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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
New York City AAZK hosted an event titled "Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and the Zoological Field" on Zoom October 26, 2021. It was a very informative event which I heard about through my wildlife rehabilitator groups, pages and friends. The event was about recognizing the causes and symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout and how to treat it. I was a few minutes late because of technical issues but I heard all the speakers. It was videotaped so I'll post the link to the video when it's online.
Here's the video link. It's one hour and 11 minutes.
The event was targeted for zookeepers but wildlife rehabilitators, domestic animal rescuers and private home based pet rescuers can easily relate. Things may be even more stressful for us because not only do we not get paid but we have to pay to house, feed and give veterinary care to the animals not to mention licenses and permits. Some of us have to run a non profit organization on top of that trying to find funds or just paying for the organization out of our own pockets. I personally paid all the bills for Animal Advocates since it was founded in 2002. I stopped counting at $250,000 over ten years ago. I can no longer afford to pay Animal Advocates bills so fewer animals can be rescued today.
About the event: "In the past year during the pandemic, many keepers have experienced either compassion fatigue, burnout, or both. Both of these issues can impact zookeepers, their facilities and the animals in their care. Join us to learn more about these topics, things you can do to mitigate them, and hear from experts on how to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout at your facility."
Panelists:
Amanda Young:
Amanda started her brand while working in the Animal Training field and focused on sharing about her career and love of animals. In 2019, she was laid off from her dream job working with killer whales, due to a company-wide restructuring – that’s when she started really struggling with her (already spiraling) mental health. Instead of hiding it, she chose to share her journey online and began building a like-minded community. She chose to take this moment of hurt and loss with her chin up and chest out – turning this into an opportunity to pivot from working with marine mammals to elephants and other terrestrial mammals.
At the end of 2020, Amanda made one of the hardest decisions to date and walked away from a career she’d spent her entire life working to achieve. She was experiencing unimaginable levels of burnout, compassion fatigue and was barely surviving… it broke her heart, but she knew that she had to prioritize herself and her own mental health if she wanted to be a better human, friend, wife, daughter or sister… let alone run a developing brand she’d created, full-time. It has been FAR from the “picture perfect” life she thought she had planned… but Amanda has come to realize that maybe all her setbacks were actually just setUPs to step into her true potential.
Cassie Len: Cassie, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist who is dedicated to working with children and families of all backgrounds. Cassie attended Fordham University where she completed her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and then worked briefly in the field before returning to graduate school. She completed her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy which focused on understanding how an individual's relationship to their system impacts their daily lives. Cassie began as an intern at a small group collaborative working with couples and families and has since supported clients both within in-home and outpatient practices. Although she enjoys working with all children/adolescents, Cassie has found her passion in helping to support families to navigate various life phases such as age transitions, moves, family changes, etc. In her free time Cassie enjoys spending time with her dog, watching Boston sports, and trying new recipes in the kitchen.
Sarah Newcomer: From animal trainer to therapist! Sarah worked in the animal care and training field for more than a decade. She has worked with the Miami Seaquarium, US Navy, Moss Landing Marine Labs, and the Milwaukee County Zoo working with bottlenose dolphins, seals, sea lions, and a killer whale. She was a former lead keeper at Tanganyika Wildlife park caring for education animals and a mob of kangaroos, one of which she trained a kangaroo to paint.
She obtained her psychology degree with a specialization in animal cognition from The Ohio State University. Her love of connecting people with animals while working at the zoo led her to continue her schooling and obtain her MS in Family Therapy at Friends University in Wichita, KS.
She is an Independently Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who currently works in private practice at Reconnecting Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. She specializes in working with relationships of all shapes and sizes with a focus in repairing sexual intimacy.
The Presentation. Introduction and then slides from Cassie then Sarah.
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
Two more slides from the website.
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
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| Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and the Zoological Field, New York City AAZK, Animal Advocates, wildlife rehabilitation, Mary Cummins, Los Angeles, California, non-profit organization, real estate appraisal, lawsuit, wildlife, rescue, zoo, animals, stress |
Mary Cummins of
Animal Advocates is a
wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
California Department of Fish and Game and the
USDA.
Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.
Google+
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