The Leashed Mind Podcast, Mental Health & Dog Training · The Leashed Mind by Woof Cultr©

Showing Up For Yourself w/Colleen Pelar

·43 min·2 clips

Colleen Pillar sits down with Mandi Bautel and walks through a career that began in dog training in 91. The conversation stays warm and open. It moves into burnout and compassion fatigue among pet professionals. Mandi frames Pillar as an established voice on mental health in the training industry. She also notes that Pillar has a podcast on the topic and that the links will be in the show notes. Pillar explains that difficult experiences pushed her to rethink work and life. That rethink is part of why she now focuses on helping pet professionals prioritize mental health. The episode keeps returning to realistic expectations for success. Pillar applies that idea to personal life as well as professional life. She says the same basic logic matters for humans and for the animals they train and care for. A central thread is the question of whether a feeling is yours. Pillar says there is real value in being able to ask that question. She talks about recognizing when something is not yours to carry. If someone has a cold, support does not mean taking on the cold yourself. It means noticing what is there and understanding how it affects the other person. Pillar says she used to know she was picking up other people's energy. What she did not know was that she was holding it as if it were her responsibility. Once she could name that difference, she could leave more of it where it belonged. She says her responsibility is to show up as herself in the best way she can. The conversation lands on mindfulness as a practice that takes time and on a plain kind of care that does not require carrying everyone else's load.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about burnout, compassion fatigue, realistic expectations, and keeping some joy in the work.

Colleen Pillar and Mandi Bautel spend the conversation on burnout, compassion fatigue, and the work of staying clear-headed in pet-professional life.

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Why you'd press play

If other people's energy sticks to you, this one names it and hands you a boundary.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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