Compassion in Action

Veterinary Social Work Program helps heal hearts

Sitting in the waiting room of the UT Veterinary Hospital while her miniature schnauzer Keebler underwent treatment, Barbara Underwood noticed brochures for the Veterinary Social Work Program.

“I remember thinking, I hope I never have to use that service,” Underwood recalls. But a few weeks later, when Keebler died, Underwood remembered the brochures.

“He was a dear pet and losing him was a very difficult thing for me,” she says. Underwood attended a pet-loss support group conducted by faculty and graduate students from Veterinary Social Work and, over time, found a way to deal with her grief.

“The group gave me an outlet to talk about my dog and how hard it was to lose him,” Underwood says. “There’s such a stigma in our society about death in general. When you talk about pets, people tend to think they are replaceable. That attitude made me feel angry and isolated. I learned that I had to grieve this loss the way I grieve other losses.”

Veterinary Social Work is a partnership between the UT College of Social Work and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Designed to enhance, support, and inform both professions, the program offers graduate and undergraduate training and focuses on grief and bereavement, compassion fatigue, the link between animal and human abuse, and ­animal-assisted therapies.

Dr. Elizabeth Strand developed the program six years ago with the guidance and support of Dr. Karen Sowers, dean of the College of Social Work, and Dr. Michael Blackwell, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. This spring the first veterinary social work summit in this new field will be held at UT, bringing together veterinarians, researchers, social workers, and students from around the world.

“This is a landmark event in the study of the human-animal bond,” says Dean Sowers. “We are proud that UT is the first academic institution to bring all four areas of veterinary social work practice together in one program. This partnership exemplifies the university’s mission of teaching, research, and public service.”

Dr. John New, who heads the Department of ­Comparative Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine, says the program has a powerful effect on ­students, faculty, and clinicians.

“Veterinarians must deal with human emotion, and we do very little to prepare students to deal with that side of the profession. Social workers are role models for our students, clinicians, and our faculty, teaching healthy coping skills and relieving them of some of the stress related to dealing with people in pain,” New says.

Teaching veterinarians and students to take care of themselves is critically important, says Strand. “Veterinarians deal with death at a rate that is five times higher than doctors who care for humans. My motto is, ‘Be kind to yourself or else.’ If a veterinarian has had three euthanasias in one day, we seek them out and ask them what they’re going to do for themselves.”

Veterinary social work teaches skills such as mindfulness-­based stress reduction and communication to help ease the burden on caregivers. Dr. Karen Tobias, UT professor of surgery, says this training has raised the comfort level of ­students, faculty, and clinicians.

“There has been a great improvement in communication throughout the College of Veterinary Medicine,” Tobias says. “People know they have a place they can go if their stress is overwhelming.”

Veterinary social workers also help clients facing tough decisions about their pets, relieving some of the burden on the vet.

“Sometimes I need to relay information quickly and make decisions,” says Tobias. “It’s hard for pet owners to make that leap. Social workers can take the time to help sort through the options.”

Private gifts provide ongoing support for the program and help fund graduate fellowships.

“This unique partnership between veterinary medicine and social work depends on the generosity of individual donors to continue its vitally important work,” says Dean Sowers. “The training, research, and compassionate outreach of the program have already had a profound impact in both colleges and in the community. Our donors help to ensure that veterinary social work continues to flourish.”