Mental Health Counseling for Veterinarians

While my background includes extensive work with physicians, I’ve found veterinarians face strikingly similar emotional burdens, with some unique layers. I regularly help with:

• Burnout & compassion fatigue from constant caregiving.

• Grief and moral distress surrounding euthanasia and treatment limitations.

• Client-related stress, including difficult conversations, caregiver financial limitations, and unrealistic expectations.

• Crisis of purpose when the job feels unsustainable.

• Imposter syndrome & perfectionism in high-stakes medical decisions.

• Financial pressures of student debt and practice management.

• The isolating weight of witnessing animal suffering daily.

• Emotional exhaustion from maintaining a “calm and competent” front while feeling overwhelmed inside.

• Difficulty separating work and home life due to emotional spillover from traumatic cases.

• Shame or self-blame when outcomes don’t go as hoped (even when it’s not your fault).

• Conflict between your medical judgment and client demands, especially around end-of-life decisions.

• Feelings of isolation from colleagues, especially in solo or small-practice settings.

• Trauma symptoms after repeated exposure to animal suffering or emergency situations.

• Anxiety or dread about returning to work, even after time off.

• Loss of joy or emotional numbness in a career that once felt like a calling.

• Difficulty talking to loved ones who don’t fully understand the emotional toll of the work.

• Considering leaving the profession after years of training and dedication.

Therapy for veterinarians offers a private, nonjudgmental space where you don’t have to hold it all together. Using a psychodynamic approach, we’ll look beyond surface symptoms to understand the deeper patterns influencing your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This kind of insight-oriented work can help you develop more effective coping tools, build emotional resilience, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that may have gotten lost in the demands of veterinary work.

Absolutely. Confidentiality is especially important for professionals in healthcare. Because I operate outside of insurance, there’s no formal diagnosis submitted to insurance companies (so long as you don’t elect to submit for out-of-network coverage), and no documentation that could affect your licensing or career. What we discuss stays between us, with the exception of rare legal or safety situations, which I would always speak with you about directly.

Not at all. Many veterinarians I work with are high-functioning but emotionally exhausted: feeling stuck, questioning their path, or just trying to stay afloat. You don’t need to hit a breaking point to benefit from therapy. Sometimes the best time to reach out is when things are "technically fine" but don’t feel right.

That’s completely normal. Many of my clients are new to therapy. I want you to know there's no "right" way to be in therapy—we'll move at a pace that feels comfortable for you. In our first sessions, we'll focus on building trust and creating a safe space where you can share without pressure. We'll start with the basics, and I'll guide you every step of the way. Your comfort and sense of safety will always come first.