For many people, coping with the death of a much loved pet is one of the most difficult and challenging experiences in life. Counselling support helps ease the pain of grief and provides a safe and confidential environment to give you the understanding and guidance you need to have a healthy grieving process and work through any difficult emotions and issues.

Grief over Pet Death

david-foote2Most of us form a deep attachment to our pets based on strong emotional bonds. There simply is no substitute for the unique, loving and powerful bond we enjoy with our animal companions. Consequently, most people feel intense grief when their pet dies and for many people, coping with the death of a pet can be one of the most distressing and difficult experiences of life.

For pet owners the grieving process can be especially difficult as society in general does not validate grief over pets. As a result we can end up feeling alone in our grief and embarrassed or even ashamed to express it, which only makes a difficult time even more so.

Experiencing Grief

The experience of grief is deeply personal and depends on a range of factors including circumstances around the death, the significance of your pet in your life, concurrent crises or problems, availability of support and your previous experiences of grief.

Initially, you may find yourself experiencing shock and disbelief as you struggle to accept that your pet has died. Grief is always an intense experience emotionally and it can often feel overwhelming just living with the range of emotions that arise. Intense sadness is the core of grief but other emotions are usually interwoven with it including guilt, longing, regret, despair, relief, loneliness and anger. Guilt can be particularly hard to deal with. The nature of grief is unpredictable so you can be feeling alright one minute and distressed and upset the next with or without an obvious trigger.

It is hard to know how those around you, even your partner or close friends, will react to your grief. They may respond in an unintentionally unhelpful way due to their own discomfort, lack of knowledge in how to support you or in an attempt to shift you out of your pain. You may end up feeling like no one understands or thinking that you have to pretend everything is fine.

Coping

shutterstock_83265154The challenges of grief are many from living in such an intense maelstrom of emotions, coping with physical and emotional exhaustion, trying to carry out your normal roles and duties, and adjusting to life without your treasured companion. The foundation of a healthy grieving process lies in giving expression over time to all of the feelings that arise in a safe and supportive environment. It is important to not minimize or try to suppress your grief.

Look for genuinely caring, non-judgemental support in those around you. It is best to avoid the company of those who, although they may mean well, want to “fix” your grief and make you “better again”. Remember that this is a process that takes time. Allow yourself the freedom to do whatever it is you need to do – take time off work, be alone, spend more time with special people, go to special places. Try to avoid using alcohol or drugs to cope as they will only make things worse.

Finding your own special ways to memorialise and honour your pet will help your grieving process.If you do not have healthy support, find it difficult to reach out or are feeling overwhelmed it will help to talk to a pet bereavement counsellor.

For consultations or enquiries

 Mob: 0425 281 424

Email: david@davidfoote.com.au