ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the experience of animal companion loss. Because the number of animal adoptions is increasing across all cultures and ethnicities, with nearly 70 percent of American homes having at least one animal, the problem of untreated grief associated with animal companion loss will likely only increase. Therefore, it is likely that clinicians will encounter this issue in their practices. Paradoxically, the majority view that animals are family members has not resulted in increased attention to the impact of their deaths, which may be considerable. Due to the lack of resources to support steward grief for their animal companions (absence of societal acknowledgment and associated rituals), such grief may continue, with negative impacts on mental health. Clinicians may not give sufficient focus to such grief, not understanding its significance. Clients, already feeling shame for deeply mourning an animal, may not offer such information unless asked. Questions are posed to clinician readers that may help them locate their current perspective on this issue. The chapter concludes with an encouraging call to action to mental health practitioners and educators to increase awareness of this form of disenfranchised grief by including animal family members in initial assessments, developing curriculums to train future mental health practitioners on animal companion grief, and strengthening community bonds by extending their clinical expertise to this underserved population. The benefits of doing so are presented.
