Online Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program for Veterinary Professionals
Begin the new year with presence, clarity, and calm
Care for animals and their people requires compassion, focus, and resilience. At the same time, the veterinary field is emotionally intense — full of long hours, high stakes, ethical stress, grief, and perfection-driven culture.
This 8-week live online MBSR program is designed specifically for veterinary professionals — veterinarians, technicians, support staff, practice managers — who want to cultivate greater calm, clarity, and well-being in the face of the unique challenges of veterinary medicine.
Join Dr. Heather Gunn McQuillan, a veterinarian (OVC ’05), leader, educator, and certified mindfulness teacher who brings a deep understanding of the unique challenges within the veterinary profession. With over a two decades of experience in veterinary practice and a decade in leadership — including her time as Hospital Director and Assistant Dean at the Atlantic Veterinary College — Heather integrates evidence-based mindfulness practices with real-world veterinary experience to help colleagues cultivate resilience, balance, and wellbeing.
This is a fully synchronous, interactive course (not pre-recorded). Week by week we’ll gather with Heather and a small group of colleagues from the profession for guided mindfulness, gentle movement, group discussion, reflection, and Q&A.
This 8-week program starts Tuesday, January 6 and runs until Tuesday, February 24 (inclusive). The class starts at 7:00pm and ends at 9:30pm (Atlantic time).
- Tuesday evenings 7-9:30 pm Atlantic Time Zone
- January 6-February 24, 2026
- Small group size with a min. of 8 and max. of 16 participants
- 25% Deposit required to secure your spot
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction has proven mental health and physical health benefits
Why This Matters for Veterinary Professionals
Veterinary medicine demands not only technical expertise, but emotional resilience, communication clarity, and the capacity to show up repeatedly for others — while still taking care of yourself. Mindfulness-based training helps build that capacity.
Mental & Emotional Benefits
Reduce high-arousal states such as anxiety, overwhelm, hyper-vigilance and emotional reactivity.
Improve focus, clarity, decision-making and presence — especially during demanding or fast-paced clinic work.
Build resilience, self-compassion, and emotional regulation — important when facing grief, loss or tough outcomes.
Support better sleep, rest and recovery between shifts.
Physical & Professional Health Benefits
Lower the physiological burden of chronic stress (for example elevated heart rate, high blood pressure, tension).
Help manage physical symptoms of stress (e.g., muscle tension, headaches), and reduce fatigue from long hours.
Improve energy levels and general vitality — enabling sustained performance in demanding roles.
Strengthen your capacity to show up with patients, clients, and team members in a more grounded, authentic way.
By bringing mindfulness into the work and world of veterinary care, you’ll not only feel better — you’ll show up better, for yourself, your workplace and the animals and people you serve.
What’s Included in the MBSR Program
The 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course is a structured, evidence-based program designed to help participants cultivate awareness, reduce stress, and live with greater ease.
Each session builds on the last, weaving together guided practice, reflection, and group dialogue in a supportive, interactive environment. Please make sure you can attend all 8 weeks.
You can expect:
Guided Mindfulness Practices
Including sitting meditation, body scan, and gentle mindful movement to help you connect more deeply with your body and breath.
Weekly Live Sessions
Two-hour, synchronous online sessions each week where Heather guides you through mindfulness practices and group discussions — not pre-recorded, but live and engaging.
Daily Home Practice
Short, accessible mindfulness exercises (10-20 min) designed to fit into busy clinic life and support integration into routine. Clinic-specific practices that can be used during your work day (1-2 min) and shared with your team.
Veterinary-Specific Group Sharing and Reflection
Opportunities to ask questions, share experiences, and learn from others in a safe, non-judgmental space.
Silent Retreat
Between week 6 and 7 there is a half-day silent retreat held online on Sunday February 15, from 1-5pm Atlantic Time Zone
Practical Learning Topics
Each week explores a key theme, such as:
-
Awareness and autopilot
-
Perception and stress reactivity
-
Responding vs. reacting
-
Mindful communication
-
Working with difficult emotions and pain
-
Cultivating compassion and self-care
Community Connection
Join a community of fellow veterinary professionals — a network of support outside the clinic.
Participants who succesfully complete the program by attending all classes and the silent retreat will receive MBSR certification.
About Your Facilitator
Heather is the co-owner of Nature Space Resort in beautiful St. Peter’s Harbour, PEI, and the owner of AwareVet Veterinary Consulting. She is a veteriarian and served as the Hospital Director and Assistant Dean at the Atlantic Veterinary College for nearly a decade. She actively practiced in large and small animal medicine for more than a decade before going to academia. She is still an adjunct professor at AVC, and continues to see clients as a relief veterinarian. She became passionate about mindfulness and wellbeing work nearly 15 years ago and actively taught mindfulness and the MBSR program to veterinarians and the general public as a means to help them manage stress.
She is a certified RYT 200hr Yoga Alliance Teacher (500h currently in process with certifications in Vinyasa, Yin, Yoga Nidra, and Chair Yoga). Heather has actively practiced yoga since 2009, is trained in Mindfulness Meditation (MBSR graduate), and has practiced meditation since 2013. She is also certified as a meditation and mindfulness instructor and is a graduate from Canada’s only graduate-level University program in Mindfulness (Mindfulness Based Teaching and Learning offered from The University of the Fraser Valley). Heather is also a certified MBSR facilitator from the Centre for Mindfulness Studies.
Cancellation Policy
This program can be cancelled 30 days prior to the program for a full refund of your deposit, or 14-29 days for a full refund minus a $25 cancellation fee. Cancellations made within 14 days of the program are non-refundable and the entire cost of the program is billed at that time to your credit card.
No refunds are issued should you become ill during the course or be unable to attend classes.