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An
Important Message to Animal Healthcare Professionals
Abbey
Glen and The Professional community
By Russell Friedman and John W. James
Founders of The Grief Recovery Institute and co-authors
of
The Grief Recovery Handbook.
We
are honored to write a few words in praise of the Veterinarians
and Technicians who have showed up at many of the speeches
and trainings we have conducted in conjunction with Abbey
Glen. It is one thing to acknowledge that there is a need
for better education in dealing with grieving pet owners,
it is another thing to show up and spend the time and energy
to actually learn effective ways of helping people whose
hearts have been broken by the death of their pet.
So
to the hundreds and even thousands of you who have given
up some of your weekends or evenings to attend one of our
lectures or mini-trainings, we salute you. We salute you
on behalf of those people who so desperately need to be
heard and understood, at a time when very few people seem
to know how to respond.
As
the people who are in the trenches with grieving pet owners
at one of the most critical times of their lives, you know
how every word or phrase you utter can have dramatic affect
on the person who is drowning in sorrow. It is probably
reasonable to suggest that many of you working in the veterinary
field were originally drawn to it by your own love of animals.
We
also know that your industry, like many others, is inundated
with rules and regulations that sometimes make it seem as
if it is impossible to stay focused on the primary task
of high quality veterinary care, much less the equally important
task of attending to the broken hearts caused by the illness
and death of beloved pets.
As
professionals in the area of helping people deal with loss,
we are painfully aware of the misunderstanding experienced
by grieving people in our society as the result of the death
of a spouse, a relative, or a friend. And we know that the
level of what might be called verbal abuse suffered by grieving
pet owners is even greater. We know that those of you who
work so hard to deliver excellent medical and emotional
care are affected by those same attitudes.
We
hope you will join us in a re-commitment to educating ourselves
and the public at large to a higher standard of understanding,
compassion, and love for our clients, relatives, and friends
who have been affected by the death of a beloved pet.
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