The Grief Recovery Handbook for Pet Loss

This is a great book to have to be able to read after loosing your beloved family pet. I know because I've gone through it recently enough and this wasn't the only book I turned to besides an animal communicator. I have a dog business and one of my first customers had gotten a golden retriever at 6 months old and he passed away last December at 14 yrs old and I was like his 2nd mom besides his owner. I was very close to him because I had him practically every day and was there when he took his last breath. During his formative years while my golden was still alive, her golden picked up alot of my goldens mannerisms and sorta took his place after his passing. And the funny thing was they both had the same exact name! And she and I have become BFF through the years almost like both of our "CODY'S" brought us together. When someone looses their pet, especially when I knew how much she loved him, I know better than anyone how she was feeling and I know what they need to help heal their heart. Its a very sensitive time and if one has never had such a devastating loss, they are better off not saying anything, especially "it's only a dog"!! type of people who don't get it. Along with being there for her tenderly, I got this book for her to look through at her leisure and when she finally did, she couldn't thank me enough. People need support from others who have gone through the same thing and that loved their dog in the same way. And I understand how gutt wrenching the loss of a pet can be. Its horrible to say but its just as devastating or even more so in some cases than loosing a human being. This book was very, very helpful and it lets you know that you are not the only one the grieves for the loss of your pet and that so many others out there feel the exact same way and they love their pet as much as we love ours and still do and will always love and miss them until were together again someday. Thank you.

Continues the work started with the Grief Recovery Handbook to include dealing with Pet Loss. An area where many people are told just get another one, this book acknowledges the intense loss as well as how to recover and get your life back while still honoring your lost pet. Great book, even better for parents with children so we don't set them up to think with their brain, when it is their heart that hurts.

Having just lost a beloved dog that helped cement my relationship with my other half and grieving over her loss with great guilt and severe emotional pain, I saw this book suggested in various forums. I read it rapidly over the course of a few hours with great relief. The process outlined in the book was unwittingly begun by myself and I will now have the tools to finish my completion process to make daily life less painful. Being able to feel assured that my pain is not the only way to stay connected to the best dog I have ever owned has been freeing and having some tools to handle my crushing guilt has been very productive. The loss is no less sad, but the painful aspect is much improved. I should add that I am a lifelong animal lover who has been forced to say goodbye to many, many pets and who has never felt the kind of pain this loss caused me. This was a very big help to me as someone in new territory despite having owned pets all my life.

I love The effective way the Grief Recovery Institute teaches to deal with emotional pain so as to move beyond and really recover. Now John and Cole James with Russell Friedman do it again. They wrote a book that in a sensitive way lead grievers. Many pet owners try to dismiss their sorrow or hideout, minimize it, fearful that they will be judged and critizices as it was "only" a pet. Sadly this wron idea keeps them trapped. This book provides the tools to reclaim a plentiful life. Good for them and a big thank you to the authors.

I use this book with clients who have lost a pet. Our vet recommends it! Who taught you how to grieve? Do you just replace an animal? That won't help your broken heart. Pets are an important part of our lives and hearts.

I keep Grieving books for loss of cats and dogs on hand to give away to friends who have lost a pet or are worrying about the possiblity of their elderly sick pet passing soon. The author Russell Friedman also has a human grieving book and a course that is offered in some areas for people who have recently lost a spouse. I have a neice who is bi-polar and has two 14 year old cats who she is sure are going to die soon and she just doesn't think she will be able to handle their passing. I asked what she had done to prepare herself for this happening. I sent her one of these books to help her prepare. I have no idea if it helped or she even read it, but she thanked me for sending it.

If you’ve found yourself almost inconsolable after your pet died, please know that you’re normal. If you’ve found that your family and friends don’t seem to understand the level of your grief, please know that, too, is normal. Without comparing our relationships with our pets to those with people, we know that, because of the unique emotional relationships we have with our pets, their deaths produce a level of pain that is difficult to describe. If you relate to any or all of these sentences, this book is for you.I have lent my copy to several friends and have purchased for friends who are not close. This book helps.

This method may work for some, but I'm not sure it really helped me that much. The book takes you through a series of exercises which culminates in you writing a letter to your pet, according to a very specific formula involving "incomplete" emotional communications. I think the general idea of writing a letter to a deceased loved one is a good technique, but I'm not sure that these specific directions were the best way to go about it. There isn't really any research/evidence to back up these techniques, other than the anecdotal evidence that it worked for the authors themselves. I was a bit bothered by the way the authors seem to stress that their method is the only way to heal one's grief, and I think I would have preferred to see it presented simply as one possible strategy that may help some people. Everyone is different, so I think this book could be helpful to some people, but I guess I'm not one of them.

After hearing how effective this method has been for some people dealing with the loss of a loved one, I bought their book on pet loss immediately after our beloved cat died. It really helped me feel like there were people out there who understood the particular pain of losing a pet and how isolating that kind of grief can feel. Doing the exercises in the book in order and as directed did significantly help with some of the incredibly painful feelings I was having around the loss. I feel like I'm processing my grief in a healthy way and don't think I'd be where I am a few weeks on without the help of this book. Highly recommend! (Also, I don't know if I have a different edition than the person who complained that the book was full of mistakes and typos, but I only noticed two. I make my living as a copy editor, and two minor mistakes in a monograph is really not bad. Please don't let that review put you off.)

Eccellente libro a completamento della serie di testi del Grief Recovery Institute. Io Sono formata e certificata al Grief Recovery Institute e nella mia pratica quotidiana nell'applicazione di questo metodo, riscontro continuamente l'efficacia della proposta e la solidità del metodo. Mancava la parte sulla perdita dei nostri amici animali, che ci coinvolge sempre moltissimo e si tende a sottovalutare l'impatto emotivo nelle nostre vite in termini di emozioni non dette, dolore che condiziona la nostra felicità. Lettura consigliata a chiunque sappia di cosa stiamo parlando, ai genitori che devono affrontare questa esperienza con i propri figli o agli educatori che lo affrontano con alunni.

This is my sixth book on pet loss and bereavement I've read since my beautiful and most precious cat, Mittens, had to be put to sleep on 19th December 2019. I miss him terribly & feel devastated. This book addresses the matter of how you feel, giving practical advice on how to heal and have better insight into the dealing with the loss of your beloved pet. I have had three rabbits and three cats over the years since I was 8 and the pain doesn't get any easier. But this book is so sensitively and intelligently written. One of the best I've read on the subject. Very helpful.

This topic is a completely undervalued in society. Losing a furry family member is heartwrenching. This book has a very locigal and practical recovery method for helping a person to deal with all loss. It introduced me to grief recovery and was fabulous.

Really good read. Great for those who are struggling with pet loss or have been through it in the past. Gives you great insight into yourself, your relationships with your pets and those around you. Highly recommended.