Frequently Asked Questions
Certification Requirements
Class Listings
Code of Ethics and Underlying Philosophy
Instructors and Guest Speakers

The Purpose of the Animal Loss and Grief Support Professional Program of Study is to:

Support individuals who are grieving the loss of animal loved ones by:   
A) offering classes to help them cope with and heal from the unique grief of pet loss; and
B) increasing the number of client-centered, empathy-based grief support practitioners available to support those in grief with tremendous empathy, love and skill.

Contribute to the professional development of pet loss grief support practitioners with an in-depth, comprehensive educational program for professional competency development leading to a certification of completion for those who wish to build or augment their knowledge and skill base in the field of animal loss and grief support.

Advance the pet loss grief support field with a first-of-its-kind training program, which addresses and integrates both psychological and spiritual issues and paradigms of loss and grief healing, and includes the perspectives of the animals themselves.

Promote a deepened cultural awareness and respect for the dignity and legitimacy of human grief from the loss of animal loved ones.

For people who love animals profoundly, losing them to physical death can be one of the most poignant, sacred and often emotionally devastating life passages they may ever experience. Our grief at these times deserves to be honored with acknowledgment of the legitimacy of our loss, and to be supported with great love, tender compassion and empathic skill. The experience of pet loss has been disenfranchised far too long. Everyone who experiences the loss of a deeply beloved animal deserves the same acknowledgement, loving support and opportunities for compassionate, competent, professional help that is typically available to people who lose human loved ones.

When I experienced my first loss of an animal loved one as an adult, it felt like the end of the world. It was in a way--the end of my world as I knew it with him in it. I loved this cat profoundly, and felt a love from him like no other love I had ever experienced. I had never before felt such searing pain as I did when he died. I was shattered by my grief, and didn't have any paradigms, theories or tools to understand it. Even with my training as a therapist, there were very few resources to draw from in that field, and very little written or voiced in the early 1980's about the unique grief of losing beloved animals.

On the contrary, what did exist spoke condescendingly of "pet loss" as practice for the "real thing of losing a human," very clearly treating it as a not-as-important type of loss. Reading this, and noticing how others around me saw me as odd for loving and grieving so deeply for an animal, I began to think something must be wrong with me.

After a time, however, I got impatient with the prevailing narrow and prejudicial view of the human-animal relationship, and returned to the truth and wisdom of my own soul: that the love between animals and humans is very real, that our grief when they die is very real, and that both are as legitimate as human-human love and grief. After finding my way through the pain of this loss and learning some powerful emotional and spiritual lessons in the process, I was motivated to offer help to others who might feel alienated and in pain from the loss of their animals. So, I studied with legends Kubler Ross, Stephen Levine, John James (of the Grief Recovery Institute) and others, integrating their work into the learnings of my own heart about the uniqueness of losing deeply beloved animals. Beginning in 1986, I began to offer pet loss support groups and workshops and later created the Legacies of Love audio book and other grief support resources. Since then, I have worked with thousands of grievers in bereavement support workshops and in individual counseling and animal communication consultations. One of my greatest life passions is to help others through this typically disenfranchised loss. I am exceedingly grateful for what I’ve learned from my cherished clients--both humans and animals--who’ve trusted me with their stories of loss, pain and healing,

The curriculum of the program is designed and based on bodies of knowledge and research from the fields of counseling psychology, thanatology, the healing arts, spirituality  integrated with the instructor's own experiences of loss and healing grief.  The instructors and guest speakers in the program are seasoned professionals who are dedicated and sensitive to the human-animal bond and the pain of pet loss and grief. These instructors represent the professions of counseling psychology, psychotherapy, grief counseling, transpersonal psychology, humanistic education, veterinary medicine, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, animal communication and other healing arts.  

If you are attracted to (or are already on) the path of helping others through the grief of pet loss, I invite you to explore the underlying philosophy and the code of ethics of this program to see if it seems like an appropriate learning fit for you.

More details about the program can be found in the sections on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ),  Requirements for Certification, and Class Listings. You need not enroll in the certification program to take individual classes. All classes are open enrollment--available to everyone.  Many of the classes are offered with a dual purpose: to directly serve people who are grieving the loss of animal loved ones, and to provide training for professionals.

A loving welcome to all of you who share a great love of animals and a desire to help others heal from loss. May the information and inspiration in the program contribute to the healing of your heart and to your confidence and skill in serving others.

With Love and Blessings,

Teresa Wagner
 

1. Completion of the 11 required classes 

2. Completion of 4 elective classes

3.  Submission and successful completion of 15 Written Class Reviews
    (one for each of the 11 required classes and 4 elective classes) 

4.  Participation in 18 Private Coaching and Mentoring Sessions
    (one for each of the 15 classes, one for each of the 2 case study groupings and one
    for the recorded practice sessions)

5.  Submission and successful completion of 8 Written Case Studies (submitted in 2 groups of 4 each)

6.  Submission and successful completion of 4 Recorded Practice Sessions

How Long Does It Take To Complete the Program?

Because the program is self-paced, this will vary with each student. It is suggested that all requirements  (classes, written class reviews, case studies, private coaching/mentoring sessions, recorded practice sessions) be completed over a two to three year period. Less than two years may not provide enough time for integration and application of learning, especially if a student comes to the program without any prior grief support or counseling education or experience.

Written Class Reviews
If you are enrolled in the certification program, a Written Class Review must be submitted for each of the 15 classes taken. After completing a class, a set of essay questions (and for some classes also case studies) unique to that class are sent to the student.

Responding to these questions in essay format allows class participants to demonstrate not only their intellectual comprehension of the class material but to also describe how they view and have integrated the material on a personal level and how they are using, or plan to use, the class concepts in their work with clients.


Written class reviews must be completed no later than four months after live attendance or on demand purchase of a class. All information shared in your written review is kept in strict confidence.



After a Written Class Review is completed and submitted, a Coaching/Mentoring Session is scheduled.

Coaching/Mentoring Sessions

These are 60-90 minutes sessions held via telephone with the class instructor after submission of the Written Class Review. For classes in which there is more than one instructor, students choose which instructor they wish to work with for the coaching/mentoring session. 



The instructor will have read the Written Class Review before the session and will offer feedback including:
• Validation and discussion of specific areas of strength

• Suggestions and discussion of areas that may need further development. Clear, detailed suggestions for any changes, shifts or corrections that may be needed regarding the perception and/or application of the class material as presented in the Written Class Review will be provided. 



The student is encouraged to discuss issues such as the following during the session:

• Your personal insights regarding your written review

• What seems most significant to you about your learning 

• Any questions or further comments about your experience and content of the class

• Any issues for which you may want or need support 

• Ways in which you anticipate how the class experience and content will be helpful for you in 
supporting clients

• Any cases or client experiences you may want to discuss

Overall, these sessions provide personal time with instructors to review questions, concerns, stories, cases, etc. far beyond what is possible during class time with each student.

Coaching/mentoring sessions must be completed no later than four months after live attendance or on demand purchase of a class. All information shared in your written review and in the phone discussion is kept in strict confidence.


The fee for all Coaching/Mentoring Sessions is $150, except the two that involve reviewing recorded practice sessions. Because of the time required to listen to the recordings, the fee for those sessions is $200.


Case Studies

Though the majority of the classes include brief case studies for review and discussion, and client case studies are often brought up by students informally during coaching and mentoring sessions, the required written case studies formalize the process of thorough case reviews.

Eight case studies are required for certification, submitted in two separate sets of four each.

The process includes completing the case study forms, submitting the forms, and reviewing the case studies in a coaching and mentoring sessions.


Complete the Forms:

Case Study form are provide upon request for participants enrolled int he certification program. Program participants are encouraged to take and keep confidential notes on any client contact/interaction that seems significant to them as it occurs, even if the case(s) is not presented toward certification for months or even a year or more later. Capturing in writing  what seems meaningful to us during client contact is always best done as soon as possible after the contact, so that words, phrases and energetic nuances are not forgotten. 



The case studies are about our interactions with clients, and how we have seen and felt our words and our energy effect clients. There are to case studies focusing on the client’s story or growth, though their story is certainly part of it. The focus is on our own work and the extent to which we believe and/or have seen it helping or not helping a client. 


Submit the Forms at Two Intervals:

The first set of four case studies may be submitted after completing 6 classes and their respective written class reviews and coaching and mentoring sessions. Three of these six classes must include the following core, required classes: 

• Ethics and Essential Energetic Boundaries 

• Legacies of Love, A Workshop of Gentle Healing for Those Who Have Lost Their Animal Loved One

• Grief Support Skills, How to Effectively Support Others Who Grieve the Loss of a Pet



The second set of four Case Studies may be submitted after completing 12 of the 15 classes (one of which must be the Essential Counseling Skills class), and no later than six months after completing all of the 15 classes required for certification.

All case study information submitted is kept in strict confidence.


Review:
Program participants request a Coaching/Mentoring session when their case studies are ready for review, in the timing sequence described above. The purpose is to discuss and review the cases, your personal experiences and insights regarding the cases, what seems most significant to you about your learning and any further questions, comments or discussion you may desire regarding any of the issues involved. 



The instructor will have read the Case Studies before the session and will offer feedback including:

• Validation and discussion of specific areas of strength

• Suggestions and discussion of areas that may need further development. Clear, detailed suggestions
 to make the consultations reviewed more effective will be provided.



The fee for these sessions is $150 each.
 
 
All information shared in the written case studies and in the phone discussions is kept in strict confidence.

Recorded Practice Sessions

Counseling involves the use of specialized verbal skills. Though a great deal of learning and comprehension can be developed from reading, discussion, written case studies in class and in the field,, our skills of counseling can only be tested and honed with live, verbal practice with another person.

The value of recording practice sessions is that you get to hear yourself facilitate a session— your tone, your healing presence, your use of empathy, and all the skills learned and reviewed in the classes. There is nothing that can duplicate the learning that comes from hearing yourself practice the skills. It is a very powerful learning experience.

In the classes, the handouts and case studies intentionally progress, leading up to live practicing—from passive recognition of effective and empathic responses in hypothetical situations to actually using effective, empathic responses in live, real situations.


In the Essential Counseling Skills class. two recorded practice sessions are required. For certification, four additional recorded sessions are required. The additional four sessions should not be done until after the Essential Counseling Skills class is completed. Sessions are recorded with either real clients who give permission for a session to be recorded, or with a peer from the program.

A detailed set of instructions is sent to students ready to to conduct and record their sessions. Two feedback forms are provided for feedback:

Self Feedback Form for the Person in the Counselor Role

Feedback Form for the Counselor fro the Person in the Client Role


Listening to one’s recorded sessions, completing a self feedback form afterwards, and reading the feedback form from one’s partner can serve as a valuable source of learning and self-awareness.

Both sets of forms and recordings are reviewed in a Coaching/Mentoring phone session. 


Homework Involved in the Classes

Written exercises and extensive reading of handouts is required for most of the classes. For the required classes and most of the electives classes, students should expect to spend the same approximate amount of time reading and completing exercises as the number of hours in the live or on-demand class itself.

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