Pet Grief & Loss
Dr. Johnna Medina Daniels
Licensed Psychologist
Expertise:
Addiction, Health Behavior Change, Exercise/Yoga Interventions for Mental Health, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
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A reflective exercise designed to help people process their grief after losing a pet. This reflective handout provides a structured framework for individuals grieving the loss of a beloved pet or "fur baby". Through guided prompts and fill-in-the-blank exercises, you will articulate your feelings, acknowledge the unique circumstances of your grief, and begin processing your loss in a compassionate, self-directed manner. The handout validates the significance of pet loss while creating space for the complex emotions that accompany this special type of grief, helping you honor your relationship with your animal companion and move through your grief journey with greater awareness and self-compassion.
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Learn to name and normalize your unique grief experiences. Become aware and able to articulate your uniquely personal, and perhaps painful and bittersweet, feelings about pet loss through structured reflection.
Learn the difference between complicated and uncomplicated grief reactions to pet loss. If complicated, the handout is meant to initiate self-guided emotional acceptance/experiential processing in situations wherein grief becomes overwhelming or prolonged due to specific loss circumstances.
Develop personalized strategies for honoring the memory of a deceased pet while cultivating acceptance of the loss through self-compassionate self-reflection.
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Gosse, G. H., & Barnes, M. J. (1994). Human grief resulting from the death of a pet. Anthrozoös, 7(2), 103-112.
Kogan, L., & Erdman, P. (2020). Pet Loss, Grief, and Therapeutic Interventions. Routledge.
Spain, B., O’Dwyer, L., & Moston, S. (2019). Pet loss: Understanding disenfranchised grief, memorial use, and posttraumatic growth. Anthrozoös, 32(4), 555-568.