Mental Wellbeing and Positive Psychology for Veterinary Professionals

Laura Woodward, MVB; CertVR; CertSAS; Dip Couns; MRCVS is the Founder of a counselling and mindfulness practice for veterinary professionals and also a surgical veterinarian at the Hampstead Village Vet Hospital in London in the United Kingdom. She is also a mindfulness teacher, a positive psychologist, and is training to be an equine psychotherapist. The Author has assigned a 50% of their Royalty to Vetlife and the rest to providing free of charge therapy for Veterinary nurses.

Foreword xvi

How the Book and Ideas Were Developed xxii

How to Use This Book xxiv

Part 1 Strategies 1

Mindfulness 3

What Does ‘Mindfulness’ Mean? 3

Paying Attention to the Present Moment 3

Non-judgement 3

Mindful Living 4

Mindfulness: How to Do It 6

An Introduction to Mindful Meditation 8

Mindful Meditation: Paying Attention, on Purpose 9

Mindful Meditation: Non- judgement of Emotions 11

The Case for Mindfulness versus I’m Already Too Busy 15

Mindfulness in the Veterinary Practice 17

Mindfulness and Management 20

Emotional Intelligence 21

The Five Competencies of Emotional Intelligence 21

Self- awareness 23

How Do I Become More Self- aware? 24

Self-regulation 25

Motivation 27

Empathy 29

Social Skills 29

Empathy 31

The Three Types of Empathy 31

Leadership and Empathy for Line Managers 34

The Evidence- based Case for Leadership: Empathic Concern versus Empathy Alone 39

Acceptance and Proactivity 39

How Do I Do It? 40

What’s Not Helpful 40

What Is Helpful 41

The Empathy–Profitability Link 42

Secular Buddhist Concepts 45

Basic Elements of Secular Buddhism 45

The Four Noble Truths 45

The Nature of Impermanence 48

Attachment 49

Positive Psychology 50

The Three Circles of Control 50

Reference 52

Part 2 How to Meditate 53

How to Meditate: Part 1 55

Introduction 55

Gain Control of Your Mind 57

Mindful Drinking 58

Mindful Breathing 58

Mindful Body Scan 58

Loving Kindness Meditation 59

Hand- on- Heart Meditation 61

How to Meditate: Part 2 63

Observe an Emotion 63

Anger 63

Anxiety 65

How to Meditate: Part 3 67

How to Meditate: Part 4 69

Opening Shutters Meditation 69

The Fortress 71

The Heavy Bucket 71

Climbing Up the Branches of a Tree 72

Conveyor Belt Meditation 72

Part 3 Difficulties and Applying Strategies 75

Anxiety 77

Fear of Failure 80

The Dalai Lama Advises 81

How Do I Stop Fearing Fear? 81

Disputing Irrational Beliefs and Doing Our Cognitive Homework 82

Change Your Language in Order to Change Your Thought Process 83

Exercises for Attacking Shame 83

Imagery and Role Play 84

Desensitisation 84

Loss of Confidence 86

Perfectionism 88

Imposter Syndrome 93

Feel Like a Fraud? 93

What Can I Do? 94

Recognise Your Expertise 95

Remember What You Do Well 95

Talk About It 95

Compassion Fatigue 96

What are the Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue? 98

How Do I Prevent or Recover from Compassion Fatigue? 99

References 101

Lack of Assertiveness 102

Empathy 104

Motivation 105

Social Media and Doom Surfing 106

How Do I Stop Doom Surfing? 108

References 110

Yearning, Striving and Wishing Things Were Different 111

‘Letting Go’ of Striving 111

What is Striving? 111

Blissful Happiness 113

Moral Injury 116

What Can We Do About Moral Injury? 118

Moral Courage 119

References 120

Identity 121

When Being a Veterinary Professional is Your Whole Identity 121

How Do You Know if Your Identity Has Become Enmeshed with Your Career? 122

Start Small 122

Bullying 124

Cancel Culture 125

How to Refrain from Punitive Actions 126

Conflict and Client Complaints 127

Team Dynamics 131

Team Dynamics and Difficult Colleagues 131

Team Dynamics and Helping Colleagues 133

Depression 136

Anger 138

What’s Normal? 139

Knowing How and When to Express Your Anger is a Skill Worth Developing 141

Sleep on It 141

Grief 142

How to Grieve Mindfully 143

Competitive Grief 144

Comparative Grief 145

The Emotional Burden of Error 147

Guilt 147

Fear 148

Isolation 148

Guilt 151

I Feel Guilty 152

What is Guilt? 152

Misuse of Guilt 153

Helpful Guilt 153

Misplaced Guilt 153

When Your World Falls Apart 156

References 161

Euthanasia and Suicide 162

References 164

Chronic Pain 165

References 167

Burnout 169

The Three Dimensions of Burnout 169

Emotional Exhaustion (Focus, Language and Posture) 170

Depersonalisation 172

Disconnection from Purpose 173

Summary of Strategies to Combat Burnout 174

Neuroplasticity and Reversing Burnout 175

The Evidence Base 176

Suicide, Burnout and Chronic Stress 176

Recognising Burnout 176

Mindfulness and Burnout 176

References 179

Management and Mindfulness 180

Mindfulness as an Evidence- based Tool to Prevent Stress, Burnout and Depersonalisation 180

How Do We Promote Mindfulness Training in Our Practices? 183

Reference 183

Suicide in the Veterinary Professions 184

The Perfect Storm in Vets 185

How Do We Increase Our Production of Oxytocin? 186

Understanding the Steps Towards Suicide 187

References 188

Part 4 Therapy 189

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy 191

Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy 191

Mindfulness- based Stress Reduction 193

Evidence Base for MBSR 194

Aims of MBSR 194

References 195

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 196

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cancer 200

Animal- assisted Therapies 202

Communication 204

Collaboration 205

Respect 206

References 206

Part 5 Case Studies 207

Introduction: The Counselling Process 209

Ann (A New Graduate Vet) 211

First Session 211

Acceptance 214

Second Session 215

Homework 217

Third Session 218

Summary 220

Ben (An Experienced Vet) 221

First Session 221

Second Session 225

Third Session 227

Summary 227

Darren (A Specialist Vet) 229

First Session 229

Second Session 233

Third Session 235

Summary 237

Claire (Head Nurse) 239

First Session 240

Second Session 242

Summary 244

Part 6 Positive Psychology 245

Gratitude 247

What Gratitude Isn’t 247

Grateful for Nothing 248

Reference 250

Kindness 251

Small Acts of Kindness 251

Random Acts of Kindness 253

References 253

Mindful Gift Giving and Receiving 254

How to Practise Mindful Gift Giving 255

Mindful Receiving of Gifts 256

Pride and Profitability 257

Self- focused Pride and Other- focused Pride 257

Positive Psychology 258

Enhancing Self- focused Pride 259

How Do I Notice the Mini- victories? 259

Enhancing Other-focused Pride 259

References 260

Stubborn Optimism 261

What Can I Do? 263

Resilience 265

Mindfulness and Resilience 265

Positive Emotion 267

Engagement 267

Relationships 267

Meaning 268

Accomplishments 268

References 269

Two Ways of Looking 270

How Mindfulness Can Improve Cardiac Health 272

References 274

Self- compassion versus Self- care 275

Mindfulness 276

Loving Kindness Towards Yourself 277

Hand-on-heart Meditation 277

A Sense of Common Humanity 278

Being Ready for Some Good News 279

Why We Tend to Ignore the Good Moments 280

Three Practices to Help Us Notice the Good News 280

The Use of Language 282

Internal Monologue 282

External Words to Self 283

External Words to Others 283

Exercise and Work–Life Balance 286

Mindful versus Mindless Exercise – Your Call 286

Lacking in Motivation? Find an Exercise You Actually Like 287

Reference 288

Learning from Our Pets 289

Lesson One – The Importance of a Good Routine 291

Lesson Two – Feel What I Need to Feel When I Need to Feel It 291

Lesson Three – How to Truly Be Present 292

Resolutions and Intentions and Mindfulness- based Eating Awareness Therapy 294

New Year Intentions 296

Postponing Mindfulness and Self- compassion 300

Index 305

"The UK's leading veterinary service providers are also backing the book which is set to become the definitive industry guide to mental health issues."
- Business Mondays (Oct 23)

"Mental Wellbeing and Positive Psychology for Veterinary Professionals is full of insightful and informative information to help any and all veterinary professionals throughout their career, no matter what stage they are currently at."
- Veterinary Practice, Improve International (Oct 23)