About this course

Learning Objectives

• Explain the role of pets in our clients lives and the importance of the relationship
• Articulate the similarities and differences of pets loss and human loss
• Identify strategies for coping and moving through grief
• Articulate resources for clinicians and clients

Learning Levels

• Beginner

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Lisa Wiborg

  Co-Owner/Partner

  Lisa Wiborg is a licensed independent social worker and Veterinary Social Worker in Cleveland, Ohio. She earned her MSW from The Ohio State University and completed the post-graduate VSW certificate program at the University of Tennessee. Lisa is the coordinator in the Center for Veterinary Social Work at University of Tennessee, for projects Inclusive Vet Med program and AVC Circle. Lisa also has years of experience in hospice care and providing support to patients and their families as they cope with end of life. She has been using the human-animal bond in her work to bring comfort and emotional support to patients during these difficult journeys. Lisa is the co-founder of Healing Paws LLC, providing veterinary social work education and supervision to other mental health professionals. She is an active member of the Human-Animal Interactions group within Ohio’s National Association of Social Workers. Lisa is also a graduate of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Fellowship Program, with research focused on reducing burden transfer and stress in the veterinary field utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Training. In her free time, she loves to travel with her husband and spend time with her dogs Scrabble, Lincoln, and tri-paw Pretzel.

References

• Brinkmann, S. (2018). The grieving animal: Grief as a foundational emotion. Theory & Psychology, 28(2), 193-207.
• Marton, B., Kilbane, T., & Nelson-Becker, H. (2020). Exploring the loss and disenfranchised grief of animal care workers. Death Studies, 44(1), 31-41.
• Morris, B. (2020). Love and Horror in Grief: An Autopsychography on the Loss of a Beloved Animal Companion. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 0022167820950894.
• Kogan, L., & Erdman, P. (Eds.). (2019). Pet Loss, Grief, and Therapeutic Interventions: Practitioners Navigating the Human-animal Bond. Routledge.
• Uccheddu, S., De Cataldo, L., Albertini, M., Coren, S., Da Graça Pereira, G., Haverbeke, A., ... & Pirrone, F. (2019). Pet humanisation and related grief: Development and validation of a structured questionnaire instrument to evaluate grief in people who have lost a companion dog. Animals, 9(11), 933.
• Spitznagel, M. B., Jacobson, D. M., Cox, M. D., & Carlson, M. D. (2017). Caregiver burden in owners of a sick companion animal: a cross-sectional observational study. Veterinary Record.
• Chur‐Hansen, A. (2010). Grief and bereavement issues and the loss of a companion animal: People living with a companion animal, owners of livestock, and animal support workers. Clinical Psychologist, 14(1), 14-21.
• Shear, K., & Shair, H. (2005). Attachment, loss, and complicated grief. Developmental Psychobiology: The Journal of the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, 47(3), 253-267.
• Toray, T. (2004). The Human-Animal Bond and Loss: Providing Support for Grieving Clients. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 26(3).