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

Strengthening Mental Resilience w/Jess Adam

·51 min·2 clips

Mandi Bautel opens with Jess Adams. Jess, who runs Handlers and Humans and works as both a licensed professional counselor and a professor of counseling psychology, brings a bridge between the dog world and mental health support for dog trainers and dog owners. Dio matters here. Jess's own path into this work was shaped by her reactive dog and the strain of living through that experience, which gave her a direct feel for how much emotion sits inside dog care. Burnout comes up fast. The conversation stays with the ways dog professionals absorb what their clients feel, carry responsibility beyond the training plan, and end up stretched thin by the care that drew them into the field. Longevity becomes the real question. Jess argues that trainers need to shape their business, schedule, and daily life around the feeling they want their life to have, even when that means choosing structures that look different from what other trainers do. Different is allowed. It may feel uncomfortable to protect personal time, self-care, and a way of working that does not always demand more, but the episode keeps pressing on the idea that discomfort is not the same thing as failure. The logistics stay in the room. Getting a domain, setting up a schedule, and handling financial chores are not brushed aside, but they sit inside a bigger question about whether the whole system drains a person or leaves room to keep going. The therapist comparison lands. Jess draws a clear parallel between dog training and private practice counseling, where caring deeply can make people answer every urgent message, even when that reflex is not actually good for the client or the professional. Boundaries matter here. Jess says that stepping back from the 3 a.m. panic email does more than protect the trainer, because it gives the client a chance to build the skills and confidence the work is meant to grow. The tone stays warm. Mandi and Jess keep the exchange conversational, open-ended, and a little messy in the best way, with plenty of overlap between business logistics, emotional labor, burnout, and the practical ways people try to stay functional. It ends with more to say. The show closes by pointing listeners to Handlers and Humans and Jess's website, which makes this feel like part of a larger ongoing conversation about care, capacity, and what sustainable work in the dog world actually asks for.

As heard by us

A grounded look at burnout, boundaries, and making dog work sustainable.

Strengthening Mental Resilience with Jess Adams looks at the emotional cost of dog work: burnout, overextension, and the reflex to answer every panic with another yes.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You need a steadier way to think about burnout in dog work.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Leashed Mind Podcast, Mental Health & Dog Training