Veterinarian

David graduated in 1980 from the University of Queensland and spent 20 years in private veterinary practice in Australia and the United Kingdom before deciding to pursue a career in counselling and personal development. He worked initially in mixed practice then mostly in small animal practice. His special interests during his time in practice were emergency medicine, orthopaedics and dermatology.

Counsellor

From 1999 until 2001 David trained and worked in general and crisis counselling with Lifeline and also completed bereavement counselling training at the Bereavement Care Centre in Sydney. During his time in practice David noted the extreme difficulty and lack of support many clients experienced when trying to cope with the death of their pet. He also became aware of the difficulties many veterinarians, from new graduates to seasoned practitioners, experienced when trying to cope with the complex demands and stresses of practice life.

Private Consultancy

Since 2001 David has run a private practice based in Sydney and Brisbane offering a range of services in his fields of expertise. In addition to running a bereavement counselling service for pet owners and educational seminars and workshops on the human-animal bond and grief, he has a special interest in self care and stress management for veterinarians with a focus on developing resilience and preventing burnout and suicide. He supports the profession and other organisations through lectures, workshops / programs on stress management and building resilience and individual counselling and mentoring.

Lecturer / Presenter

David lectured in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney from 2002 to 2013. He helped prepare students for practice by lecturing on a range of topics including the human-animal bond, grief over pet loss, stress management, burnout prevention and recovery, mindfulness, assertiveness, conflict resolution and suicide prevention. He presents to the profession and other organisations at conferences and other functions and events including the 2006 Australian Veterinary Association annual conference in Hobart and the 2015 Australian Veterinary Association conference in Brisbane.

Mentoring

David has a strong belief in the value of mentoring and was heavily involved in the design and implementation of the Intern Mentoring Program for final year veterinary science students at the Faculty of Veterinary Science in the University of Sydney. He has been the program’s director since its inception in 2009.

 

For consultations or enquiries

 Mob: 0425 281 424

Email: david@davidfoote.com.au