The Pahl Paw Patch

In Episode #6, Nelson discusses how your attachment style may be impacting your grief.


Topics in this Episode

• You have an attachment style (0:36)
• It may amplify your grief intensity (1:35)
• Bowlby's "Attachment Theory" (2:07)
• The evolution of Attachment Theory (2:45)
• Anxious-preoccupied attachment (3:46)
• How might an anxious-preoccupied attachment affect your grief? (5:38)
• Fearful-avoidant attachment (6:22)
• How might an fearful-avoidant attachment affect your grief? (7:35)
• What research says (9:07)

Resources

Book: Attachment and Loss: Volume 1 (Bowlby, 1969)
Theory: Comparative View of Attachment Aspects (Ainsworth, 1978)
Theory: Hazan & Shaver (1987)
Theory: Bartholomew & Horowitz (1991)
Study: The Role of Attachment Style in Response to Pet Loss
Study: Relations of Attachment Styles and Current Feelings of Grief
Study: Attachment Theory to Examine Pets as Social Support
Counseling: Companion Animal Loss Therapy (virtual)
Workshops: Grief Therapy in a Box
Events: Homage Retreat


Memorable Quotes

• "Celebrate your ability to trust and love...as you have."

Next Episode: Are the 5 Stages a Myth?


Keywords

#pet loss #companion animal loss #pets #companion animals #family #dogs #cats #horses #attachment style


Biography

Nelson Pahl is an experiential psychologist and leading expert on companion animal loss. He hosts The Pahl Paw Patch podcast and is author of No Time to Grieve: The Disenfranchising of Pet Loss. He maintains a private practice in KCMO and hosts online healing workshops entitled Grief Therapy in a Box, as well as luxury healing retreats called "Homage Retreats." 

In Episode #5, Nelson discusses three prevalent myths surrounding pet loss.


Topics in this Episode

• Who is anyone to sit in judgement of your pet loss? (0:43)
• Are you weak for grieving your companion animal? (1:22)
• Who experiences intense pet loss (1:29)
• Three celebrities that have suffered intense pet loss (2:06)
• Grieving the loss of a dear family member is healthy and normal (3:49)
• Pet loss is every bit as intense as human death-grief (4:11)
• Have you been grieving too long? (6:12)
• To rush the healing process is to disrespect the healing process (7:20)

Resources

Podcast: "The Toxicity of Judgment" | Abdi Assadi
Video: Joe Rogan & Kevin Smith Get Emotional Discussing Pet Loss
Video: Joe Rogan Gets Emotional Talking About His Dogs
Video: Tim Tebow Saying Goodbye to Beloved Bronco
Study: Death of Companion Cat or Dog Bereavement...
Study: Adjustment to the Death of a Companion Animal
Book: The Loss of a Pet - the Human-Animal Bond
Pet Loss Counseling, Workshops, and Retreats: Nelson Pahl

Memorable Quotes

• "Grief...if the price of love."

Next Episode: Does Your Attachment Style Impact Your Grief Severity?


Keywords

#pet loss #companion animal loss #pets #companion animals #family #dogs #cats #horses


Biography

Nelson Pahl is an experiential psychologist and leading expert on companion animal loss. He hosts The Pahl Paw Patch podcast and is author of No Time to Grieve: The Disenfranchising of Pet Loss. He maintains a private practice in KCMO and hosts online healing workshops entitled Grief Therapy in a Box, as well as luxury healing retreats called "Homage Retreats." 

In this episode, Nelson discusses five reasons pet loss can be so intense.


Topics in this Episode

• Grief is the byproduct of love (1:06)
• The love you share with your pet is unconditional (1:24)
• We grieve when we lose our identity (2:23)
• With the death of a love one comes the loss a certain role (2:26)
• We grieve when we feel unsafe (4:31)
• We experience grief when we surrender our autonomy (6:29)
• With loss, we feel that certain dreams have gone unrealized (7:56)

Resources

Study: Changing Times, Changing Identities: Grieving for a Lost Self
Study: "I Am Not Who I Thought I Was"
Pet Loss Counseling, Workshops, and Retreats: Nelson Pahl

Memorable Quotes

• "Grief...if the price of love."

Next Episode: 3 Myths About Pet Loss


Keywords

#pet loss #companion animal loss #pets #companion animals #family #dogs #cats #horses


Biography

Nelson Pahl is an experiential psychologist and leading expert on companion animal loss. He hosts The Pahl Paw Patch podcast and is author of No Time to Grieve: The Disenfranchising of Pet Loss. He maintains a private practice in KCMO and hosts online healing workshops entitled Grief Therapy in a Box, as well as luxury healing retreats called "Homage Retreats." 

In this episode, Nelson discusses the scholarly research regarding pet loss.


Topics in this Episode

• Companion animal loss is largely misunderstood and devalued (0:28)
• Pet loss is a form of disenfrachised grief (0:43)
• What is disenfranchised grief? (0:53)
• Companion animal loss can cause a host of physical ailments (1:23)
• Pet loss can cause long-term anxiety, depression, and even anger issues (1:46)
• Pet loss often causes neuroticism in the bereaved guardian (1:56)
• Untreated pet loss can manifest into complicated grief and even PTSD (2:07)
• Companion animal loss can rival and even surpass human death-grief (2:32)
• The guardian-pet dynamic mimics that of the parent-child dynamic (2:57)

Resources

Study: Grief after pet loss often misunderstood and devalued
Study: Pet loss grief largely treated as disenfranchised grief
Study: Loss of companion animal can cause serious physical ailments
Study: Pet loss grief can result in long-term anxiety, depression, and anger issues
Study: Grief after pet loss may manifest into complicated grief or PTSD
Study: Pet loss grief can be even more intense than human death-grief
Study: Frequency of neuroticism after pet loss
Study: Why people love their pets
Study: Why pet loss grief needs far more recognition from the health community
Pet Loss Counseling, Workshops, and Retreats: Nelson Pahl

Next Episode: 5 Reasons Pet Loss is So Intense


Keywords

#pet loss #companion animal loss #pets #companion animals #family #dogs #cats #horses


Biography

Nelson Pahl is an experiential psychologist and leading expert on companion animal loss. He hosts The Pahl Paw Patch podcast and is author of No Time to Grieve: The Disenfranchising of Pet Loss. He maintains a private practice in KCMO and hosts online healing workshops entitled Grief Therapy in a Box, as well as luxury healing retreats called "Homage Retreats." 

In this second episode of The Pahl Paw Patch, Nelson shares one of his heartwarming-but-heartbreaking stories of pet loss.

Resources

Pet Loss Counseling, Workshops, and Retreats: Nelson Pahl

Next Episode: What Does Research Say About Pet Loss?


Keywords

#pet loss #companion animal loss #pets #companion animals #family #dogs #cats #horses


Biography

Nelson Pahl is an experiential psychologist and leading expert on companion animal loss. He hosts The Pahl Paw Patch podcast and is author of No Time to Grieve: The Disenfranchising of Pet Loss. He maintains a private practice in KCMO and hosts online healing workshops entitled Grief Therapy in a Box, as well as luxury healing retreats called "Homage Retreats."

In this premier episode of The Pahl Paw Patch, Nelson tackles the subject of pet loss and its legitimacy.


Topics in this Episode

• Symptoms of pet loss (1:05)
• You're "weak" and "overreacting" (1:47)
• Society demands that you feel shame (2:12)
• It was "only an animal" (2:37)
• Our companion animals live to love us...unconditionally (4:24)
• Losing a pet creates a significant void in our life (5:27)

Resources

Study: Pet loss grief and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or "broken heart syndrome"
Explanation: What is Takotsubo cardiomyopathy?
Study: Pet ownership increases self-esteem
Pet Loss Counseling, Workshops, and Retreats: Nelson Pahl

Memorable Quotes

• "The love you share with a pet is...unconditional."
• "It truly is a scenario of...'Till death do us part.'"

Next Episode: My Pet Loss Story


Keywords

#pet loss #companion animal loss #pets #companion animals #family #dogs #cats #horses


Biography

Nelson Pahl is an experiential psychologist and leading expert on companion animal loss. He hosts The Pahl Paw Patch podcast and is author of No Time to Grieve: The Disenfranchising of Pet Loss. He maintains a private practice in KCMO and hosts online healing workshops entitled Grief Therapy in a Box, as well as luxury healing retreats called "Homage Retreats." 

In this episode, Nelson discusses three major myths about pet loss, and how they may be hindering your healing.

Topics in this Episode

• The issue of judgement (1:05)
• You're bizarre or weak (1:59)
• Celebrity examples (2:48)
• Your loss is less (4:43)
• Refuting scientific literature (5:19)
• Workshops, seminars, and retreats (5:40)
• I should be over it already (6:11)
• Do you still feel shame? (7:52)

Healing Links

Pet Loss Workshops, Seminars, and Retreats

Supporting Links

Podcast: The Toxicity of Judgment
Video: Joe Rogan talking dog loss
IG Video: Tim Tebow tribute to Bronco
Study: Psychosocial variables of pet loss
Study: Adjustment to death of a pet
Book: The Loss of a Pet

Next Episode: Does Attachment Style Affect Pet Loss?

In Episode #4, Nelson discusses five reasons pet loss is so intense.

Topics in this Episode

• 5-fold anatomy of pet loss (0:36)
• The bi-product of love (1:06)
• Lost sense of Self (2:20)
• Feeling unsafe (4:28)
• Workshops, Seminars, and Retreats (5:53)
• Surrendering autonomy (6:24)
• Dashed hopes & dreams (7:53)
• Why is pet loss so intense? (9:49)

Healing Links

• Pet Loss Workshops, Seminars, and Retreats

Supporting Links

• "Changing Times, Changing Identities"
• "I am not who I thought I was"

Next Episode: 3 Myths About Pet Loss Grief

In this third episode of The Pahl Paw Patch, Nelson highlights the empirical research in support of pet loss.

Topics in this Episode

• Pet loss is often misunderstood & devalued (0:29)
• Pet loss is largely disenfranchised grief (0:43)
• What is "disenfranchised grief"? (0:53)
• The affect of pet loss on your physical health (1:16)
• Pet loss can cause anxiety, depression, and even anger issues (1:46)
• Pet loss often causes neuroticism in the bereaved guardian (1:56)
• It can manifest as complicated grief and may even result in PTSD (2:07)
• Pet loss can surpass the intensity of human death-grief (2:27)
• Evoking emotional responses similar to parent-child dynamic (2:50)
• Workshops, seminars, and retreats (3:18)

Healing Links

Pet Loss Workshops, Seminars, and Retreats

Supporting Links

Study: Causing "broken heart syndrome"
Explanation: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy
Study: Pets increase self-esteem
Study: Pet loss often devalued
Study: Pet loss as disenfranchised grief
Study: Can cause serious physical ailments
Study: Long-term anxiety & depression
Study: Frequency of neuroticism
Study: Manifesting as complicated grief
Study: Pet loss can be more intense
Study: Why people love their pets
Study: The need for more recognition

Next Episode: Why's Pet Loss So Intense?

In this second episode, Nelson discusses one of his pet loss experiences.

Topics in this Episode

• Introducing "Piggy" (0:28)
• The love of my life (1:21)
• Her healing lessons (1:53)
• Piggy's passing (2:19)
• The day I said "goodbye" (2:58)
• My father's reaction (3:22)
• An evening of devastation (4:07)
• The ensuing weeks (4:45)
• All I wanted (5:17)
• Workshops, seminars, and retreats (5:45)

Healing Links

Pet Loss Workshops, Seminars, and Retreats

Next Episode: What Does Research Say About Pet Loss?