Finding Healing and Creating Peace in a Violent World
Roundtable on Compassion Fatigue
Photo: Farm Sanctuary
This roundtable discussion with animal advocate and therapist April Lang, animal activist Lisa Levinson and animal caregiver and humane educator Marla Andrews, delves into creative ways for developing internal resources for preventing burn-out of becoming overwhelmed by the magnitude of suffering in the world for animals (non-human and human) and learning how to remain strong through healing and working with compassion fatigue when it comes up.
This is a free zoom event.
Advance sign up is required by November 23
For questions, email info@compassionarts.org
ABOUT THE EVENT
Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals
Compassion fatigue is a condition characterized by emotional and sometimes physical exhaustion, often referred to as secondary traumatic stress, or more commonly known as “burnout.” Compassion fatigue affects animal rescuers, advocates, animal caregivers and people who work directly or indirectly with animals, when animals are the victims of trauma, abuse, neglect, abandonment, violence etc. Compassion fatigue also affects other people as well, even in much less extreme situations of simply living daily life, especially when people are empathetic to the suffering of other animals.
In a world where unimaginable violence against animals and nature has been normalized to the point that it’s rendered almost invisible in a culture of indifference; is it possible to have self-care, find joy in living, and have a peaceful heart, with the knowledge of animals’ suffering and the cruelty they endure? Is it possible for the work of healing to matter and the commitment to use our lives as an instrument of peace, when confronted with losing a sense of hope or becoming depressed with feelings of powerlessness or despair?
These questions and others are discussed in the roundtable “Finding Healing and Creating Peace in a Violent World” with animal advocate Lisa Levinson of In Defense of Animals; April Lang, therapist and author of Animal Persuasion; and humane educator Marla Andrews of Unity Farm Sanctuary.
THE ROUNDTABLE
LISA LEVINSON
Lisa Levinson is the director of In Defense of Animals’ Sustainable Activism Campaign, which offers emotional and spiritual support for animal activists via a helpline, support groups, and online events. Lisa organizes Vegan Spirituality groups and retreats to explore veganism as a spiritual practice. She co-organizes the Interfaith Vegan Coalition to help places of worship go vegan. She co-founded Public Eye: Artists for Animals to teach compassion for animals through the arts and founded the Toad Detour to help migrating toads safely cross the road in Philadelphia.
APRIL LANG
April Lang LCSW, SEP, is a therapist and author of Animal Persuasion. A passionate animal rights advocate with a special interest in humane education, Lang states “Who I am and how I work has been shaped to a large extent, by my deep connection to and appreciation for, animals.” Lang has spent the past twenty years in private practice as a psychotherapist. She is interested in the intersection of psychotherapy, animal advocacy, and ethical veganism. Part of the focus of her work is to help vegans and animal advocates to recognize signs of compassion fatigue, and to learn how to prevent, heal and develop tools for dealing with it, for a balanced, sustainable, meaningful life.
MARLA ANDREWS
Marla Andrews is a lifelong animal advocate who brings her enthusiasm for working with all ages to overseeing education programs at Unity Farm Sanctuary. She holds a master's degree in Humane Education and Animal Welfare and has extensive experience in animal protection after 15 years with the MSPCA. She is passionate about the human-animal bond, writing her master’s thesis on compassion fatigue in animal caregivers, and is also certified as a Pet Loss Grief Specialist.