Pet Loss Psychology

From the moment pets come into our lives, we know the day will arrive when we have to say farewell. Still, we are never emotionally prepared for the last adieu. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing, offering warmth and sound advice on how to cope with the death of your pet.

This award-winning book has been hailed as the seminal work in the field. And now the fourth newly revised and expanded edition offers so much more to the bereaving pet owner. This edition also includes a significant new way of considering the meaning of afterlife for us and our pets. It discusses the topic from a 21st-century scientific perspective that is very different from existing religious or metaphysical ones, offering a new comfort to skeptics and agnostics as well.

While grief is a normal, healthy response to losing a beloved pet, it is important to work through its various stages and eventually find a way to move forward. Understanding the depth of your bond and learning to celebrate rather than mourn your years together helps memorialize your pet. It also equips you with perspective and the capacity to love again. This book is your compassionate and comforting guide throughout the healing process—an understanding companion as you explore the depths of your grief. The journey to peace and recovery starts here.

Embark on a journey of healing as we explore the depths of pet loss together. In the midst of sorrow, find solace and compassionate guidance to navigate the intricate path of grief.

Following deaths, divorces, or the confusion of major relocation, many adults tell their children “don’t feel bad”. In fact, say the authors of the highly praised The Grief Recovery Handbook, feeling bad or sad is precisely the appropriate emotion attached to sad events. Encouraging a child to bypass grief without completion can cause unseen long-term damage.

A few years ago Alexis Fleming was bedridden with a chronic illness. Things became so bad that she wanted to end her life many times during this period - but her beloved dog, Maggie, kept her going, especially when doctors gave her just six weeks to live. Incredibly, Alexis fought her way back to health with Maggie by her side, only for Maggie to die of lung cancer two years later on a vet's operating table.