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New Outlook for Coping With the Loss of a Pet

by Dr. Jayashree Gopinath on Nov 26 2022 10:57 PM
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 New Outlook for Coping With the Loss of a Pet
Counselors should consider new perspectives in their practice when working with clients who are grieving the loss of their pet, according to a new review published in the CABI journal Human-Animal Interactions.
The research highlights how during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was more opportunity for people to spend longer with their pets, relying on them to help maintain a sense of normality and provide security during periods of isolation. However, grieving the loss of a pet continues to be disenfranchised in society.

Dealing With the Loss of a Pet: Why Is It So Painful?

The present review builds on research in the fields of pet loss and human bereavement and factors in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human-animal attachment.

The goal of the present review is to provide counselors with perspectives to consider in their practice when working with clients who have attachments to their companion animals.

It also aims to acknowledge the therapeutic benefits of working through the grief process to resolution as a way to continue the bond with a deceased pet.

The stigma associated with grieving a loss can complicate the healing process and counselors would expect to see more clients wanting to discuss their grieving – particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They add that while empathy may come more naturally when discussing human loss, other types of loss are not acknowledged or given a similar amount of attention by society. This includes death by suicide, a lost pregnancy/miscarriage, death from AIDS, and the death of a pet.

When relationships are not valued by society, individuals are more likely to experience grief after a loss that cannot be resolved, which may become complicated grief.

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The major goals of this review are to provide counselors with an aspect to consider in their therapeutic work with clients dealing with grief and loss and to present different factors that may impact how one grieves the loss of a pet.

It also discusses considerations for counseling that can be utilized to foster a supportive and non-judgmental space where clients’ expressions of grief are validated.

Feel free to Share your Grief on the Death of a Pet

When an individual loses a pet, it can be a traumatic experience, especially given the strength of attachment, the role the pet played in the life of the individual, as well as the circumstances and type of loss.

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Giving a voice to individuals grieving a disenfranchised loss is one way in which counselors can help clients through pet loss. It is also important to integrate pet loss work into counseling interventions and coping strategies that are already being used in the therapeutic space.

Researchers believe that group counseling sessions in person or web-based chatrooms can both work as healing spaces for those working through grief.

Counselors can also engage both children and adults who are navigating pet loss by providing them with supplies and space to paint, draw, or use figures to draw out their anxieties and fears about the loss, they state.

In conclusion, they argue that understanding the grief process of pet owners can better prepare professionals to foster non-judgmental spaces where clients can feel open to displaying their grief.

Furthermore, providing empathy and validating the feelings that any type of loss of a pet can create for the clients may lead to more open sharing among the community, further enhancing the healing process and a possible societal shift in the recognition of grieving pet loss as a normative experience.



Source-Eurekalert


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