Pet Bereavement Counselling – The Value of Silence

When a pet dies, the entire family is thrown out of gear. The grief for the lost pet knows no bounds, and helping out the pet owners through this difficult phase is the job of a pet bereavement counsellor

Silence is Golden

In your role as a pet bereavement counsellor, you will find that you need to talk a lot. However, there is much to be said about not talking. As a counsellor, you will see your subject in various moods, and sometimes your subject may prefer a bit of silence. As a pet bereavement counsellor, you need to recognise the situation, but this does not mean that the person wants to be left alone – this is the time when your subject probably wants to just be silent, and sift through their own thoughts in a period of self-introspection.

According to self-development guru, Dan Pedersen,” Like sleeping, brushing your teeth, eating, going to work and exercise, we need time for silence in our day. We need time in our day to cultivate silence so we can bring it with us into our daily actions and live with a sense of peace, even in the midst of stressful circumstances.”So, if you notice that the bereaved pet owner lapses into silence, you need to respect their need for some private space and not intrude.

The Benefits of Silence

Since a person who becomes silent is able to indulge in self-introspection they can consider future plans with better clarity. Hence, silence is one of the possible factors which may help to facilitate the person to come to terms with the loss of their pet.

Silence also serves as a means of shutting out the pain of the external world. Hence, everyone needs to have a quiet moment from time to time. In limited doses, silence is an effective form of therapy.

Creating the Moment

As your bond with the bereaved person develops, you can actually generate scenarios where you can commune with the person through silence. For instance, you could encourage the person to do a bit of ironing or gardening, paint a fence or a piece of furniture, or you could simply sit with the person in a quiet corner of the garden. You also need to be able to decide whether your presence will be required or not.Thus, silence is a very powerful tool that can be used by the pet bereavement counsellor as a balm to sooth the bruised soul of a bereaved person.