To inter-be or not to be: An autoethnographic journey into inter-being in clinical veterinary practice

A crisis of (dis)connection has been affecting the veterinary profession and the wider modern society for years. Poor veterinarian well-being, high attrition from the profession, and high rates of suicidality in veterinarians is characteristic of the current crisis and often a focus of efforts to improve the situation. How might we address not only the symptoms but the root cause?

A One Health approach to this plight, which extends beyond the materialistic thingness of modern society, and into the relational realm is required. In this dissertation I use autoethnography to explore my experience of embodying Interbeing in veterinary clinical practice as a novel approach to seeing, perceiving and dismantling the foundations of the crisis that we find ourselves in. This has involved a shift in my mode of being, from disconnection and disengagement, to being present and open to the current moment, myself, and other beings. It has allowed me the opportunity to genuinely meet and engage with my patients, their human caregivers, and myself, and has opened the possibility for the co-creation of the health and wellbeing journey. This represents a paradigm shift in the way that I view the twin challenges of my role as a small animal veterinarian and of my need to nurture my own wellbeing as a caring professional, as well as my patients and their owners, and create a space for genuine healing and connection.

I will present two stories representative of my lived experience as a small animal veterinarian working in clinical practice. Journaling, emotional recall, and embodied art-based practices based on the art of kintsugi and Social Presencing Theatre were used to reflect on and deeply interrogate these experiences.