Debriefing: A Tool for Promoting Veterinary Wellbeing
The veterinary profession is challenging.
There will always be tough cases, ethical dilemmas, demanding clients, and a myriad of other stressors that veterinarians experience daily. While the profession is challenging, it can also be incredibly rewarding—particularly when we have the tools to make the stressors not so stressful! One of the keys to preventing burnout in veterinarians is to have a toolkit of resources available for coping with the stressors of the profession.
One of these tools that I want to introduce is the Veterinary Wellbeing Debrief.
What is Debriefing?
Debriefing typically occurs as a conversation between individuals and is an excellent way for mentees to process their thoughts about a tough situation they may be experiencing. One individual typically asks questions and serves as a listener to help the mentee work through a challenging scenario.
Debriefing is not the same as venting because there is a specific structure for debriefing. If done correctly, debriefing can be extremely helpful for mentees, and it can even turn a tough experience into a wonderful learning opportunity.
The Veterinary Wellbeing Debrief
The Veterinary Wellbeing Debrief is a tool created by the University of Tennessee Veterinary Social Work. This tool can be used in formal wellbeing rounds, or you can use these questions with friends and colleagues to debrief about a tough experience you might be facing. Vet mentors can use the Veterinary Wellbeing Debrief to help their mentees work through challenging cases.
The Veterinary Wellbeing Debrief consists of 6 core questions that you will ask an individual who has recently gone through a tough situation.
The University of Tennessee Veterinary Social Work Veterinary Wellbeing Debrief
1. What situation made it hard to sleep or put aside thoughts of work when at home?
Start by asking your mentee the question, “What situation made it hard to sleep or put aside thoughts of work when at home?” Many times, our mentees can quickly identify a specific challenge or case that they keep mulling over. Those cases are typically the ones that our mentees need the most help processing.
2. What did you do well in that situation?
Next, you will ask your mentee to identify what they did well in the situation. This is a challenging but important question to ask. Often, our mentees may have a hard time identifying what they did well because they are so focused on the negative aspects of the experience. This question asks our mentee to move away from focusing solely on the negative aspects of the situation. It also generally opens them up to receiving feedback as well as promotes some self-compassion.
3. What do you wish you had done differently?
Often, our mentees have replayed the situation in their head many times. They may be able to quickly identify what they wish they had done differently looking back. This question is an important part of the debrief because it allows the individual to assess how they would approach a similar situation in the future. Suddenly, the focus is now looking at this challenging situation as a learning experience.
4. What did you learn?
Asking the mentee what they learned from the situation gives them more time to reflect on how the situation can be seen as a learning experience. Shifting into a mindset of learning often allows individuals to move out of the rumination cycle. Typically, I ask my mentees to identify one or two key takeaways from their tough experience.
5. Is there anything you are grateful for in this situation, or just in general?
Finally, you will ask them to find a small piece of gratitude in the situation. The research in positive psychology tells us that expressing gratitude can promote mental health and wellbeing. Having your mentee remember a few small things that they are grateful for in the situation will hopefully magnify positive emotions about the situation.
6. Do you remember anything that was humorous about this situation or in this week?
This is an optional question in the debrief. Often, it can be helpful to use humor in the debriefing process. If our mentees are able to identify something humorous about the situation, this may allow them to look back on the experience and laugh.
Tips for Mindful Listening
If you are helping your mentee debrief through a tough situation, your role is to ask good questions then mindfully listen. During the debrief, it is not your job to fix or solve your mentee’s problems. Instead, mindfully listen and connect with what your mentee is saying and feeling. A few ways to mindfully listen include reflecting back what you are hearing from them and validating what they are feeling. Excellent veterinary mentors will empathize with the challenge of their mentee while simultaneously ensuring that the focus of the conversation remains on the mentee.
Final Thoughts
I hope you are able to leverage this tool within your veterinary mentoring practices. I use this tool frequently with my mentees and find that it is a very helpful way to support them in working through challenging scenarios. Practice your mindful listening while you ask these questions, and try not to fix your mentee’s problem or offer up suggestions. Debriefing is about allowing your mentee time to process their own thoughts and feelings about a tough situation, and frequent debriefing can be a fantastic tool for promoting wellbeing within the veterinary profession.
