Care for the Healer
CFTH Podcast
CFTH Podcast - Episode 2
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CFTH Podcast - Episode 2

Exploring Disenfranchised Grief in Aquarium & Zoo Employees, Assessing & Supporting Care Giver Burden and Emotional CPR with Valerie Bogie.


Welcome to our second episode of the CFTH podcast. Today we are in discussion with Valerie Bogie, Animal Trainer, Coach, and student of Veterinary Social Work (MSSW). Her time within the animal health field has been fascinating as she has been led onto a path of Veterinary Social Work and providing embedded support for pet owners and for people working in the animal health community.

Valerie has been working in the animal care field for over 20 years, with 16 of those years caring for animals in zoos and aquariums.  She has also worked in an animal hospital, as a dog trainer, and in an animal shelter.  Those experiences led Valerie to her current focus on human behavior and support to help address the deficit of mental health care in the animal care industry. 

She is a Behavior Consultant and the Administrative Manager of Insight Animal Behavior Services in Chicago, a veterinary behavior specialty practice.  Valerie started and continues to lead Insight’s free virtual support group “Living with and Loving Pets with Behavioral Challenges” as well as creating and continuing to co-facilitate a free virtual support group for current and former zoo and aquarium staff with GRAZE (Growing Resiliency in Aquarium and Zoo Employees). 

Valerie is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) with a Veterinary Social Work focus through the University of Tennessee Knoxville, where she completed their Veterinary Human Support Certificate in 2022. Valerie is also an Educator for Emotional CPR, which teaches the skills of helping others through active listening.


Join Valerie in the upcoming Intro to Emotional CPR Workshop for Pet Professionals!

  • Tuesday, October 24th from 7-8:30pm Central Time

  • Only $20 for a 90 minute workshop!

  • This is an INTERACTIVE workshop, meaning you should be able to have your camera on and able to participate.  This elevates the experience for everyone!

  • Learn the foundational skills of Emotional CPR (eCPR), a community mental health educational program designed to teach people to assist others through an emotional crisis by three simple steps:
    C = Connecting through active listening
    P = emPowerment by reminding the person in crisis of their strength within
    R = Revitalization by helping the person in crisis recall ways to practice self care

  • Examples of concepts covered:
    Identifying and understanding our own emotions in order to better understand the emotions of others
    The power of active listening and nonverbal communication
    Building community and trust by providing a safe space for sharing
    The importance of self care so we can be present and emotionally available to support others

Click here to register!

Additional Resources:

A big thank you to Valerie for joining us in conversation and to our audience for tuning in!

Have a wonderful day,

Dr. Steve 🐾


The Mystical Llama. Chavin de Huantar, Peru. 📸 @drstevekruzeniski
Dr. Steven Kruzeniski is a Veterinarian and life-long student of One Health, Human Support & Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. For over a decade he has been living and working across The Americas, Africa & Asia. His work combines social veterinary service & educational advocacy for animal welfare; support of veterinary professional wellbeing; and Psychedelic Harm Reduction. He currently provides virtual and in-person wellness support in the Sacred Valley of Peru

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Care for the Healer
CFTH Podcast
This series strives to create conversation related to veterinary medicine & wellbeing. Bringing in guests with a variety of perspectives, we hope to introduce new methods, skills & theory that will help practitioners with their own journey towards personal wellbeing.
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Dr. Steve Kruzeniski