Consultant The VIN Foundation Chicago, Illinois, United States
Presentation Description / Summary: Veterinary medicine social media postings have typically focused on laments about our work, that include complaints regarding clients, hospital policies, workloads, etc. While laments are helpful in creating some semblance of community, they provide no viable path forward for change and often keep us mired in negativity and hopelessness. They also can obscure the positives about our work and contribute to overall unhappiness. Laments in veterinary medicine can appear as preoccupation with how much we suffer as underappreciated/unappreciated providers who give their all (compassion fatigue) and disconnect us from healthy relationships in our hospitals and in our homes. In this presentation, we will discuss how lament diverts us from the real psychological work, which is mourning. We will look at mourning through the works of a variety of writers (including Freud, Akhtarand Ogden), and introduce Pauline Boss' "ambiguous losses." We will discuss how coming to terms with our losses can move us to action and make a creative and vibrant profession possible.
Learner Outcomes: Following this presentation, participants will : (1.) Review the power and disadvantages of laments among veterinary professionals. (2.) Understand the concept of "ambiguous loss" and move beyond it. (2.) Understand how laments are often confused with mourning and how healthy mourning can lead to creativity and novel, productive ways of engaging with work and life.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participant will be able to differentiate complaining, venting and mourning and understand the utility of each.
Upon completion, participant will be able to understand how mourning, if unprocessed, can result in anger, rage and revenge and identify this cycle in patient and staff encounters.
Upon completion, participant will be able to differentiate between mourning and depression, understand the similarities and appreciate the differences.
