988 = Su***de and Crisis Hotline - help is available, and you do matter. If you are in emergent risk of harm to yourself or others, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. I'm a social work student working in the mental health field. My goal is to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with post-graduate certifications in in Veterinary Social Work, Trauma, EMDR, and Animal-Assisted Therapy. I proudly work with a specialty trauma practice called Valor Horses for Heroes in North Carolina as an Equine Specialist in our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy program. After a 15 year career in veterinary medicine, I left the field to find a way to help from the outside. As a tech, I never felt understood by therapists when seeking help. Disinfranchised grief (grieving something not seen, understood, or valued by others) is very real, and weight of vicarious trauma, burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury is taking a devastating toll on the field and the lives of our beautiful souls inside the field. I needed to get to a place where I could heal, and then offer tools to my colleagues for their own healing. I also aim to help others benefit from the healing that can come from the Human-Animal Bond in Animal-Assisted Therapy sessions. For now, I can offer psycho-education here on my page, silly animal memes to help you smile, and hopefully help guide you to places that can help you where you are atin your journey. Our practice in NC is accepting new clients, and if you are out-of-state I urge you to look for other services near you (EMDRIA.org , EAGALA.org , psychologytoday.com ).