Rekindling: Compassion Fatigue Solutions for Animal Workers

In this episode I share with you what I'm calling my Summer Awakening or my Mid-Life Awakening. And I want to invite you to join me in it. It's a simple approach to summer that will result in an overall improvement in your wellbeing and mental health. 

I've been thinking a lot about all the things I learned from my veterinary mentor Dr. Skip Leighton and wanted to share that with you. He's even partially responsible for the work I do today. Listen and find out how. 

Whether you serve veterinary clients, the general public or someone else, you need to be aware of how your policies and procedures may be creating (or adding to) nervous system dysregulation in others. What I'm about to say in this episode may not be agreed upon by everyone but hear me out. It just might have the potential to help!

The "club" we never wanted to be in, being a motherless daughter. Join me as I welcome back to the pod, the fabulous, spunky and always witty dynamo Kelly Burich, for a conversation about love, loss and grief. In honor of Mother's Day, we talk about our beloved mom's Pamela and Nancy. You won't want to miss this as we laugh and cry about our mama's. 

Today's episode is from the archives of 2022.  An Autobiography in Five Chapters by Portia Nelson Chapter 1 I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost….I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter 2 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the side walk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. Chapter 3 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I fall in….it’s a habit…but my eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately. Chapter 4 I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. Chapter 5 I walk down a different street.

"Compartmentalization is a defense mechanism in which people mentally separate conflicting thoughts, emotions, or experiences to avoid the discomfort of contradiction" according to Psychology Today. I believe compartmentalization can be an effective coping strategy for people who work in the emotionally charged fields of vet med, animal welfare and lab animal research. But it has to be conscious. Listen and learn what I mean by that. 

Understanding the interconnectedness of your thoughts, feelings and behavior is the key to self-awareness and empowerment. We all just want others to behave differently so we can feel better. That's the long way. 

Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits. (Harvard Health Publishing) Understanding that not everyone's brain works the same is the crux of this interview I have with Nicole Clausen, founder of Veterinary Care Logistics, an inventory management company.  You can find out more about Nicole's company, Veterinary Care Logistics at: www.vetlogic.co Book recommendations by Nicole: Here are my 3(ish) book recs: (extra one for personal/romantic relationships) "Us" by Terrence Real "The Mountain is You" or "This is How You Heal" by Brianna Wiest "Unmasking Autism" by Devon Price "The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control" by Katherine Morgan Schafler

Euthanizing animals brings up a plethora of emotions including compassion, guilt and doubt. What your relationship is with the animal also tends to dictate what emotional path you may go down. Pet owner, veterinary professional and animal welfare personnel may all feel a different level or attachment or detachment. But what about lab animal professionals? These folks work with research animals to find cures, therapies, discoveries and innovations that extend lives to humans and animals. So how do the folks that dedicate their lives to lab animal research cope with the levels of euthanasia they perform? Especially if it's "just" a mouse. 

This week I'm sharing two of my favorite readings. One's that speaks to why as an animal professional you need to make space for grief. This is from Dr. Rachel Remen's "Kitchen Table Wisdom" book and this chapter is aptly named "Professionals Don't Cry". Also in the episode I read from John Roedel's "Remedy", poem #37.  Registration is currently open for my 6-month online group for women veterinarians, Living A Life You Love. This group runs April-September and you can get all the info here.  Registration closes on March 29, 2024 at 11:59pm ET. 

I recently received an email asking me to do a podcast about how to decide whether or not to take meds for mental health issues. So I put my thoughts together in addition to a client testimonial of one of my 1:1 clients who did try meds and what their experience was. 

4 years ago this week, the work came to a halt as COVID-19 spread across the globe creating havoc, chaos and a tremendous loss. As someone who cares for animals, you stepped up in such a profound way to figure out how to continue to provide care for animals. It's time to stop and reflect on what we learned and also what we've forgotten as we've resumed our lives post-pandemic. 

What you think about money is the basis for your relationship with money. Most people who don't have the financial results that they want can usually trace it back to a limiting belief they have about money based on how they were raised around money and what society has told them about what they can earn, save and/or spend. This episode will help you uncover what your current thinking about money is and how you can change it.  I mention Dr. Grace Kim from Richer Life DVM, here is her contact info. https://richerlifedvm.com/

Life can get crazy busy and the things that matter the most can inadvertently get lost. This week I want to share with you an exercise that can help you reassess, redecide and recommit to what matters most and also what matters least (as well as all the stuff in between!). 

As a New Yorker, we're not known for our patience and I'm not exception. I work hard on this and had an experience recently that allowed me to see how far I've come. I think patience can best be described by this quote, "Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in your mind."

We all have tons of thoughts and beliefs that we just take as true, never stopping to question any of them. And these same thoughts and beliefs are the cause of a tremendous amount of suffering. Most include the word "should". They should, we should, I should and you should. Rarely does "shoulding" feel good or lead to connection.  Inquiry is a practice of self-realization whereby we explore what is at the root of our suffering, our mind. When we are willing to look at, question and see the results of our thinking, we can find an end to our suffering. This is freedom.  You can find out more about Dr. Step Skupin at her website https://theleaderswork.com/. 

We've likely all felt entitled from time to time. Entitlement is when we feel like we inherently deserve something, special privileges or have the right to having something. The promotion, respect from others and lighting speed wifi to name a few. So here's what to do about it in ourselves and in our workplaces if it's rearing it's ugly head at work. 

We've all had those moments where it feels like the walls are caving in on us and we can't muster an optimistic attitude. Pessimism consists of 3 distinct attributes (the 3 P's) that once you are aware of, you can use to unwind yourself from it's negative grip. 

We're drawn to working with animals for many altruistic reasons. Then why can we be so cruel to our fellow humans sometimes? In this episode I'm talking about making generous assumptions about our fellow humans and using the Socratic method of questioning when we do want to speak out. 

In today's episode I'm speaking to therapist Allison Johanson about the nervous system. Understanding the nervous system has been a really important part of my personal development and the work I'm doing with my private clients. Today we are talking about Polyvagal Theory!  You can find out more about Allison at her website: https://www.supportedchange.com/ Allison's resource, Connecting Deep: A Guide to Building Resilience Through Reflection https://subscribepage.io/FOdjy3