If you work or volunteer in animal welfare, you know how easy it is to be your own worst critic.

Anxiety and sleep are closely connected, especially for those of us in animal welfare. It’s a vicious cycle: stress and secondary trauma keep you awake, and poor sleep leaves you even more anxious and less able to cope the following day. The good news? With a little patience, time, and tools, you can begin to break this cycle.

Explore compassion fatigue as it relates to caring for a fostering special needs animals.

Whether you’re temporarily or permanently caring for an animal with special needs, you probably know all too well that the mix of love, devotion, and fatigue is real, constant, and often invisible to the outside world.

In animal welfare, trauma isn’t always a single catastrophic event—it’s often the accumulation of heartbreaking moments: the cruelty...

The truth is, self-care isn’t one-size-fits-all—because you aren’t one-size-fits-all. What recharges one person might totally drain another. That’s why understanding your personality style—whether you’re an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert—can make all the difference in how you recover and stay resilient in this work.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-130-mental-health-with-jen-blough/id1548213393?i=1000716059620

The animal welfare movement is driven by compassion—but to truly embody compassion, we need to extend it to everyone  working alongside...

As soon as I slipped into the office and shut the door, I started to cry. Outside, my colleagues laughed and joked at raunchy social media posts and videos. It’s not that I didn’t have a sense of humor—it’s that I didn’t fit in. I never did.

Given the demanding and emotionally charged nature of helping animals, it’s crucial to have boundaries set in place so you can...

For many of us, animal welfare work is so much more than a job—it’s a calling. It’s a deep passion for helping the most vulnerable and a...

So you’re ready to go to therapy! You jump on the Internet to search for the perfect fit and…So. Many. Choices. Where do you even begin?...

As someone who’s sat on both the therapist chair and the client couch, I know how hard—and brave—it is to start therapy.

The Memorial Rock Garden at the Humane Society of Central Arizona When Nicole and her colleagues need to take a moment and pay homage to...

The winter months often conjure images of warmth and joy—family get-togethers, homes adorned with festive lights, and cozy moments by a...

My heart broke into a thousand pieces the moment Duke was surrendered. At nine years old, the shepherd mix was almost certainly in the...

It’s not always widely talked about, but compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)...

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say self-care? For some, it might be along the lines of “luxury” or “day at the spa.”

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-59-compassion-fatigue-with-jennifer-blough/id1548213393?i=1000611067085

As a mental health therapist and former animal welfare worker, I have a deep interest in helping those struggling with the emotional pain...