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Tune in as we chat with VIN Foundation Vets4Vets® team member, Dr. Susan Cohen. We discuss the difference between compassion fatigue and burnout and explore a new concept Susan has identified as the Red Shoe Syndrome. In this episode you will hear us discuss the VIN Foundation Vets4Vets® resource, it is available to all veterinarians and free. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to Vets4Vets® by emailing or calling: (530) 794-8094 
You may learn more about the VIN Foundation, on the website, or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
If you like this podcast, we would appreciate it if you follow and share. As always, we welcome feedback. If you have an idea for a podcast episode, we’d love to hear it!

Listen in as we dive deep on the topic of therapy with VIN Foundation Vets4Vets® team member Dr. Michele Gaspar in this Inhale, Exhale podcast series.

In this episode we have 15 major topics we’re addressing:

Why people reach out for therapy
Difference between therapy and coaching
Different types of therapy
How to find a therapist
How to pay for therapy
Determining a good fit
Therapy frequency
Red flags
Confidentiality
Identifying goals
Is important for the therapist to have a relevant background to your situation
Does therapy have a timeline
How do you terminate therapy
When is it appropriate to seek psychiatric support
How do you find a psychiatrists

As always, we want to hear from YOU. Please share your thoughts by sending an email or joining the conversation.  

GUEST BIO:
Michele Gaspar, DVM, MA, LCPC
Michele Gaspar is a veterinarian and a psychotherapist. She is a 1994 graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and received her Master’s in counseling from Loyola University/Chicago in 2012. Michele has worked in a variety of settings in both of her professional careers. As a veterinarian, she has had experience in general practice, emergency and critical care, shelter medicine and feline-exclusive medicine. As a therapist, she has worked in community mental health, group psychotherapy practices, hospital chaplaincy and now owns a private psychotherapy practice in Chicago. Michele is a consultant in Feline Internal Medicine on the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), where she also co-facilitates the NAVLE Review Workshop and offers webinars to veterinarians on psychosocial issues that impact veterinary clinical practice. As a member of the VIN Foundation’s Vets4Vets® team, she facilitates an annual mindfulness retreat for veterinarians each Fall and consults with veterinary colleagues and students who wish to access local mental health resources. She is an advanced candidate at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis and is a Fellow of the American Balint Society.

LINKS AND INFORMATION:
Find A Therapist/Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
Fifty Therapy Red Flags: https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathanshedler/p/50-therapy-red-flags?r=n0o0o&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
What Is CBT?: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-202406053047
What is DBT?: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/dialectical-behavior-therapy-what-is-it-and-who-can-it-help-202401223009
What is Psychodynamic Therapy?: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/amp-65-2-98.pdf
VIN Foundation Vets4Vets®: https://vinfoundation.org/v4v
VIN Foundation Connect with Vets4Vets®: https://vinfoundation.org/resources/vets4vets-connect/
VIN Foundation get updates: https://vinfoundation.org/updates/
VIN Foundation GIVE page to support these programs & tools: https://vinfoundation.org/give
You may learn more about the VIN Foundation, on the website, or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
If you like this podcast, we would appreciate it if you follow and share.

Listen in as we chat with VIN Foundation Vets4Vets® team lead Dr. Bree Montana as part of our Inhale, Exhale Series and this time were talking about the importance of work transitions

In this episode we have eight major topics we’re addressing:

Defining work transitions
Why thought through work transitions matter
Build a departure ritual
Create a rejuvenation plan
Add in technological barriers
Build a work transition ritual for homecoming
Things that go bump in the night
Where to get help

 
As always, we want to hear from YOU. Please share your thoughts by sending an email or joining the conversation.  

GUEST BIO:

Dr. Bree Montana, DVM, CCFP
Bree Montana, DVM, CCFP, is a small animal practitioner and Founder of the Agate Bay Animal Hospital and Dog Gone Crazy boarding/training facilities in North Lake Tahoe California. Following the completion of a B.S. in Biology at the University of Cincinnati’s McMicken College, Dr. Montana graduated from the Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 1992. A past member of the external advisory and admissions committees for UC Davis’ College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Montana also served as a working member of the VIN Foundation Board. In 2010, Dr. Montana helped to create the VIN Foundation’s innovative Vets4Vets® program, a confidential support group providing critical emotional care to veterinarians struggling with all forms of stress/addiction/mental health issues. The program is international and free for all veterinarians and veterinary students. Learning to balance the life of a rural solo practitioner, mom, wife, husky wrangler and aspiring dressage queen while coordinating the Vets4Vets® program has allowed Dr. Montana to become an expert at thinking outside of the box when advising veterinarians who feel stuck in their careers and personal lives. Dr. Montana enjoys lecturing on topics at the intersection of personal and professional life balance, including strategies for a healthy mentoring relationship, job seekers’ success techniques, effective communication in the workplace, as well as teaching the workplace ergonomics section of The Other Side of Veterinary Medicine: Healthy Clinicians Make Better Practitioners (a RACE approved course).
 
LINKS AND INFORMATION:

Leaving Work at Work: A Daily Transition Checklist: https://vinfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VIN-Foundation-_-Veterinary-Pulse-Podcast-_-Inhale-Exhale-Series-_-Bree-Montana-DVM-CCFP-_-Transitions-Checklist.pdf

Brene Brown on transitions: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/lock-in-and-lock-through-power/
VIN Foundation Vets4Vets®: https://vinfoundation.org/v4v
VIN Foundation Veterinary Pulse Podcast Inhale, Exhale Series: https://vinfoundation.org/category/inhale-exhale/
VIN Foundation Veterinary Pulse Podcast Future’s So Bright Series: https://vinfoundation.org/category/futures-so-bright/
VIN Foundation get updates: https://vinfoundation.org/updates/
VIN Foundation GIVE page to support these programs & tools: https://vinfoundation.org/give

You may learn more about the VIN Foundation, on the website, or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
If you like this podcast, we would appreciate it if you follow and share. As always, we welcome feedback. If you have an idea for a podcast episode, we’d love to hear it!