Summit Counselling Services — Specialty
Pet Loss & BereavementYour grief is real. And you deserve support for it.
Losing a pet means losing a family member — a companion, a source of comfort, a daily presence that shaped the rhythm of your life. In a world that often minimizes this grief, we take it seriously.
About Pet Loss Therapy
Navigating loss in a world that doesn't always understand.
Navigating the loss of a pet — in a world where grief for beloved animals is frequently misunderstood — is hard. When we search for support from those who don't understand the emotional weight of losing an animal, it can trivialize our pain and make us question the validity of our own emotions.
At Summit, we understand that pets are part of the family. Their absence can have a profound impact on daily functioning and mental health — disrupting routines that were built around them, leaving silences that feel enormous, and removing a source of unconditional presence that nothing quite replaces.
In pet loss and bereavement therapy, we help you move through the grieving process with compassion and empathy. Our goal is to support you in grieving the loss in a way that is meaningful to you — at your pace, in your own way, without anyone telling you how much or how long you should feel it.
"You don't need to justify how much you loved them, or how much losing them has cost you. That grief belongs to you — and it's worth caring for."
You may benefit from therapy if you are
- Grieving the sudden or unexpected death of a pet
- Processing a traumatic loss — accident, illness, or emergency
- Navigating anticipatory grief as a pet approaches end of life
- Struggling with end-of-life decisions and the weight of euthanasia
- Managing the stressors of a pet's long-term illness or palliative care
- Finding it difficult to function in daily life without your pet
- Feeling isolated because others don't understand the depth of your grief
- Experiencing guilt — about the circumstances of loss, timing, or decisions made
- Struggling to navigate life without a pet who provided emotional support
- Grieving the loss of an animal companion that helped manage anxiety, depression, or trauma
Areas of Focus
What pet loss therapy can help with
Pet loss doesn't arrive in one simple form. These are some of the most common areas we support.
Traumatic & Sudden Loss
When loss comes without warning — an accident, a sudden illness, an emergency — the grief carries the additional weight of shock. There was no chance to prepare or say goodbye in the way you might have wanted. Therapy helps process the traumatic elements of sudden loss alongside the grief itself.
End-of-Life & Euthanasia
Helping a beloved pet transition at the end of their life is one of the most profound acts of love — and one of the heaviest. The decision, the timing, the moment itself can leave a lasting emotional mark. Many people carry guilt that doesn't belong to them. Therapy provides a space to hold all of it.
Long-Term Illness & Anticipatory Grief
Caring for a seriously ill pet — managing medications, specialist appointments, and the slow grief of watching them decline — is exhausting physically and emotionally. Anticipatory grief, which begins while your pet is still alive, is real and often invisible to the people around you. We support this too.
The Stigma of Pet Grief
One of the most painful aspects of pet loss is the isolation it creates. Friends and colleagues who don't understand may minimize your grief, offer platitudes, or suggest you "just get another one." Therapy offers a space free of that — where the relationship you had and the grief you carry are taken seriously.
Life Without Your Pet
Pets shape our daily routines in profound ways — walks, feeding times, the particular weight of them on the bed. When they're gone, the structure of the day changes. So does the feeling of coming home. Therapy helps you rebuild around the absence and find a relationship with your grief that doesn't have to disappear.
Guilt & Complicated Grief
Guilt is one of the most common companions to pet loss — about decisions made or not made, about timing, about what you could or couldn't afford, about whether you did enough. Complicated grief that has become stuck, intrusive, or is significantly affecting daily functioning deserves specialized support.
Our Approach
Grief that is meaningful to you
There is no right way to grieve a pet. There is no timeline, no correct emotional response, and no point at which you should be "over it." Our therapists meet you exactly where you are — without judgment, without rushing, without minimizing what this loss means to you.
We draw on evidence-based approaches to grief therapy including Emotion Focused Therapy, CBT, and Somatic Experiencing — tailored to what each person needs. Some people need space to talk about their pet and be heard. Others need help with the guilt. Others need to work through the disruption to daily life and sense of purpose. Therapy meets all of it.
Sessions are available in person at our Brewery District, St. Albert, and Windermere locations, or virtually for clients anywhere in Alberta.
Common Questions
Pet loss therapy — your questions answered
Book a Session
Find us in Edmonton, St. Albert & Windermere
All three locations offer pet loss and bereavement therapy in person, with virtual sessions available across Alberta.
Wîhkwêntôwin ᐄᐧᐦᑫᐧᐣᑑᐃᐧᐣ (Oliver)
Grandin Plaza, 2nd Floor
Edmonton, AB
Our Therapists
Therapists who specialize in pet loss & bereavement
The clinicians below support people through pet loss and animal bereavement. Start with a free 15-minute consultation — no commitment, just a conversation about fit.
Related Support
Other areas we work with
Your love for them was real. Your grief deserves care.
Your first phone consultation is free — no commitment, no pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and whether we can help.
We acknowledge that our practice is located in Treaty 6 territory, on the traditional lands of the Cree, Saulteaux, Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, and Nakota Sioux Peoples, including our Brewery District office in Wîhkwêntôwin ᐄᐧᐦᑫᐧᐣᑑᐃᐧᐣ (Oliver). We recognize that healing and reconciliation is a responsibility shared by all.