Rekindling: Compassion Fatigue Solutions For Animal Workers

Happy New Year! It's time to put some thought and intention into what you want 2023 to be. The possibilities are endless. The only thing limiting you is your mind. In this episode, I walk you through a worksheet I created to help bring some intention to this upcoming year.  You can get the worksheet at www.rekindlesolutions.com/201

Today is episode # 200 and I have the most special guest on with me, the Founder and Executive Director of my “happy place” Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS). More than 300 rescued farmed animals call CAS’s 150-acres “home”. I couldn’t be more delighted to invite you into this intimate conversation about my favorite topic, animals.  In this episode we discuss: -How Kathy went from high school English teacher to animal sanctuary founder -How she navigates compassion fatigue -What our food industry doesn’t want us to think about…the animals -Why she believes loving animals isn’t enough -The most profound thing she’s ever learned from an animal   Catskill Animal Sanctuary Kathy Stevens' books: Where the Blind Horse Sings: Love and Healing at an Animal Sanctuary  Animal Camp: Reflections on a Decade of Love, Hope and Veganism At Catskill Animal Sanctuary  My Favorite Cookbook (and I was a recipe tester!) Compassionate Cuisine: 125 Plant-Based Recipes from Our Vegan Kitchen Documentaries: Cowspiracy Forks Over Kni

It's that time of year to take stock of 2022. To look back and see your accomplishments, challenges and look honestly and compassionately at how you're living your life. This is a "no judgement" practice. Just one in which we look in the rear-view mirror and assess it all. Then we can look ahead to create the future we want in 2023 (that will be coming up in E# 201). Some asks in this episode: 1. Make sure you're on my mailing list so you can enter the Word Of The Year contest. Text REKINDLE to 66866 to join my email list.  2. Leave me a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Here's an article to explain how.  3.Print off this worksheet so you can do this insightful and fun year-end exercise. 

Leadership in vet med (and globally) is male-dominated and homogeneous. But vet med and animal welfare are predominately female. Why aren't more women securing leadership roles and what is the cost to women in these professions if their views, ideas and needs aren't being represented at the leadership level?    In this episode I speak to Dr. Jenni Rizzo, emergency veterinarian and founder of Lone Star Veterinary Academy. We talk about: -the current landscape of veterinary leadership -what the risk is to women in the profession of the absence of women leaders -how being an introvert may play into this disparity - a recent experience she had in which she backed out of an interview -a project we are working on together (FREE WEBINAR!)     Dr. Rizzo:drrizzo@lonestarvetacademy.com   Lone Star Veterinary Academy https://lonestarvetacademy.com/

The holidays are tough for many people and can be even more so if you work with animals. Euthanasia rates seem to increase right around the holidays, stress  and obligation seem to rise as well. It's no wonder that so many animal workers tell me they feel higher levels of compassion fatigue this time of year. It makes sense.  I have some suggestions in this episode of things I think can help you.  My two favorite charities I mention in this episode are: Catskill Animal Sanctuary (where I was a tour guide for 6 years and am still a supporter of) https://casanctuary.org/ and Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary (H.E.E.F.S), home of Esther the Wonder Pig https://www.happilyeveresther.ca/ Your money goes directly to helping rescued farmed animals!  Are you on my email list? Text REKINDLE to 66866 immediately so I can love on you in your inbox every Monday and Friday. 

In this modern age is not easy to leave work at work. Whether it's bringing home the actual work, being connected digitally or bringing it home in your mind, it's hard to leave it there. And yet if you don't have a clear separation, you will have a constant source of contributing factors for compassion fatigue and burnout.  In this episode I'll share my top 6 steps to leaving work at home that when practiced routinely will leave you with the restoration, recharging and replenishment you need in working with animals.  My annual year-end inventory for 2022 and intention-setting for 2023 episodes are coming up! Don't miss them. And text REKINDLE to 66866 to join me bi-weekly e-inspiration email list. 

One of the hardest things to do is love ourselves unconditionally. We are our own loudest critics. But what if the things you don't like about yourself actually serve you in some way? What if the parts of you that you don't like are just part of the 50/50 of life? No one is perfect. No one. When you can see that the things you think are so wrong with you are actually an asset, well that is when you grow. Exponentially.  Join me to explore: -the things you don't like about you -how they may actually be helping you -how to love yourself not in spite of those things but because of those things -how loving yourself allows you to love others more The end of the year is coming and I have a Word of The Year contest that I want to invite you to. But you have to be on my email list. So text REKINDLE to 66866 to get on my list.

Animal workers are tired. Your work has been insanely busy and so many of you are telling me you feel feeling drained and exhausted. And look! Here come the holidays. So what do you need to do this year to make it more enjoyable for yourself? What do you need to say no to? What do you want to opt out of? You can, you know. I give you permission to and want you to give yourself permission to drop the "should" and "have to's" this year and instead find what you actually want to do and not do. This is Holiday Self-Care.

When times are tough, when there are challenges and struggles on the horizon in your work or personal life, you have to ask yourself one very important question. What will you do to support yourself? We are always being intentional but sometimes that intention is AGAINST ourselves rather than FOR ourselves.  This episode will help you change that!  Text REKINDLE to 66866 to receive my Monday and Friday e-inspirations emails. 

The science is pretty clear. Gratitude is hugely beneficial to your mental, physical, emotional and social health. But it takes an intentional focus on what's good, rather than our brain's default obsession with what's awful and wrong.  The good news is when we dwell in the good, we change our brain structurally and actually increase our capacity for positive emotions. And this is hugely beneficial for people who work with animals.  I'm declaring November as a month of gratitude. Join me!  You can get the 30 prompts at www. rekindlesolutions.com/192.  Also, subscribe to my Monday and Friday e-inspiration emails by texting REKINDLE to 66866. 

It seems noble to believe that taking care of others is more important and necessary than taking care of yourself. But it's not true. You have to question your limiting beliefs that result in you feeling exhausted, drained and burned out.  In this episode we explore: -how the opposite of what you believe may in fact be true -how taking on more than you can handle doesn't in fact HELP others, but HARM them -how you have to know when enough is enough Please text REKINDLE to 66866 to join my e-inspiration list where you'll receive insightful, empowering and inspiring emails to help you with your work and your life, every Monday and every Friday. 

Some emotions like anxiety, fear, overwhelm and helplessness tend to hijack both our mind and our physiology. Our body goes into "survival mode" and often we can't access our higher, reasoning brain in those moments. So the ability to adopt a different thought or mindset may not even be within reach, until we settle our bodies.  In this episode I will teach you how to ground yourself (aka get back in your body) and from there you can work on the cognitive approach of considering a shift in perspective. THIS is how to have emotional health. Don't skip this!  To join my bi-weekly e-inspiration list, text REKINDLE to 66866. 

When we're feeling sad, angry or stressed, we tell ourselves that the wine, ice cream or "retail therapy" makes us feel better. But it doesn't. I've done "all the things" to try and escape my feelings and would tell myself that food/wine/weed made me feel better but it wasn't the food/wine/weed that made me feel better.  In this episode I share with you exactly what IS making you feel better when you're drinking the cabernet, eating the cookies or scrolling on social or whatever your thing is to try and not feel the emotions that are there.  In this episode I also address: -how shame then gets in the way of you changing these behaviors that you don't want to be doing -how anger feels like a "safer" emotion to feel rather than sadness, grief, disappointment and fear -how to use your emotions and the information they are offering you in the moment you're feeling them Join my e-inspiration email list and receive inspiring emails specifically for animal workers delivered right to our inbox every Monday and every

Is it selfish to work on yourself? To invest your time, energy, effort and/or money into improving yourself? Is "me time" selfish? These are all the questions we may find others or ourselves asking as it relates to personal development. I think it's a good question to ask. And my answer...I will reveal in this episode so listen in! To join my biweekly e-inspiration emails, text REKINDLE to 66866. 

I've never been one to play by the rules! National Veterinary Technician week is October 16-22 but I'm jumping the gun with my guest this week Anna Santos. Anna holds a BS, is an RVT and a LVT and has worked in veterinary nursing for over 20 years.  Her varied background demonstrates all that is possible in a career such as veterinary nursing.  We talk about all the things in this episode: -the impact of compassion fatigue and burnout on vet techs -the need for strong women leaders in veterinary nursing -how compassion fatigue impacts the clinical tech vs. the lab animal technician -career paths -how she has learned to take care of herself to be sustainable in this field I mentioned a Ted Talk I recently watched that highlights how veterinarians (and vet med) infiltrates all aspects of life. You can check that out here.  Also, registration for my 6-month group coaching program for women veterinarians, Living a Life You Love is open until 9/30/22. Click here for more info. 

You're really good at fixing animals by relieving their pain and suffering. You help them live good lives or have a good death so it's natural that you'd want to fix people too. It's natural that you'd want to help them feel better and have better mental and emotional health but this isn't your responsibility nor are you capable of doing this for others. Negative emotions in others isn't a problem to be solved. Part of life is pain and struggle. We can be supportive while not trying to fix others. That's our responsibility.  Are you a female veterinarian who is wanting support, community and a safe space to share challenges and successes with other empowered women veterinarians? Then check out my 6-month coaching program, Living A Life You Love. It's for introverts, people who don't think they are "group" people and for feminists in vet med.  Limited spots available. Registration closes on 9/30/22.  www.rekindlesolutions.com/lalyl

Your Core Values are the fundamental beliefs, principles and guidelines you live your life by. We all have them whether we are aware of them or not. But consciously identifying them will help you in all areas of your life. At work, in all of your relationships and in decision making.  And it's equally important to choose Core Values for your organization, veterinary practice, rescue, shelter or even your department in a large corporation. Core Values help employees see how they are a part of something bigger than themselves and it allows everyone to see if the decisions and protocols are in alignment with the values of the organization.  Here's the list of Core Values for you to choose your Personal Core Values. You can also use this list for team-building to have employees help to decide on Organizational Core Values.  https://rekindleresources.s3.amazonaws.com/CoreValuesLargeList.pdf Are you a female veterinarian (or identify as such)? Registration is open for my 6-month group coaching program, Living A Li

Today's episode is all about the impact you make for animals. How often do you stop and think about it? I asked a question to my Monday and Friday email list recently. I asked them to send me a reply to this... I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that what I do for animals matters because... The responses blew my mind and I wanted to share some of them with you today so you can connect with others that do similar work but also so you can own how what you do matters.  Enjoy! To receive my Monday and Friday inspirational messages, just text REKINDLE to 66866. 

Many people who work with animals say to me "I don't feel the highs and the lows anymore, I just feel numb." That is what can happen when we disconnect from our emotions, we don't feel anything. But life is about feeling the highs, the lows and everything in between. In this episode: -I'll share why your work with animals often results in you feeling numb -How to actually feel your feelings -How gender socialization impacts our emotions -The two aspects that lead to feeling numb I reference the Feelings Wheel in this episode. Grab it here. To join my email list text REKINDLE to 66866.  

Psychological change doesn't happen overnight. But we wouldn't want it to because we'd miss the learning in it all. It's fair to say that the path to my own psychological growth has been a rocky one. I've failed more times than I can count, I've not kept my word to myself thousands of times and I've engaged in behaviors I wanted to stop and then hate myself over and over and over again. Your story doesn't just have one chapter, it has five. Keep reading. Don't put the book down yet. It gets so much better!! Here's the poem written by Portia Nelson that I share with you in the episode.  An Autobiography in Five Chapters 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