Coping with COVID-19 - Resilience Toolkit for Pet Professionals

COVID-19 has brought with it not just a health crisis but also a social, economic, and mental health crisis as well. For Australians, already coping with the 2019/2020 bushfires, these truly are unprecedented and challenging times.

Some of you, who may have been feeling the effects of burnout well before COVID-19 may be feeling overwhelmed by these additional challenges. There may be others who have found the decrease in face to face business activities, that came with social distancing measures, a welcome relief. Still, there may be others who experience a range of positive and negative feelings in response to the pandemic or even feel a sense of numbness. In this webinar, we discuss stress reactions to COVID-19 including compassion fatigue. We will also cover science-backed ways to cope with stress, compassion fatigue, and uncertainty to build resilience. 

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, attendees will:

 Understand the latest science exploring the mental health impacts of COVID-19

 Understand the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue (secondary trauma and burnout) in the context of COVID-19

 Learn tools to promote your own mental health and resilience

 

About The Presenter

Dr Vanessa Rohlf, is a consultant, counsellor and educator to those who work with and care for animals. She has a PhD with a specialisation in psychology (human-animal interactions) and has blended her knowledge of human psychology and human-animal interactions in a number of previous roles over the last 20 years including veterinary nursing, psychology lecturer at Monash University, and animal welfare researcher at the Animal Welfare Science Centre, University of Melbourne. She is a certified compassion fatigue therapist and educator and has additional qualifications in mindfulness and animal bereavement.

Vanessa is a member of the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, research fellow in the School of Psychology & Public Health at La Trobe University and regularly presents her work in peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as international and national conferences.

Vanessa works with a range of animal care industries including animal shelters, veterinary clinics, zoos, and research facilities. She also regularly provides individual counselling and support to companion animal owners and professional animal caregivers from a range of industries.