“I have always been fascinated by the world of animals. What fascinated me about them is that when you pay attention to animals, this is a world beyond words. Words are not part of their world, so you start paying attention to movement, to breath, to reaction, to the pause, all these things, and I found it fascinating… Certainly, in veterinary medicine, as any type of clinical medical practice, if a patient comes to you, there’s always things that you can do. You can take a blood sample, you can do a radiograph, you can give oxygen, you can give certain treatments. There’s always a solution that you can give, a fix. Psychoanalysis is very, very different. I haven’t successfully overcome the urge to fix, but I have come to realize that solutions that are given too early are oftentimes not usable. So, as a clinical veterinarian, most of my solutions were usable. That’s not what happens in psychoanalysis.”
Michele Gaspar, DVM,MA,LCPC
Chicago
Episode Description:
Michele begins with sharing her life-long fascination with animals. As a veterinarian she learned to attend to the nonverbal and to the triadic aspects of veterinary medicine – clinician, animal and owner. She noted that owners often communicate their own distress through their animal’s behavior. She learned that “animals don’t require you to be brilliant but to pay attention” – certainly relevant to psychoanalysis. In addition to describing her ongoing practice of Zen meditation, she shared with us the challenges of changing mindsets from medical intervening to analytic listening, “This shift – from resolving not knowing to working within it – has been a central aspect of my development.” We discuss the role of suffering and mourning, which relates to her Catholic background, and the importance of the body both in her veterinary and psychoanalytic work. She closes with an example of an analysand crying out for help with her acutely ill pet and recognizing that “you can help me.”
Our Guest:
Michele Gaspar is an advanced candidate at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis (CCP). She currently has a private psychoanalytic psychotherapy practice in Chicago, provides feline internal medicine consultations to clinical veterinarians through the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) and works with veterinarians and veterinary students who have professional and personal challenges. Michele lectures at national veterinary conferences on psychological issues impacting veterinarians and also teaches Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory and Introduction to Object Relations in CCP’s two-year Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Certificate Program.
Recommended Reading:
The Other Family Doctor Karen Fine, DVM
A thoughtful exploration of veterinary medicine as relationship-centered work. Fine illustrates how veterinarians routinely encounter attachment, grief, caregiving, guilt, and love through their work with animals and the people who care for them.
Animals in Translation Temple Grandin, PhD
Grandin explores how animals perceive and experience the world, challenging readers to understand minds that communicate differently from our own. The book offers insights into observation, empathy, nonverbal communication, and the challenge of understanding another subjective experience.
How Animals Grieve Barbara J. King, PhD
Drawing on scientific observations and research, King examines evidence of grief and mourning across species. The book raises important questions about attachment, loss, emotional bonds, and the continuity between human and animal experiences of bereavement.
All Creatures Great and Small James Herriot
A beloved memoir of rural veterinary practice that captures the joys, frustrations, humor, and heartbreak of caring for animals and their owners. Herriot’s stories reveal veterinary medicine as a deeply human profession grounded in relationships, responsibility, and compassion.
The Wisdom of Insecurity Alan Watts
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When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of
Animals Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, PhD and Susan McCarthy
An influential exploration of animal emotional life, including grief, joy, attachment, fear, and affection. The book invites readers to consider the emotional complexity of animals and what their experiences may teach us about our own.
The Loss of a Pet Wallace Sife, PhD
A foundational work on companion animal bereavement. Sife examines the profound attachment people form with their animals and the often-underappreciated grief that accompanies their illness and death.