Reviewed by Kirstie Pickles, BVMS PGCert (CounsSkills) MSc PhD CertEIM DipECEIM FHEA MRCVS, EDI Lead, Harper & Keele Veterinary School and Founder, Unedited Minds
Summary:
This book is an easy-to-read, accessible text detailing the common wellbeing challenges that veterinary professionals may experience and offers practical, actionable information on how to prevent, or recover from, such scenarios and find psychological happiness.
Review:
This book is a readily accessible, positive psychology manual for those working in veterinary practice. It has been written by Laura Woodward, melding her intimate knowledge and experience of being both a busy veterinary surgeon and counsellor of others working within veterinary practice. Her background as a trained counsellor, mindfulness practitioner and positive psychologist shines through on every page providing an easy to read, go-to resource for everyone in the veterinary team.
It is divided into six parts: 1. Strategies; 2. How to meditate; 3. Difficulties and applying strategies; 4. Therapy; 5. Case studies, and 6. Positive Psychology. However, the book does not need to be read from start to finish in order and the sections can read as stand-alone pieces. Indeed, there is repetition of base information between sections, so it is better not read as one consecutive book and to dip into according to interest or as necessary as a quick help guide on difficult days.
The book is very much underpinned by mindfulness and Buddhist philosophies, which is not surprising given the author’s background. The information is easy to read and understand with quotes that resonate from individuals as varied as Bob Marley to the Dalai Lama as well as helpful analogies, such as the petrol tank running on empty during compassion fatigue. It is also, to my delight, punctuated with the odd song lyrics to illustrate themes.
The text is interspersed by nice cartoon images although I found many of them difficult to read due to the small font size, the colour of the text, and lack of contrast between the text and the background. Additionally, some pages, particularly in the mindfulness chapter, contain blocks of text in multiple different colours, which may be distracting to some readers. It would be nice if these accessibility issues were addressed in future editions.
Not all sections may resonate with every reader as a strong Buddhist philosophy is at the heart of much of the information, but this book does have information that is useful to everyone working in practice. As such it is an extremely useful addition to the practice and personal bookshelf.
Mental Wellbeing and Positive Psychology for Veterinary Professionals by Laura Woodward is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is available to buy here: Mental Wellbeing and Positive Psychology for Veterinary Professionals | Wiley Online Books
Stay tuned, in two days, we’ll be sharing Laura Woodward’s Role Model profile, exploring her inspiring journey from veterinary surgeon to accredited counsellor and soon-to-be psychotherapist.
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