Confidential counselling for adults, couples, families, and young people grieving the death or loss of a pet, offered in person in Edmonton and St. Albert and virtually across Alberta. Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Canadian Certified Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists.

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You Might Be Wondering Whether Pet Loss Grief Counselling Is Right for You

You may be wondering whether grief over an animal is something you are allowed to bring to a therapist. Maybe you have caught yourself apologizing for how much this hurts. Maybe you have measured your loss against someone else's and decided yours does not qualify. Someone may have already said it was just a dog, or just a cat, and part of you has started to agree with them.

Some of what follows a loss like this is quiet and difficult to explain to other people. You might still reach for a leash that is not by the door. You might feel the house go strange around six o'clock, when the routine used to start. You might replay a decision made in a vet clinic hallway and ask, again and again, whether you chose too soon or waited too long.

Guilt and second-guessing are among the most consistent themes described by people who have lost a pet (Cleary et al., 2022). Grief itself is a normal reaction to losing an attachment, not a sign that something has gone wrong with you (Canadian Psychological Association [CPA], 2025). These reactions reflect how much the relationship mattered and how much of your daily life was built around it.

If you are trying to work out whether talking with someone would be useful, reading on may help you decide. Nothing below assumes you have already made up your mind.

Who We Help

This service may be a good fit if you are:

• grieving after the death of a companion animal, including a death by euthanasia
• carrying guilt about end-of-life decisions, timing, cost, or care you were able to provide
• grieving a pet that went missing, was rehomed, or was lost through a move or a change in circumstances
• finding that your daily routine, sleep, or sense of purpose changed after the loss
• in a household where people are grieving differently and it is causing friction
• supporting a child or teenager through what may be their first experience of death
• reluctant to talk about it at work or with friends because you expect it to be dismissed
• grieving a loss from years ago that has resurfaced

This service may not be the right fit if:

• You are in immediate danger or thinking about ending your life. Please use the crisis resources below. Counselling appointments are scheduled in advance and are not a substitute for emergency care.
• You need a psychological assessment or a formal report. Psychological assessments are a separate service at Wholesome Psychology and are not included in counselling. Counselling sessions do not produce assessments, diagnoses, or reports for third parties.
• You need veterinary or medical guidance. Questions about an animal's illness, treatment, or end-of-life care belong with a veterinarian.
• You need legal advice. Therapy is not a legal service and is not an investigative process. Disputes about an animal's death or care require a lawyer.
• You are looking for a guaranteed timeline or a promise of closure. No therapist can offer that.

If You Need Help Right Now

Wholesome Psychology is not an emergency or crisis service. If you need support immediately, please use one of the following:

• 911 if there is immediate danger to you or someone else, or go to the nearest emergency department
• Alberta Mental Health Help Line: 1-877-303-2642, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 9-8-8, toll free, any time (Canadian Mental Health Association [CMHA], n.d.)
• Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741

What This Service Is

Pet loss grief counselling is a series of private conversations with a regulated mental health professional about the loss of your animal and what has changed since. Sessions may focus on the relationship you had, the circumstances of the loss, guilt or anger that has attached itself to the story, changes to your routine, differences in how family members are coping, or ways of remembering that fit your values. The pace is set by you, not by your therapist.

What this service is not matters just as much. It is not crisis intervention, veterinary care, or legal advice. It is not a psychological assessment, and it does not produce a diagnosis or a report. This page is educational in scope and does not diagnose grief-related conditions.

Formal diagnostic categories for grief do exist in the wider clinical field. The World Health Organization's ICD-11 classification includes prolonged grief disorder, which is defined around the death of a partner, parent, child, or other person close to the bereaved (World Health Organization [WHO], 2025). That category is background context only. It is not applied on this page, and grief after the loss of a pet is not treated here as a disorder.

Sessions are confidential within legal and professional limits, which your therapist will explain before you share anything personal. A fuller explanation appears in the confidentiality section below. Your therapist will also be clear about the limits of their own scope of practice and will refer you elsewhere if something falls outside it.

Signs Grief After the Loss of a Pet May Be Affecting You

People notice this kind of loss in different ways. Some of the following may be familiar, and some may not apply to you at all.

• waves of sadness that arrive suddenly rather than at a steady level
• guilt or repeated second-guessing about end-of-life decisions and their timing
• anger that lands on a vet clinic, on family members, or on yourself
• numbness, or difficulty feeling much of anything
• relief alongside grief after a long illness, and discomfort about feeling relieved
• trouble sleeping, low energy, appetite changes, or difficulty concentrating (CPA, 2025; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health [CAMH], n.d.)
• avoiding walks, parks, the vet clinic, or a room where the pet used to sleep
• pulling away from people who do not seem to understand what this loss meant
• stronger feelings around anniversaries, holidays, or ordinary moments in the old routine

These are common reactions to losing an attachment, not defects in how you are handling things. Canadian public education resources describe grief as an individual process with no fixed timetable, where some people feel steadier within weeks and others take much longer (CMHA, n.d.; CAMH, n.d.). Having several of these experiences does not mean something is permanently wrong with you, and it does not mean you need therapy. It does mean that structured support is available if carrying this alone has become difficult.

How Treatment Works Here

• Find your therapist. You can browse profiles on the Our Therapists page or answer a few questions using the Match with a Therapist tool. If you would rather talk it through with a person, our admin team can help at 780-904-4880.
• Book your first session. The first appointment covers consent and confidentiality, what brought you in, and what you would like support with. You set how much detail you give. Booking is available through our online booking system or by phone.
• Build your plan together. You and your therapist agree on what the work will focus on. Plans are co-created rather than assigned, and you can say when something is not helping.
• Ongoing sessions. Sessions run 50 minutes, typically weekly or every second week, adjusted to suit you. Some people space sessions further apart as things settle.
• Progress check-ins. Your therapist reviews with you how the work is going and what has changed. Plans adapt as your needs change.

There is no fixed number of sessions attached to this service. Therapy here is collaborative, and your view of what is working carries weight at every stage. If you want a fuller walkthrough before you commit to anything, the Getting Started with Therapy page covers the process in more detail.

Evidence and Approaches

The research base for pet loss counselling specifically is thin, and we would rather say so than overstate it. Most of what is known about grief support comes from studies of bereavement after the death of a person. Canadian professional guidance is also direct that grief is a normal response rather than an illness, and that it does not usually require psychological treatment unless safety concerns emerge or grief stops resolving over a long period (CPA, 2025). The same guidance reports that grief interventions delivered immediately after a death have not shown lasting effectiveness, and that bereavement groups can do harm if they treat a person's normal coping style as something to be corrected.

Supportive Grief Counselling

What it helps with: Making room to talk about the relationship, the loss, and the guilt that often travels with it.

Evidence summary: A qualitative systematic review of 19 papers from 17 studies found that bereaved pet owners describe grief comparable to the death of a person, with recurring themes of relationship, grief, guilt, support, and the future (Cleary et al., 2022). Its authors suggest health professionals can respond to bereaved owners much as they would to other bereavement. Canadian public education material describes grief counselling as support when grief becomes hard to carry alone (CMHA, n.d.).

Limitations: That review captured how people described their experience, not treatment outcomes, so it does not show how well counselling works. Responses vary.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Grief-Related Avoidance

What it helps with: Returning to places, routines, and reminders that have become painful to face, such as a walking route, a park, or a room the pet used.

Evidence summary: Canadian professional guidance describes cognitive behavioural therapy aimed at grief avoidance behaviours as one approach used when grief becomes prolonged and stops resolving on its own (CPA, 2025). That guidance reports moderate but lasting benefit for psychological intervention in prolonged grief, while noting that treatment of grief should be approached with caution.

Limitations: This evidence concerns prolonged grief after the death of a person, not pet bereavement specifically. It does not establish that this approach suits every reader, and most people grieving a pet will not need it.

Interpersonal and Relationship-Focused Work

What it helps with: Working through regret, a complicated bond, or the sense that the relationship ended in the wrong way.

Evidence summary: CPA guidance lists interpersonal psychotherapy and brief psychodynamic therapy among the approaches used for prolonged grief, and notes that resolving regret, anger, and guilt can be a meaningful part of that work (CPA, 2025). It also frames grieving as a process of adjusting to the loss and building a continuing connection, rather than forgetting.

Limitations: The underlying evidence is drawn from human bereavement and from prolonged grief presentations. Nothing in the available sources shows that one of these approaches outperforms another for pet loss.

Psychoeducation and Expectation Setting

What it helps with: Understanding what grief commonly looks like, so your own reactions feel less alarming.

Evidence summary: Canadian public education resources describe grief as a normal reaction to loss that people experience in very different ways and over very different lengths of time (CAMH, n.d.; CMHA, n.d.). CPA guidance notes there is no single pattern of grieving, that stage models do not fit everyone, and that roughly half of bereaved people show a resilient pattern with no depressive phase (CPA, 2025).

Limitations: These are public education and professional guidance resources rather than treatment trials, so they describe grief rather than measure what helps. None of them addresses pet loss in depth.

What Results to Expect

Grief does not move in a straight line. People often describe stretches where things feel more manageable followed by a week that undoes the sense of progress, and that pattern is not a failure. Some people notice shifts within a few sessions. Others find that a longer piece of work suits them better, particularly when the loss sits alongside other losses or difficult circumstances.

Several things influence how this goes: the nature of the relationship and the loss, what else is happening in your life, the support you have outside sessions, and how well you and your therapist work together. No therapy guarantees outcomes, and no one can tell you in advance how long this will take. Any therapist who promises closure by a certain date is promising something they cannot deliver.

Therapeutic fit matters more than most people expect. If your therapist is not the right match, changing clinician or changing approach is always an option, and saying so will not cause offence. Our admin team can help arrange that at 780-904-4880.

Confidentiality and Privacy

What you share in sessions is confidential. The professional standards that apply depend on the clinician's designation: Registered Psychologists are regulated by the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP), Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCCs) are regulated by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), and Registered Social Workers are regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW).

Two pieces of Alberta legislation govern how personal and health information is handled. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) applies to private sector organizations operating in Alberta, which includes private clinics offering psychological services. The Health Information Act (HIA) governs health information held by custodians as defined under that Act. Which one applies in a given situation depends on the nature of the organization and the context in which the information was collected.

There are limits to confidentiality, and they are set by law rather than by preference. Your therapist may be required to disclose information when:

• there is a risk of serious harm to you or to another person
• there is suspected abuse or neglect of a child, which carries a mandatory reporting duty under Alberta law
• a court orders the release of records

Your therapist will explain these limits clearly in the first session, before you share anything personal. You are welcome to ask questions about how your information is stored, who can see it, and what happens to your file, and you can ask them before you disclose anything at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to describe what happened in detail?

No. You decide how much to say and when. Some people want to tell the whole story of the last few days, and some find that retelling it is the hardest part. It is possible to work on what is happening now, such as sleep, routine, guilt, or difficult conversations at home, without a detailed account of the loss itself. Your therapist will follow your pace rather than working through a checklist.

Is what I share kept private?

Yes, within the legal and professional limits described in the confidentiality section above. The main exceptions are risk of serious harm, suspected abuse or neglect of a child, and a court order. Your therapist will go through these with you in the first session, before you share anything personal, and you can ask questions first.

How many sessions will I need?

There is no fixed answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. Some people come for a short piece of focused work. Others prefer a longer arrangement, particularly when this loss sits alongside others. Your therapist will review progress with you regularly, and you can change the frequency or stop at any point.

What if the therapist is not the right fit?

Fit is a real factor in whether therapy is useful, and it is not rude to say a match is not working. You can ask to switch clinicians, and our admin team can help you find someone else at 780-904-4880. New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Can I access therapy online?

Yes. Virtual sessions are available across Alberta and are held to the same confidentiality standards as in-person appointments. Some people prefer virtual sessions after a loss like this, particularly in the early weeks when leaving the house feels like more than they can manage.

Is it strange that I feel this more strongly than I have felt other losses?

It is more common than people expect. Research on pet bereavement has found that owners describe grief comparable to the death of a person (Cleary et al., 2022). Pets are often woven into daily routine, caregiving, and identity in ways that other relationships are not, so the loss touches many parts of ordinary life at once.

It has been months and I still feel this way. Is that a problem?

Not by itself. Grief has no standard length, and reactions can return around anniversaries or ordinary reminders long after a loss (CPA, 2025; CMHA, n.d.). We cannot tell you from a web page whether what you are experiencing warrants support. If grief has been sitting heavily for a long time, or you have withdrawn from most of your usual life, talking it through with a professional is a reasonable next step.

Can I come with my partner, or book for my child?

Yes to both. Households often grieve at different speeds and in different ways, and that difference can become its own source of strain. We also offer counselling for children and young people, which is described below. Our admin team can help you work out what kind of appointment makes sense at 780-904-4880.

Meet Your Clinicians

Our team includes Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Canadian Certified Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. Registered Psychologists are regulated by the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP), Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCCs) are regulated by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), and Registered Social Workers are regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW). Registered Provisional Psychologists practise under the supervision of a senior registered psychologist, which means their work is reviewed by a more experienced clinician.

Many of our clinicians have training in grief and loss, adjustment, and trauma-informed practice, and several work regularly with bereavement and end-of-life issues. Individual profiles, including each clinician's credentials and areas of focus, are on the Our Therapists page. If reading through profiles feels like too much, the Match with a Therapist tool narrows it down, and our admin team can talk it through with you at 780-904-4880.

Children and Youth

For many children, a pet is the first death they encounter, and adults around them are often grieving at the same time. We offer counselling for children, adolescents, and young people, with therapists who use age-appropriate approaches rather than adapting adult sessions downward. That might mean play, drawing, or story-based work depending on the child's age.

Clinicians working with younger clients also work alongside caregivers, because what happens between sessions matters as much as what happens in them. That can include how to answer questions honestly, what to say about euthanasia, and how to handle a child whose grief looks like anger or like nothing at all. You can read more on our Child and Youth Mental Health page, and about supporting someone else on our Supporting Someone Who Is Grieving page.

Taking a Next Step

If you would like to explore what this kind of support looks like, there are a few ways in:

• Book a session online
• Match with a therapist
• Call 780-904-4880 to speak with our admin team
• Email info@wholesomepsychology.ca
• Read the Getting Started with Therapy page first if you would rather know the process before contacting anyone

You may also find our Grief and Loss Therapy and What to Expect From Therapy pages useful.

New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Starting the conversation is enough.

References

• Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario. (n.d.). Grieving. Retrieved July 26, 2026, from https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/grieving/
• Canadian Psychological Association. (2025). Psychology Works Fact Sheet: Grief in adults (Revised September 2025; prepared by L. Sexton). https://cpa.ca/psychologyfactsheets
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (n.d.). Coping with loss and grief. Retrieved July 26, 2026, from https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/coping-with-loss-and-grief
• Cleary, M., West, S., Thapa, D. K., Westman, M., Vesk, K., & Kornhaber, R. (2022). Grieving the loss of a pet: A qualitative systematic review. Death Studies, 46(9), 2167-2178.
• World Health Organization. (2025). ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics (Version 2025-01): 6B42 Prolonged grief disorder.