It is not uncommon to be confused when trying to make sense of anothers grief. It is human nature to want to help alleviate the suffering of a fried. However, some of the things that may at first seem helpful may short circuit the process. Here are 6 things to avoid.

1. Oversharing your experiences with grief and loss in a attempt to assure that you know how they feel. No two relationships are the same. You don’t know how they feel because you are not them.
2. Trying to lead then through their grief journey instead of allowing them to allow their sole to lead them to feel what is true.
3. Trying to be equipped with all the answers.
4. Assessing which “stage” of grief your friend is in.
5. Minimizing their loss by suggesting that the loosing a pet in relation to loosing a human relationship is easier to deal with. In many cases humans bond with their pets stronger than any other human relationship they have.
6. Giving them a timeline for working through the process. There are no valid itineraries on these journeys.