Patricia Smith is a certified compassion fatigue specialist and the founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project. She has been speaking and facilitating workshops on the subject nationally and internationally for the past 23 years. She first learned about compassion fatigue as the training and development director at the Humane Society Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. She served as a consultant for American Humane for several years, and then the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in New York City. With a background in journalism, she has authored five books on the subject including Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Handling in Veterinary Practice, published by Grupo Asis, an international publisher of veterinary medicine books and materials. Her clients include the St. Louis Zoo, the University of Tennessee National Veterinary Social Work Department, New York and California state Wildlife Rehabilitators, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the Marine Mammal Center among myriad others. She presented a TEDx talk, Navigating the Path to Wellness: Compassion Fatigue in Caregiving, which can be viewed on her website.