Almost every client I’ve ever worked with has expressed concern about wanting a peaceful death for their animals, many doing everything they possibly could to make this happen. Overall, what animals have said they appreciated most from their people regarding their death was not necessarily [read more]

Some years ago I was shown once again by animals that it is only through love, through the portal of the heart, that we come together as fellow souls, to communicate what is most important to one another and to grow in intimacy and harmony. [read more]

There exists a longstanding prejudice in most cultures that we should not love animals as much or more 
 than we love people. And, that if we have extraordinarily close relationships with animals
 something is wrong with our ability to relate healthily to humans. 
 [read more]

 We mark with light in our memory the few relationships we have had with souls that made our souls wiser, that spoke what we thought, that told us what we know, that gave us leave to be what we inly were. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson [read more]

It was time for Ryan (my golden retriever and best friend) to go. He had lived 14 wise and wonderful years by my side and we were reluctant to part. We finally agreed that if he couldn’t go on his own over the weekend, I [read more]

Experiencing the pain of grief when we lose a deeply beloved animal is inevitable. However long our grief continues, and whether we feel we are adequately coping with our sorrow or barely able to deal with anguish or despair, every reaction to loss is normal, [read more]

When our beloved animals are very ill, or have already left their physical bodies, it can be quite meaningful and healing to connect with them at the deepest level of their soul, to communicate with them from the deepest level of our emotional hearts. To [read more]

When we work with a counselor about the devastating loss of a loved one, we deserve to feel cared about, that we are in the hands of someone who is compassionate with us, non-judgmental, knowledgeable about grief, and is trained and skilled as a counselor. [read more]

Sometimes, holidays can be a very painful time for people who are experiencing their first (or second or third, etc.) special holiday without their loved one who has died. If this is your situation this holiday season, I hope that the following thoughts and ideas [read more]

In addition to the inevitable anguish that most of us experience when losing a animal loved one, the next most common emotional challenge I hear about with clients is guilt. Those of us who love our animals deeply want to do best by them throughout [read more]