Shame and VetMed

Our Story

Shame and VetMed was initially sparked by ongoing conversations between Clive Elwood and Petra Agthe, inspired by similar movements in human medicine and a shared sense that vetmed needed an accessible way to explore shame. Katie Ford later joined to support implementation and help shape the project into a practical platform that can hold education, stories, and resources with care.

From there, we invited a group of interested colleagues from across the veterinary professions, and from a range of backgrounds and disciplines, to join the conversation. This website, and the resources you will find here, are the result of that collective effort. You can read more about the people involved further down this page.

Behind this project is a simple observation: shame is everywhere in vetmed, and yet we rarely name it. It can sit underneath perfectionism, imposter feelings, fear of judgement, the urge to hide mistakes, tensions in teams, and the feeling of being "not enough" in professions that ask a lot of our identity as well as our skill. Shame also shows up in our client relationships, when people feel judged, embarrassed, overwhelmed, or afraid of being seen as a "bad owner", and that can shape how conversations land on both sides of the consult room.

Shame and VetMed exists to bring this topic to life in a kind, responsible, evidence informed way. This is a place to learn, reflect, and find language for what can be hard to hold alone, through accessible education, lived experience stories, and curated resources. Our hope is that what you find here helps spark better conversations, with ourselves, with colleagues, and across the professions, without blame or sensationalism.

Special thanks

We are grateful for the wider thinking and frameworks that have helped inform this work, including Professor Luna Dolezal (University of Exeter) and her work around shame competence, and Lisa Etherton and her work on shame containment.