reciprocity with Siuslaw people, upon whose ancestral lands I reside.

When you start a membership, it will go for a month and then renew automatically each month after that. You can easily cancel renewal at any time and your access to the content will just expire on your renewal date.