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Events: 2024
14-16 Jan: VMX Conference in Orlando, FL – Largest veterinary conference in the world. Attending as a participant and to support the Pura Vida Veterinary Wellness Booth
3–10 Feb: WorldWide Vets Thrive Veterinary Wellness Retreat – Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe – Co-Presenting 9 hours of content to support veterinary professional well-being and resiliency
18 March: Secondary Traumatic Stress Consortium – Invitation only participation in a One Health approach to understanding STS in caregiving environments and impacts on caregivers wellbeing
19 April: Florida Veterinary Medical Association – Presenting 6 hours of content supporting veterinary professionals being prepared to meet the challenges of caregiving and to fortify their ‘thriving’ tool kits
21 April: Rose City Veterinary Conference (Portland Veterinary Medical Association)– Presenting 90-minute workshop on navigating moral distress and ethical conflict in veterinary caregiving environments
21-25 June: American Veterinary Medical Association – Collaboratively presenting 3 hours of workshop material with colleagues (veterinary social worker and a veterinary technician to provide a multi-disciplinary approach).
Topics:
- Culturing the Culture: Diagnosing and Supporting the Growth of Healthy, High-Performing Teams
- Multi-Modal Approach to Maximizing Collaboration & Efficiency of Today’s Veterinary Teams
27-30 June: VetGirl University – New Orleans – Providing morning yoga sessions for the duration of the conference & Presenting 4x 30-minute focused discussions on veterinary technician stress management and resiliency-building
18-21 July: Vets Outdoors Annual excursion to the Olympic Peninsula – Co-organizer, providing AM yoga/meditation, and facilitating several discussions with a focus on holistic veterinary wellness
28 September: Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference/Washington State Veterinary Medical Association – Facilitating a 90-min workshop
November (exact dates TBD): New Zealand Veterinary Medical Association – Second Veterinary Wellbeing Summit – Attending as Keynote Speaker and co-facilitating topics with a focus on veterinary teams and practices having the awareness and pragmatic tools to meet the challenges of vet med today and in the future.
Dec 8-14: Pura Vida Veterinary Wellness Retreat in Costa Rica – Co-hosting and facilitating discussions on varied wellness and mindfulness topics for veterinary professionals each day of the retreat
Select Past Events
November 12-18
Pura Vida Veterinary Wellbeing Retreat in Costa Rica (View Flyer PDF)
October/November
Presenting 3 webinars for the New Zealand Veterinary Association
September 22
Veterinary Hospital Practice Managers Conference
September 19
WSVMA DVM MasterClass webinar
September 8-9
IVECCS Conference (Denver, CO) – Supporting Well-being Education & Skill-building as well as Mindful Microbreaks in the BluePearl Wellness Park
August 11-12
VETGirl U 2023 (Scottsdale, Arizona) – Supporting Mindful Moments and Movement in the Wellness Lounge
August 9
PetsApp Webinar (UK-based veterinary resource and CE space) – Panel discussion on Emotional Intelligence with Drs. Sonja Olson, Olivia Oginska, and Sophie Eaden
July 27-30
VetsOutdoors Wellbeing Experience on the Olympic Peninsula, WA – Keynote speaker for wellbeing small group discussions and providing daily mindful movement & meditation for attendees
Vet.Set.Go.Diversify.
Career Q/A with Dr. Sonja Olson (June 2023)
VETGIrl webinar
“Boundaries: Reframing the Concept” (June 2023)
VetEd webinar
Stress First Aid: Focus on Recent Graduates (June 2023)
University of Arizona Veterinary College
Live presentation to veterinary students on “Meeting the Moment: Stress Management When it Matters” (June 2023)
NCSU Veterinary Teaching College’s Wolfpack Leadership Conference
Keynote Speaker: Courageous Conversations (March 2023)
VetLed Veterinary Conference (UK)
Speaking on well-being research in veterinary medicine: Well-being initiatives in Veterinary Practices: What works?” Conference | VetLed (Feb 2023)
Fetch dvm360, Charlotte, NC
The Pivotal Path: a 5-lecture workshop co-created and presented with Alyssa Mages, CVT. (April 2022)
WSVMA Master Class: “Understanding Trauma and Its Impacts on Veterinary Well-being.” (Sept 2022, online)
Veterinary Practice Managers Association: “The Power of Microbreaks.” (Aug 2022, online)
International Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Symposium
• Psychological Safety and a Trauma-informed Approach in Veterinary Emergency Settings workshop co-created and presented with Susan Swendson Harris, LCSW, VSW
• Mindful Moment Microbreaks provided in the Exhibit Hall at lunch time (15-20 minute brief well-being talks combined with mindful movement) (Sept 2022)
Banfield Pet Health Summit
Well-being Panel Participant
(Sept 2022)
American College of Veterinary Surgeons Conference
“Is this really burnout?” (Oct 2022)
New Zealand Veterinary Associations Well-being Symposium
• Keynote Speaker: “Courageous Conversations: Collaborative Efforts Required to Address Complex Veterinary Well-being Concerns”
• Provided Mindful Microbreak with brief lecture and mindful movement
(Nov 2022)
NZVA, Auckland, New Zeland
Provided lecture to veterinary audience: Watch Video. (Nov 2022)
Royal Canin Well-Being Workshop, Melbourne, Australia
Co-created and presented content and facilitated discussions with leadership from the largest veterinary private practice/industry partners. (Nov 2022)
Seeing Eye Dogs of Australia, Melbourne.
Facilitated discussion on psychosocial considerations that impact veterinary well-being in caregiving environments. (Nov 2022)
Previous
Next
Upcoming Webinars & Podcasts
Webinars
- Power of 10 – PVMA – January 11th Understanding Empathic Strain and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Veterinary Caregiving
- United Veterinary Care – January 24th Meeting the Moment: Timely and Effective Stress Management & Coping Strategies
- Full Circle Lab – March 18 – Learning to Stress Better
Podcasts (confirmation of dates pending)
- VetEducation: Virtual “Book Club” discussing my book chapter by chapter with Dr. Philip Judge as the host facilitating the Q/A
- Vet Med Wellness & Leadership Podcast: Crystal Stoke’s Full Circle Lab podcast
- Veterinary Teams Living Well: Rebecca Rose’s podcast supporting thriving, compassionate veterinary communities
- The Bend – Debbie Boone’s Podcast on innovative approaches to support change in the veterinary profession
News
June 2023 – WSVMA/WA DOH Suicide Prevention Modules released to the veterinary community of Washington State
May 2023: VETGirl e-Book – Veterinary Wellbeing Resources to support Mental Health Month
Nov 2022: Royal Canin hosts veterinary wellness expert Dr Sonja Olson – Pet Industry News (petnews.com.au)
April 2022: Women in STEM Author Interview: Sonja Olson (routledge.com)
March 2022: WSVMA | WSVMA member publishes wellbeing book for the veterinary profession
On the Horizon
"Global collaboration with other holistic wellness practitioners, particularly those supporting human and veterinary medical caregivers. There is so much healing that is needed and innovation demanded to support a One Health approach to a sustainably healthy planet."