Enrollment is closed.

Tuition: $66 ($59 early bird special if enrolled by April 26, 2023) * Students currently enrolled in an AVMA accredited or CVMA approved Veterinary Technician Program may be eligible to receive a 50% discount off the regular rate for this course (upon verification of student status).

Course Information:
Do you feel stuck in your communication patterns when dealing with challenging conversations or conflicts? Do you ever feel as if you have had the same conversation with your spouse/parent/child/boss/client/coworker over and over, but nothing ever changes? These communication tools - empathy and reflective listening - could be just what you are looking for to change the outcome of your interactions. Participants will learn the difference between empathy and other communication tools such as sympathy, solving, consoling, or questioning. Empathy is a valuable communication tool for diffusing challenging interactions, particularly when the other person is very emotional or upset. Reflective listening tips are an essential tool for clarifying other’s needs and diffusing emotional communications. Participants will learn about these techniques and have the opportunity to practice during real time sessions. This course will teach important communication tools for the workplace as well as everyday life.

• Consider your own communication style in times of stress or conflict.
• Learn about empathy, what it is as well as what it is not.
• Discuss when empathy and reflective listening are most effective.
• Discover how to recognize your choices in communication.
• Learn how to clarify what you are observing, feeling, and needing.
• Learn how to recognize when you are making judgments and applying labels, which hamper communication.
• Learn to listen for the other person’s needs and requests.
• Practice using empathy and reflective listening as the listener and as the speaker.
• Consider when these tools are most effective and learn how they shift the speaker’s mindset.
• Learn how to recognize your feelings, state your needs, and make specific requests.
• Examine how empathy is related to compassion, as well as compassion fatigue.
• Explore finding a way to express our own needs that doesn’t provoke defensiveness in others.

RACE Credit Approval: This program has been approved for 3 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval.(20-938051)
This course is approved by VHMA for CVPM credit.

Week 2 (Real Time Session May 24): Using Empathy and Reflective Listening as the Listener and the Speaker
Recommended reading: Nonviolent Communication-A Language of Compassion: Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 10
This session will provide the opportunity to practice using empathy and reflective listening, distinguishing empathic responses from other communication styles. We will consider conversations where these tools are most effective and how they can shift the speaker and the listener’s mindset. Receiving the other person’s words as an opportunity will be discussed. Expressing your own needs in a manner that doesn’t create defensiveness and making effective requests will also be explored.

Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course. To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

Enrollment is closed.

Tuition: $66 ($59 early bird special if enrolled by April 26, 2023) * Students currently enrolled in an AVMA accredited or CVMA approved Veterinary Technician Program may be eligible to receive a 50% discount off the regular rate for this course (upon verification of student status).

1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
3. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext.792 or email VSPNCE. Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.