FAQs
About Pet Loss, Grief & Spiritual Support
Is it normal to grieve as deeply for a pet as for a human?
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Yes, and studies are starting to confirm it. The bond between a person and their animal companion activates the same neurological and emotional pathways as any profound love. Research in psychology recognizes pet loss as a form of disenfranchised grief, meaning it is frequently minimized by society even though the pain is completely real and valid. You do not need to justify the depth of your sorrow. What you are feeling is proportional to the love you shared.
Why does no one seem to understand how much I'm hurting?
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Pet grief is one of the most misunderstood losses in our culture. Friends and family may say things like "it was just a dog" or "you can always get another cat". Not out of cruelty, but because they haven't experienced this kind of bond. Some folks just weren’t taught how to grieve with intention or embodiment. Working with a spiritual advisor who specializes in pet loss means you'll finally be in a space where your grief doesn't need explanation or defense. It is witnessed, honored, and held. I can deeply relate to this emotion, as I was intensely moved by my own soul cat’s passing. I mourned him from the first day I brought him home. Not because he was sick, but because I couldn’t imagine a life without Armin from that point forward.
Can spiritual beliefs help me cope with the loss of my pet?
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For many people, yes — profoundly so. A broadly spiritual perspective can offer comfort through the possibility that love does not end at death, that your animal's spirit continues in some form, and that the bond you shared is not broken by physical loss. In my body of work, we honor whatever spiritual framework resonates with you — whether that includes signs from your pet, a sense of their continued presence, prayer, meditation, ritual, or simply a felt sense that love persists. There is no one right way to grieve spiritually.
My views are non-denominational, but I do have a belief system built around nature, astrology, animism, and other eclectic spiritual views. If you’re someone who doesn’t identify with any religion, you’re still welcome here.
What is disenfranchised grief, and does it apply to pet loss?
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Disenfranchised grief is grief that society fails to fully acknowledge or validate. Pet loss almost always falls into this category. Because our culture does not routinely offer bereavement leave, memorial rituals, or open mourning space for the loss of animals, many people suffer in silence — or worse, feel shame for their grief.
Specialized pet loss spaces directly address this by creating a container where your loss is treated with the same weight and care it deserves. You’re able to shift the feeling of “what’s wrong with me” into something more grounding, sacred, and move through it with intention.
How can I contact you?
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You can reach me anytime via my contact page or email. I aim to respond quickly—usually within one business day. The best way to reach me is via email, but I post when I’m unavailable, traveling, or experiencing communication delays on my Instagram.
Spiritual Signs, Visitations & Connection After Loss
Can I still feel connected to my pet after they pass away?
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Many people do, and it is more common than you might think. People frequently report sensing their pet's presence, dreaming vividly about them, seeing meaningful symbols (a butterfly, a specific song on the radio, a flash of fur at the edge of their vision), or simply feeling a warmth that seems to carry their animal's aura. In our work together, we create space to explore these experiences without judgment.
Whether you interpret them as spiritual communications, the mind's loving processing of loss, or something in between, they are meaningful and worth honoring. I personally love it when I see the signal that I asked my late cat to send me, and I’ll never forget the moment that I first got the message!
I've been receiving what feel like signs from my pet. Is that real?
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Many grievers receive what feel like “glimmers” or “winks” — meaningful coincidences, dreams, sensory experiences, or moments of sudden peace that seem connected to their beloved animal. Whether these are spiritual messages, the subconscious mind's way of maintaining connection, or something beyond our full understanding, they are experienced as truth. You don't have to explain or defend them.
In our sessions, you are welcome to share these moments and explore what they mean to you.
How do I cope with the feeling that my pet's spirit is still with me?
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This felt sense of continued presence is a beautiful and often healing part of grief. Rather than suppressing it or questioning it, my work can help you cultivate it intentionally. I explore this with clients through ritual, meditation, memory work, letter writing, and other practices that preserve and celebrate your bond.
Many clients find that consciously honoring the ongoing connection actually helps them move forward with greater peace, rather than staying stuck in pain.
Is there a way to communicate with my pet after they've passed?
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Anticipatory Grief & End-of-Life Support
What is anticipatory grief, and am I experiencing it?
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How do I know when it's the right time to let my pet go?
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I'm overwhelmed with guilt about the euthanasia decision.
Is this normal?
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Some people find comfort in practices that invite a sense of ongoing communication, like journaling letters to their pet, meditating with their animal's photo or belongings nearby, or working with an animal communicator/medium (of which I have personal references for and would be happy to share via an inquiry on my contact page).
In our sessions, I can guide you through exercises designed to deepen your sense of connection and help you receive whatever peace or clarity feels available to you. I approach this work with openness, curiosity, and deep respect for your own beliefs.
Anticipatory grief is the grief you feel before a loss actually happens. When you know that your animal companion is aging, ill, or facing a terminal diagnosis. It includes the sorrow, anxiety, guilt, and emotional exhaustion of watching your beloved decline. It is entirely real grief, and it deserves support. You don't have to wait until after the loss to get help.
Many people find that working with a facilitator before and during their animal's final chapter makes the actual loss more bearable. And helps them give their pet a more peaceful, intentional ending.
This is one of the most painful questions a pet parent can face, and there is no single answer. Quality-of-life assessments, honest conversations with your veterinarian, and your own deep knowing about your animal are all part of the picture. In conversations around this specific chapter, we work through this question together. We’ll explore your animal's experience, your values, your fears, and what a "good death" looks like for both of you. The goal is not to tell you what to do, but to help you arrive at a decision that honors your animal and that you can stand behind with peace.
Completely.
I was so confused that I could barely move or talk, even when “the day” came.
Guilt is one of the most common and most painful emotions in pet loss, especially when euthanasia is involved. The mind can spin endlessly: Did I do it too soon? Did I wait too long? Did they know I loved them?
This guilt, while understandable, is often distorted thinking rather than truth. In our sessions, we gently examine these thoughts, reframe them, and work toward a place of peace. Most people who have walked this road discover that they did the most loving thing possible — and our work together helps you find and hold onto that truth.
My pet received a terminal diagnosis.
Where do I even start?
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Behavioral Euthanasia
What is behavioral euthanasia, and why is the grief so complicated?
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I chose behavioral euthanasia and I feel like no one understands my grief. Can you help?
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What makes your approach to pet loss counseling different?
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Start by taking a breath.
Seriously, the deepest breath you’ve taken all day.
My experience with anticipatory pet grief, and the framework I created, is designed for exactly this moment. When the diagnosis has arrived, and you don't know how to hold everything you're feeling.
Together, we create a plan: for your animal's end-of-life care, for your own emotional support, and for how you want to say goodbye. Clients who invest in this work consistently report that the process, while still painful, feels more intentional, more peaceful, and less consumed by regret.
Behavioral euthanasia is the decision to end an animal's life due to serious behavioral issues like aggression, severe anxiety, or other conditions that make it unsafe or impossible to manage the animal without significant risk. It is one of the most agonizing decisions a pet parent can make, because the animal is not physically ill — and yet the situation may leave no other ethical path forward.
The grief is layered with guilt, shame, second-guessing, and often a lack of support from others who don't understand the complexity.
Yes. This is some of the most complex grief I work with, and it is something I am deeply committed to holding with care. Your grief is real. Your love for your animal was real. And the decision you made, however agonizing, came from a place of responsibility, honesty, and love.
Together, we work through the layers of guilt and shame, examine the distorted thinking that keeps you stuck, and move toward a place where you can hold both the pain of the decision and the truth of your love. You do not have to carry this alone.
In my group containers, we discuss how important it is to approach this topic with sensitivity and without shame. You are always welcome to work with me, no matter what kind of pet grief you’re sitting with.
Working With Courtney
First off, I am not a licensed mental health therapist. Instead, I bring together years of astrological chart reading, deep personal experience with pet loss, and a broadly spiritual perspective that honors the fullness of the human-animal bond.
I don't pathologize grief or rush you toward "moving on." Instead, we work at your pace, with your beliefs, toward a life that carries your animal's love forward. A feeling that is transformed but not erased. I hold space for the spiritual dimensions of your experience alongside the emotional and practical ones.
Do I have to have a specific spiritual belief to work with you?
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Not at all. My approach is spiritually inclusive and entirely non-dogmatic. Whether you have a strong faith tradition, consider yourself spiritual but not religious, are agnostic, or simply open to the possibility that love continues beyond death — all of that is welcome here. We work within your framework, not mine. In working with me, you’ll find that I encourage you to adapt my framework to your own belief system. I love when my clients find a space that’s spiritually and energetically aligned with their embodiment.
I will say that if working with astrology, rituals, tarot cards, meditation, yoga, or nature-based spirituality makes you uncomfortable, my work might not be for you.
How long does pet loss grief typically take to heal from?
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Can I start any programs or have a private consultation
before my pet has died?
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Grief is deeply individual, and there is no fixed timeline. Most clients work with me for three to six months, typically meeting weekly. Some move through the process more quickly; others need more time, especially with complex losses like behavioral euthanasia or long anticipatory periods.
My goal is always to get you to a place where you have the tools and inner resources to carry your grief (and your love) forward on your own.
My work fits into your pace. I know during grief we want a concrete timeline, but in my experience, it’s best to approach this without limitations.
Absolutely, and I strongly encourage it.
Anticipatory counseling is one of the most powerful investments you can make in both your well-being and your animal's end-of-life experience. The clients who do this work before the final goodbye consistently have an easier adjustment afterward, less regret, and a clearer sense that they honored their animal fully.
I created my anticipatory pet grief framework through my own experience. It was something I majorly struggled with.