Dr Cathy Warburton
BSc, BVMS, MVS, TAA,
Dip Pos Psych and Well-being

Cathy graduated from Murdoch University in 1989 as a veterinarian. She worked as a clinician, trainer and manager in private, university and corporate practices for 25 years, mostly in the pressure cooker environment of Emergency and Critical Care.

Cathy’s experiences and those of the people around her, clearly demonstrated the way that veterinary work can be both rewarding and enjoyable, AND stressful and emotionally exhausting. There were times in her career where the rewards predominated and others where burnout prevailed.

In 2014, Cathy realigned to focus on the concept of well-being in the veterinary industry. She now sees her role as creating the space and safety to have conversations that explore the big questions of our lives as humans working in the veterinary industry. Questions such as; What makes for a great day and how do we have more of them? And what is the pattern behind difficult times and how do we better manage them? These conversations can happen at the level of the group, individual or workplace.

Cathy brings to the conversations, her curiosity and compassion. She combines this with a commitment to walking alongside and encouraging each individual to uncover their strengths, their values and their interests. She sees this self-awareness and acceptance as the prerequisite to crafting a career and life that brings satisfaction and well-being.

The experiences and training that inform Cathy’s work are her long involvement with the industry and a humanistic outlook intermingled with training in positive psychology, coaching, group work, spiritual care and meaning-centred therapy. Cathy is a Mental Health First Aider. She is based in Melbourne, Australia.