Grief counseling for people who have lost animals, if you were to market this service

[Dr_Doolittle]

what would the strategy be?

I have a friend (a horseperson) whose sister–in her 60’s–has been counseling bereaved pet owners for close to 30 years, many of whom have come to her again after losing another pet. Dogs in particular just do not live long enough. :sigh: She has a psychology background, and was a grief counselor for a hospice until she got burned out. She’s helped many people over the years, but has never charged for it (she does this P/T, obviously.)

I feel as though this is a very useful and needed service (from which I could have benefited after I lost a horse), and that she could certainly charge a fee for what she does! Right now she is trying to get some pictures taken so that she can set up a website; my daughter (budding photographer ) has offered to take some “portrait shots” of her, gratis (to build her photography portfolio.)

I was hoping to get some thoughtful feedback on this forum: what type of photo(s) would you want to see on this website? One portrait headshot of the counselor, and then one shot of her (outside?) with an animal? I have two Whippets, and one of them is a “lapdog” who would happily cuddle with her We also have a cat, not sure whether she should be included in the shot too?

As for “copy”, what would resonate with you if you were grieving an animal? Would including testimonials from people she has helped be useful? Obviously this is a sensitive issue which will require sympathetic and thoughtful “marketing.”

What kind of fee should she charge? I was thinking $50 per session, but that’s just off the top of my head.

TIA for any and all thoughts/suggestions/wisdom!

[xQHDQ]

I think the ASPCA or Humane Society has a free service for this. I would look at what they offer in terms of advertising. We recently lost our baby and I did a lot of reading on websites, and that helped. The best one was:http://pet-loss.net.

[fordtraktor]

She should contact local funeral homes who offer pet cremation services. I am sure many would love to be affiliated with someone to refer people to needing this. It makes them more professional and helps them meet the needs of their clients.

[Dr_Doolittle]

xQ, thanks for the link! She has been working with the local shelter and the Humane Society, but wants to branch out; fordtraktor, this is a great idea!

[Wellspotted]

Some churches offer grief counseling free of charge. They have group meetings that anyone can attend. Some community newspapers advertise support groups for various circumstances, including mourners’ support groups. These, too, are free.

(Yes, in a roundabout way, I am trying to answer your question. Just can’t buy the idea of charging people to help them through their grieving.)

[Ceylon_Star]

Because kids can be especially affected by the loss of a pet, I might be inclined to get in touch with schools and their counselling department, actually.

[Pancakes]

There are several pet loss hotlines and grief counseling services that exist:

http://rainbowsbridge.com/grief_support_center/pet_loss_resources/petloss_hot_lines.htm

All of them are free of charge. In addition, there are many local groups that meet. Our hospital has a grief group that meets twice monthly.

Maybe have your friend reach out to animal hospitals, such as emergency/referral hospitals (where loss seems to be more frequent and traumatic), and see if they are interested in having her host a monthly meeting? I know our clients really appreciate the meetings at our hospital. Otherwise, I’d have her contact some of the pet loss hotlines to see if she can volunteer remotely.

To answer your question, I’d think it would be in bad form to charge for this sort of service as all of these that I’ve mentioned above are free. However, if she is planning on doing grief counseling full-time in general, it might be appropriate to charge.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Thanks for all the input! I’m going to send her this thread

[CrowneDragon]

I think many vet schools also offer free grief counseling to pet owners, as well. Penn, Tufts, OSU, UC Davis, etc I know all provide services and I believe all are free. It’s a great idea, really.