PET LOSS & GRIEF SUPPORT · VIRTUAL · AVAILABLE ANYWHERE IN THE U.S.
Pet Loss & Grief Support
Grief is real. Not just after a pet dies — but long before, in the quiet accumulation of changes that signal what’s coming. In the weight of watching someone you love decline. In the sleepless nights and the unanswered questions and the feeling that no one around you quite understands why this is so hard.
It’s hard because they mattered. Because the bond was real. Because love doesn’t have a species requirement — and neither does grief.
You don’t need to minimize what you’re feeling. You don’t need to be further along than you are. And you don’t need to carry it alone.
“We are all just walking each other home.” — Ram Dass
What grief companioning is
Grief companioning is not therapy. It doesn’t diagnose, treat, or pathologize grief — because grief isn’t a pathology. It’s a natural, human response to love and loss. The grief companioning philosophy, developed by Dr. Alan Wolfelt — one of the most respected figures in grief care in the world — is built on a simple but profound premise: grief doesn’t need to be fixed. It needs to be witnessed.
A grief companion walks alongside you. They don’t lead, redirect, or prescribe. They create a space where you can share your story, be fully heard, and move through what you’re carrying at your own pace — without judgment, without a timeline, and without being told how you should feel.
For many people, this is exactly what they need and couldn’t find anywhere else. Not a support group where other people’s grief competes for space. Not a therapist who may have little experience with pet loss specifically. Not a well-meaning friend who changes the subject. Just someone who understands — and who has earned the right to sit with you in it.
A NOTE ON PROFESSIONAL MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
Grief companioning is not a replacement for professional mental health care. If you are experiencing depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns alongside your grief, a licensed therapist or counselor remains the appropriate support. Grief companioning works beautifully alongside professional care — and for many people grieving a pet, it is the primary support they need.
Who this is for
ANTICIPATORY GRIEF
Your pet is still here — and you're already grieving
For families navigating a pet’s decline, aging, or terminal diagnosis — where the grief begins long before the loss. Anticipatory grief is real, it’s exhausting, and it rarely gets the acknowledgment it deserves. You don’t have to wait until after to seek support.
ACTIVE HOSPICE GRIEF
You're in the hardest stretch right now
For families in the middle of a pet’s end-of-life journey — carrying the weight of caregiving, the grief of what’s coming, and the exhaustion of doing both at once. Families enrolled in Telos Integrated Support Plans at higher levels have grief companioning sessions built into their plan.
FRESH LOSS
Your pet has recently died
For families in the raw, immediate aftermath of a pet’s death — where the world expects you to move on faster than you can, and where being truly heard by someone who understands the depth of that bond is exactly what you need.
GRIEF CARRIED FOR A LONG TIME
The loss wasn't recent — but it still sits with you
For families whose pet died months or years ago and whose grief never fully resolved — or was never fully acknowledged. Grief doesn’t follow a timeline. If it still surfaces, it still deserves space. It’s not too late to seek support.
What to expect
Sessions are conducted virtually — one-on-one, private, and available to families anywhere in the United States. There is no script, no agenda, and no expectation of where you should be in your grief. You bring what you’re carrying. Lorrie brings her full presence, her training, and her complete absence of judgment.
A single session is available for those who need a dedicated space to be heard. For those who find that ongoing support feels right — whether that’s regular sessions or sessions scheduled as needed — that door is open for as long as you need it. There is no pressure to commit to more than you’re ready for, and no expectation that you’ll have grief figured out by a certain point.
FORMAT
Virtual — one-on-one
Private sessions conducted via video. Available to families anywhere in the United States — no geographic barrier to support.
FREQUENCY
Single session or ongoing — your pace
One session, regular sessions, or as-needed — guided entirely by what feels right for you. Grief doesn’t follow a schedule and neither does this support.
APPROACH
Companioning — not counseling
Rooted in Dr. Alan Wolfelt’s grief companioning philosophy. No diagnosis, no treatment, no timeline. Just a skilled, trained presence walking alongside you.
INTEGRATED PLANS
Already included at higher plan levels
Families enrolled in Telos Integrated Support Plans at Levels Two, Three, and Four have one grief companioning session per month built into their plan.
Fees are discussed during the initial conversation. Sessions are available as a standalone service — no hospice plan enrollment required.
About the credential
Lorrie Shaw is a Pet Loss & Grief Companioning Certified Professional — trained in a program rooted in the grief companioning philosophy of Dr. Alan Wolfelt, founder of the Center for Loss & Life Transition and one of the most respected voices in grief care in the world. Wolfelt’s approach repositioned grief support from a clinical model — where grief is treated as a problem to be solved — to a companioning model, where it is honored as a natural and necessary human experience.
That philosophy is the foundation of every session Lorrie offers. Combined with her credentials as a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner, Certified Hospice & Palliative Care Advocate, and over a decade of direct work with families navigating pet loss at every stage — anticipatory, active, and bereavement — she brings a depth of understanding to this work that is genuinely rare. Most families who seek grief companioning say it gave them something they couldn’t find anywhere else — a space where their grief was taken seriously, their bond with their pet was honored, and they were never once made to feel that what they were feeling was too much.
Most families who seek grief companioning say it gave them something they couldn’t find anywhere else — a space where their grief was taken seriously, their bond with their pet was honored, and they were never once made to feel that what they were feeling was too much.
If something here resonated — if you recognized yourself in any of these words — that’s enough. You don’t need to explain yourself, justify your grief, or know what you’re looking for before you reach out. You just need to take one small step. Send an email. That’s all.
Lorrie will take it from there — gently, without pressure, and entirely at your pace.
The best first step is an email.
When families first reach out, they’re often overwhelmed and carrying a lot. Email gives you the space to share what’s happening at your own pace — and gives Lorrie the space to respond thoughtfully, with real information, rather than reactively. It’s how this works best, from the very first contact.
Lorrie personally reads and responds to every email — typically within a couple of hours, and always the same day. You will not be waiting.
Your grief is real. Your bond was real. And you deserve to be heard.
