On behalf of the entire CVMA staff and the Board of Representatives, we are proud to promote the new mental health and well-being initiative Pawsitive Minds. For those of you unfamiliar with this new service, it is a confidential pathway to connect people in need of mental health services with the appropriate mental health professional.
I know from personal experience that reaching out and starting on the path to mental wellness can seem like an insurmountable task in the face of anxiety, stress and other commitments. Pawsitive Minds is a way to eliminate that stress and is now available to all our members, their staff and their family members as well. As long as you are affiliated with a CVMA member, you can use this service so please let your entire staff know! We are all very aware of the high stress levels, and incidents of burnout and compassion fatigue in the entire veterinary field from the customer service representatives to the technicians and veterinarians.
The other positive aspect of Pawsitive Minds is that they will not only try to find you an appropriate mental health professional (either in-person or virtually based on preference and need), but they will also try to find a provider who is in your insurance network. Unfortunately, mental health care is often poorly covered by health insurance providers and cost can often be an obstacle in achieving mental wellness. By finding in-network providers, the financial burden is significantly reduced allowing people to get the care that they need.
Please reflect upon yourself, and if you are anxious, sad, or overwhelmed, please reach out to Pawsitive Minds. You can access their care by visiting the site https://referralgps.com/find-help/cvma and requesting Care Navigation to be connected with a member of the team to help with next steps.
You are not alone. Be well.