Certified Grief Recovery Specialist Michelle Nichols facilitates this action-based workshop as: 1) a group , 2) through individual in-person meetings in Seattle and the Eastside, or else 3) through video conferencing (nationwide!)

If you're like most of us, you find that navigating grief during your pet's illness, end-of-life period, and the bereavement that comes after it is complicated. You've been seeking a more effective way to move ahead following the passing of your beloved companion animal and we were looking for just that for our AHELP Community. We found it in the Grief Recovery Method...

WHY choose the Grief Recovery Method?

• With the wide range of joys and challenges that come with animal hospice, many don't understand what you're going through with your beloved pet, or why.
• You've had many losses over your lifetime of loving and living with your companion animals. With so many of them sometimes so close together, you hardly have time to recover.
• In your grief journey before, during and after a loss, you reach out for support to people who once were trusted just to find they don't have the capacity to help.
• You feel you aren't "getting over it." You're just getting through it...

This is NORMAL.

WHAT is the Grief Recovery Method?

• Certified Grief Recovery Specialist Michelle Nichols facilitates this action-based workshop as: 1) a group , 2) through individual in-person meetings in Seattle and the Eastside, or else 3) through video conferencing (nationwide!)
• Each format involves reading and writing assignments in The Grief Recovery Handbook for Pet Loss, included in the Workshop fee.
• A better understanding is empowering. Each week, Michelle will help you see why you're feeling as you are. 
• It's comforting to share with someone who "gets it." Each week you will learn how to perform the exercises through real-world examples and then you will review them the next with Michelle directly or a fellow member of your workshop.
• You will walk away with tools and action steps that will allow you to process each and every loss you've had in the past and will experience in the future. 

You will be with others who understand what you're going through.

Learn more: www.griefrecoverymethod.com

Michelle Nichols, MS, CGRS, has had 10 years of experience as an Animal Hospice Care Manager since AHELP Project was founded and has helped hundreds of families navigate the animal hospice and palliative care journey. Prior to that, she'd been a human healthcare grief counselor and began to learn first-hand about animal comfort and end-of-life care through five of her own dogs and cats. She leads the worldwide community as the President of the International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care. Learn more about Michelle by clicking HERE. 

Use the RSVP button below to find out more!

Michelle will call you with pricing, dates for the next group, and details on individual sessions. You can contact Michelle HERE.

As animal lovers we experience many losses in our lifetimes, putting us continually in a position of emotional vulnerability. The Grief Recovery Support for Animal Hospice and Bereavement will help you discover how to heal following the loss of your beloved pets. You will be set free to unlock incredible growth potential and open your heart to love and live with them once again. 

How will I get over the loss of my best friend? We in AHELP have come to know that you don’t get OVER a loss; you get THROUGH your loss…

We commonly hear, "what can I do to feel better?" In this post we offer a few practical tips that can be "a Help" to you and your family during the hospice period and after their passing.

A ceremony at your companion's favorite spot can be a valuable in helping you get closure after their passing. Michelle Nichols and her daughter Zoe sprinkle Sora's cremains at the beach she had loved. (Photo: Chris Nichols)

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Care for the Caregiver (you!)

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When the goal of care shifts from cure to comfort, tools and guidance from our AHELP Comprehensive Care Team will care for you as you care for your animal. Our “care for the caregiver” will allow you to adapt to twists and turns in the end-of-life journey. Quality of life for your dog, cat or horse is maximized as we work within the veterinary care plan with regular check-ins, tools for planning, tips for home care and strategies to help you navigate as issues come up. We ensure communication through interdisciplinary teamwork principles. Professional Network family service providers help you cope with daily challenges, assuring your confident caregiving.  Professional counselors offer your family grief and bereavement support. Your Care Team is there for you with "A Help" when you most need it with 24/7 weekday availability and on weekends, too.

Comfort. Choices. Empowerment.

Help your animal companion achieve COMFORT by building a solid plan with a veterinarian, or vet tech who first consults with your regular vet. AHELP's Comprehensive Care Home Visits are centered around your animal companion and your entire family's circumstances. Your AHELP Care Team will include an AHELP Care Coordinator who is a professional counselor, an AHELPer volunteer who is assigned only to you and a veterinarian best suited to your situation. You will have access our spiritual counselor through personal phone visits and our monthly Seattle Support Circle.

Comprehensive Care Team "People want the same care for their animal family members as their human loved ones had. Animal hospice and palliative care gives them the power them to do so."

What you can Expect

With veterinary recommendations from your animal companion's quality of life assessment, you and your Care Team will evaluate your choices and build a plan according to your wishes. When the appropriate times come, the AHELP Care Team will support you in your decision making and assist while you enact the steps in that plan. You will feel the satisfaction that comes in knowing that you paid a worthy tribute to the life shared with your animal companion. You'll likely describe the experience of providing this care as transformative, empowering, and true to your love for them.

Through this process of achieving comfort and quality of life, weighing your choices, visualizing your journey, and being empowered to act on your plans at the appropriate times, you will be most likely be able to follow your "path of least regrets." Healing from the inevitable loss of your animal family member comes naturally and at your own pace.