Seminars & Training

For Animal Care Providers / Vet Clinics
For Social Service Agencies
General public Seminars: Animal Healing
Fee and Guidelines Information

For Animal Care Providers



Seminars:

Compassion Fatigue and Burnout in the Animal Care Professional:
Recognizing and Responding to this Occupational Hazard!

 C.E. Credits option: OAVT, BC AHTA, *BCVMA 
       (BCVMA subject to approval)

This is a specialized in-house training program that is customized to the needs of your clinic / animal welfare shelter. 

Due to the nature of their work, animal care professionals are exposed to severe trauma, grief, the need to perform euthanasia, and strong emotional reactions of owners in distress. The risk of experiencing compassion fatigue in the animal care profession is rapidly growing. The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2020, Stress will be the number one cause of disability!

Compassion fatigue is being recognized as a legitimate occupational hazard that not only affects the worker on an individual level, but also has its financial and organizational toll on the clinic or agency as a whole (e.g. lower productivity, staff turnover, retraining costs, damage to clinic image, etc.). Recognition often leads to prevention!

In this experiential workshop you would:
Learn why it is important to attend to this occupational hazard
How to recognize symptoms in yourself and your colleague
What you can do right away to help prevent compassion fatigue & burnout
Ways to cope on personal and professional levels
Effective communication to help anxious, "angry" or distressed clients

Who can attend:
Veterinary Clinic Staff 
Animal Shelter Staff / Volunteers
Zoo & Aquarium Staff
Any organization that offers animal welfare work

What Participants Say:
"I realized that I was experiencing Compassion Fatigue without even knowing!" 
       (MAHTA Conference,  Winnpeg 2006)

"Thank you Shiri, I now have the tools I need to keep myself going to prevent compassion fatigue in my life" 
       (Toronto Veterinary Emergency Clinic, 2007)  

 "Excellent seminar, and very helpful! Thank you!" 
        (Animal Emergency Clinic, Langley, B.C, 2008)

                                 Investment in your staff's wellness leads to overall organizational psychological health!
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 Practice-Management Approach to End of Life Issues:
Supporting Clients through the Loss of a Pet / Staff Debriefing

C.E. Credits option: OAVT, BC AHTA, *BCVMA
      (BCVMA subject to approval)

With the pet industry being close to $3 Billion annually, and with more than 70% of Canadian households sharing their life with pets, confronting the sensitive issue of the shorter life span of animals is inevitable. Many pet owners share grief reactions that are similar in their nature to the response of other significant losses in their life.

Often responses such as anger, guilt, shame, and confusion are associated with grief over a loss of a pet. Often such reactions are directed towards the veterinary clinic’s staff, as clients seek comfort and reassurance that their decision is the right one.  Pet owners who reported ‘a positive experience’, one that involved kindness and compassion by the clinic’s staff, most often eventually adopt a new pet and return to their regular veterinary clinic.  In comparison, those who reported this delicate time to have been a ‘negative experience’ (“cold”, “detached”, “rushed”) tend to feel angry and resentful towards their veterinary clinic staff and often won’t return to the same clinic.  This is a significant loss of revenue for many clinics, not to mention the damage to a clinic’s image within the community. 

        Don’t let your shelter or practice suffer.  This seminar will discuss:

    What participants say:
"This would be a useful Seminar to run with veterinarians as well as reception staff!" 
       ( Veterinary Emergency Clinic,  Burlington, Ontario 2007)

 I would recommend this workshopto my colleagues" 
      (Toronto Veterinary Emergency Clinic, 2007)

 This training seminar also includes a list of available resources

 “Informative and sensitive. Thank you Shiri!"  
         (Participant, Pet Vet Hospitals., Burlington, Ontario, 2006)

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For Social Service Agencies
(Ontario only or by special arrangement) 

Understanding Pet Loss in Marginalized Communities

This seminar uses an anti-oppression approach to understand the important roles animals play in the lives of marginalized community members. By exploring structural barriers resulting in isolation, the bond with animal companions will become better understood.

This workshops will explore:
The impacts of pet loss
Pet loss in people already experiencing multiple oppressions

*Training can be provided based on populations your organization works with (e.g. women, children, same-sex partners, people-living with disabilities, seniors, etc.).

Please call us for more information on this workshop and for fees

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Moving from Compassion to Action: How Social Service Agencies can Support People Experiencing Pet Loss

This is a second-part seminar to Understanding Pet Loss in Marginalized Communities. With a better understanding of how marginalized community members are often affected by pet loss, this seminar will focus on:

How social service agencies can better support the people they serve
Examination of both individual and organizational practice approaches
Participants will be guided through scenarios, things to consider and suggestions for change.

  Please call us for more information on this workshop and for fees

REGISTER NOW

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Public and Generic Seminars

Animal / Human Reiki Healing: Level I and II
Discovering your intuitive skills (incl. Telepathy with the animal kingdom)
Discovering the Psychology of the Human-Animal Kinship: TBD 

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Upcoming (Ontario & B.C.):
Thinking Outside the Box: Therapeutic Aspect of Animal Assisted Therapy

From aiding to lifting depression, anxiety and loneliness, animals have been recognized as an essential in healing and rehabilitation.

This experiential seminar explores:
What is AAT: The ways in which Animal Assisted Therapy works
Ways in which animals have provided relief from suffering
Meet Chips the Therapy Bunny!
Share your own tales of healing and rehabilitation.

  Please call us for more information on this workshop and for fees

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Exploring the Human-Animal Bond throughout History: From Functional Ties to Symbolic Interactions

It is theorized that some 12,000 years ago a special relationship began between one lost wolf and one human. A unique kind of trust was established. Today that relationship is marked by symbolic and emotional ties to a pet, and one that has been researched and proven to enhance both physical and psychological health. This seminar will examine:

The history of the human-animal bond
Implications on today’s culture of relating to animals
Animals as healers & teachers
The many aspects of having a pet as a companion

Please call us for more information on this workshop and for fees

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Pet Loss Matters: Roles and Responsibilities of Employers
        (Ontario only)

With an increasing number of people including animals as parts of their families, it has become a reality that many employees will experience pet loss bereavement. Research has demonstrated that the bereavement process impacts the workplace. While the area of pet loss has not been as thoroughly explored as human loss, an American study conducted in 2005 revealed that the impacts of pet loss on employees cost businesses an estimated 3 billion dollars a year!

This seminar will explore:
The impacts of pet loss on employees
The types of costs this can have on the overall health of the organization
You will receive practical tips and suggestions on how to address pet loss in your organization so that 
                 risks are minimized and employees are better supported.

Please call us for more information on this workshop and for fees


REGISTER NOW  

Fees & Guidelines Information

Our training seminars are customized and tailored based on the needs of our clients. Therefore fees are in accordance with a specific program as per each contracted consultation as our aim is to provide the best and most cutting-edge professional