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Facilitator

Kathleen Fitzgerald, MEd, LCMHC

Meet Kathleen

Kathleen Fitzgerald is a dedicated educator, mentor, and certified therapist with over 16 years of experience teaching at Duke University. Her multifaceted career spans the medical school, PA school, and nursing school, where she has profoundly impacted countless healthcare professionals.

Kathleen has her Master’s degree in Education in the areas of Learning Disabilities and Emotional Handicapping Conditions, and a Master’s degree in Education in the area of Counselor Education. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, and has worked with people of all ages, couples, families and groups as a counselor since 2000.

Kathleen’s holistic approach includes helping healthcare professionals:

  • Form meaningful friendships and support networks.
  • Acknowledge and articulate their own somatic and emotional experiences.
  • Understand the Central Nervous System and its normal reactions. Learn basic grounding, orienting, breathing, validation, and emotional regulation techniques.

In her private practice, Kathleen continues to provide personalized support to small groups of doctors, leveraging her extensive experience to foster resilience, emotional regulation, and professional growth.

Kathleen is a pioneering leader in her field with extensive experience in teaching, coaching and counseling medical professionals. Her curriculum offers a truly practical and customized experience for various professional roles each with a tailored focus. 

Medical Students, Interns, and Fellows 

  • Building patient relationships through attentive and attuned interactions.
  • Navigating difficult conversations, such as delivering bad news and discussing lifestyle changes.
  • Recognizing and addressing domestic violence.
  • Developing resilience to combat burnout, grief, despair, and cynicism.
  • Advocating for themselves within a demanding healthcare system.
  • Fostering friendships and valuing the power of relationships.

Physician Assistants (PAs)

With an emphasis on patient care, Kathleen guides students in:

  • Coping with personal and patient trauma.
  • Managing interactions with angry, aggressive, scared, and panicked patients.
  • Employing grounding techniques for themselves and their patients.
  • Addressing and mitigating anxiety.

EMTs and Paramedics

Equipping EMTs and Paramedics with critical skills to handle high-stress situations and patient interactions effectively is paramount in ensuring their ability to deliver high-quality care under pressure. This includes teaching them how to remain calm and composed in emergencies, utilize grounding techniques to manage their own stress, and employ effective communication strategies to de-escalate tense situations. By fostering these essential skills, she empowers EMTs and Paramedics to perform their duties with confidence, compassion, and competence, ultimately improving patient outcomes and their own well-being.

Kathleen’s support for Nurses (NAs, NPs, CNAs, RNs, LPNs) focuses on:

  • Reinforcing their value and preventing loss of self in patient care.
  • Encouraging self-attention and self-care.
  • Listening to and advocating for their own needs.
  • Promoting a sense of being seen and heard to reduce medical errors.
  • Developing teamwork and mutual respect among different branches of the medical system.