A review offers a new perspective on mourning the loss of a pet

A new review published in CABI Human-Animal Interactions provides new insights for counselors to consider in their practice when working with clients who are sick. They are grieving the loss of their pets.

Research highlights how there are more opportunities for people to spend more time with their pets during the covid-19 pandemic provide a sense of normalcy and security during periods of isolation.

An adjunct professor at Rhode Island College, Dr. Michelle Crossley and Colleen Rolland, president of the Pet Loss and Grief Association (APLB) and pet grief expert, suggest that pet caregivers play an important role in their lives. However, they add: The mourning of pet loss continues to lose its importance in society.

“Judgmental perceptions individuals mourning loss without social support Crossley laments. This review is based on research in the field of pet loss and human loss, and factors related to the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on human-animal bonding.”

“One of their goals is to provide counselors with perspectives to consider in their practice when working with clients who are attached to their pets,” he explains. The therapeutic benefits of working on the grieving process until resolved as a way to maintain a bond with a deceased pet”.

The stigma associated with mourning a loss can complicate the healing process and counselors hope to see more clients willing to discuss their grief, especially during the covid-19 pandemic.

While empathy may sound more natural when discussing the loss of a person, other types of disappearances that are not recognized by the community or receive similar attention. These include death by suicide, loss of pregnancy or marriage, death from AIDS, and death of a pet.

Rolland, “when relationships are not valued by society, individuals Experiencing an unfair duel after a loss that cannot be resolved and can turn into a complicated duel”.

“The main purpose of this review is to provide counselors with a topic to consider in their therapeutic work with clients coping with bereavement and loss and to offer different recommendations. Factors that can affect the way a pet suffers the loss”Explain.

“Aspects that can be used for counseling encourage a supportive and non-judgmental space customers’ bitter statements are confirmed,” he adds.

Crossley and Rolland suggest in their review: have a safe space Talking about the meanings of the relationship with the companion animal is helpful for overcoming loss in a supportive environment that leads to resolution of the loss.

Dr Crossley said, “When a person loses a pet, it’s a traumatic experienceespecially given the strength of attachment, the role the animal plays in the person’s life, as well as the circumstances and type of loss.”

“Giving a voice to people who have experienced an unfair loss is one of the ways counselors can help clients cope with pet loss,” she says. “It’s also important. integrate pet loss studies into counseling interventions and coping strategies currently used in the therapeutic field”.

Researchers believe that both face-to-face group counseling sessions and web-based chat rooms can work in the same way. healing fields For those who have been through grief.

Consultants also including children and adults providing them with materials and space to deal with pet loss, using shapes, drawing or using shapes to express their worries and fears about the loss, they say.

In conclusion, both experts are of the opinion that: understanding the grieving process Ratio of pet owners can better prepare practitioners to create non-judgmental spaces where clients can feel open to expressing their grief.

Moreover, empathize and acknowledge feelings What any loss of a pet can bring to clients can lead to a more open exchange within the community that enhances the healing process and possible social change in accepting grief from the loss of a pet as a normative experience.