Serving animals and the humans who love them.

What is veterinary social work?

Veterinary social work is a practice that focuses on the intersection of the needs of people and animals. Whether it’s providing support to overworked veterinary staff or helping a pet parent with difficult decisions, veterinary social workers have a wide range of skills to address a variety of topics that may arise in a veterinary setting.

A veterinary social worker (VSW) can assist professionals by taking some of the emotional burden off of staff so they can focus on what they do best. So often, veterinary and animal care professionals step into the role of mental health support for clients because they feel they have no other choice. This creates preventable emotional strain and leads to burnout amongst staff who deal with their own traumatic and emotionally taxing work. Offering voluntary critical incident debriefing sessions for staff can reduce the physical and emotional impact of traumatic experiences in the workplace. Bay Area Veterinary Social Work can facilitate these sessions and help develop and implement a debriefing program to use long-term for supporting staff through those extra tough cases.

A VSW can also support pet owners by offering on-site services such as de-escalation, support through the euthanasia process, facilitating tough conversations with the clinical team, and connections to community resources. Having dedicated time to discuss quality of life, creating advance care documents, and offering grief support are some more services that can make a difference in the lives of pet guardians as they navigate uncertainty and difficult decisions.

This ever evolving area of social work is a critical piece to the puzzle when it comes to improving the lives of veterinary and animal professionals, pet owners, and animals. There is a mental health crisis within the animal care professions, and the suicide rate among veterinary staff is significantly higher than the average population. Adding a mental health professional can be an incredible benefit to any practice or organization in hopes of addressing the current crisis, breaking the mental health stigma, and bridging the gap between professionals and the general public. A better world for our animal care professionals is possible, and we believe we can play a part in creating change.