{"id":1757,"date":"2014-07-28T15:04:35","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T05:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2014-07-16T15:10:38","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T05:10:38","slug":"bearing-witness-adele-mapperson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=1757","title":{"rendered":"Bearing witness: Adele Mapperson"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Adele<\/a>The bond between human and animal is increasingly recognised in published literature as unique, important and typically mutually beneficial. More veterinary schools are explicitly training veterinarians to recognise and acknowledge that bond. But what happens when it breaks down?<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nA US study involving 177 clients across 14 practices found that 30 per cent of pet owners experienced severe grief around the loss of their pet, with reactions characterised by insomnia, loss of appetite and \u201cfeeling like something died within them\u201d (Adams et al 2000). That grief remained fairly consistent for around 6 weeks after the death of a pet. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAnother study of 106 owners from a single veterinary clinic found that subclinical levels of grief and sadness lasted for six months or more in 30 per cent of people following the loss of a pet (Adrian et al 2009).<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe Lort Smith Animal Hospital has taken an innovative approach, employing an animal chaplain. The hospital, now Australia\u2019s largest not-for-profit animal hospital, was founded by Louisa Lort Smith to care for the animals of the poor and disadvantaged.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAnimal chaplain Adele Mapperson is employed specifically to support pet owners through difficult times \u2013 be that the euthanasia or death of a pet, surrender of a pet or worry about a potentially sinister diagnosis.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Lort Smith has always been based on the notion of looking after the human-animal bond,\u201d Mapperson said. \u201cIt was about providing affordable care for animals \u2013 but a very real by-product was providing support for people. As a chaplain, my job is to care for the person who has come with the animal.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThat usually means dealing with anxiety, concern and grief that owners feel for companion animals.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI remember asking [Lort Smith CEO Liz Walker] why they wanted a chaplain and not a counsellor, and she said that they were after someone who could sit down beside people and not frighten them off with the word counselling,\u201d Mapperson said. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMapperson had previously worked as a Uniting Church Chaplain in oncology and palliative care at the Royal Melbourne Women\u2019s Hospital.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nWhen offered the role, Mapperson admits to having some reservations.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI thought, hang on, I am doing really serious things in my role, looking after people who are dying, looking after people who are seriously ill,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know if it was right for me, but my supervisor suggested I go and have a look. And I found out very quickly that it is a very serious job.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMapperson quickly learned that the grief people feel around losing their pets is very raw, very real and quite often much greater than the grief people experience when they lose a human companion.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cPeople have said that the death of an animal is like the death of a child, and that the grief is just as strong,\u201d she said. \u201cI haven\u2019t known that myself, but for many this is true and they need support.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMapperson, Lort Smith\u2019s second chaplain, has now been in the role for two and a half years. It has caused her to reflect and rethink her ideas about grief around companion animals.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI think their loss is felt so keenly because with animals often there is a freedom to be who you are without any expectations or complications,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the relationship is a lot less complex [than relationships with people], and that people often feel acceptance from animals that they don\u2019t get from their human relationships.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nSometimes the loss of an animal unleashes grief that has been building up.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cTo be able to grieve over the loss of an animal can open doors for people who have lots of other grief that they haven\u2019t been able to open the door on,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nWhile Mapperson is religious, religion is not central to her role.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI come from a position of faith, and that is important for how I do my work, but I don\u2019t think that becomes significant overtly,\u201d Mapperson said. \u201cThe conversation is always about what is going on for the person I am talking to.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cPeople come here with a lot of religious faith, no faith, Buddhist, Muslim \u2013 all kinds of faiths,\u201d she said. \u201cI come from the perspective of seeing animals as part of the whole, and recognising that we are called to care for each other.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMapperson\u2019s role is varied. She is available four days a week for Lort Smith clients to talk to. Within the busy hospital, her office is a sanctuary where clients can sit, have a cuppa and discuss their feelings. Some clients seek her out, others are referred by a vet, nurse or receptionist, while others bump into her in the waiting room.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMapperson is also involved in a pet bereavement support group, offering a safe space for people to share their grief. There are as many reasons for attending the group as there are owners.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cOne owner attended six weeks after her dog died because she was fearful that she would go into depression,\u201d Mapperson said. \u201cAnother had gone to a support counsellor only to be virtually looked at in amazement and almost ridiculed for grieving over a pet. Another came because they were angry about the way in which the death had occurred and their subsequent experience with their vet. One came because she had had a long relationship with her dog during a period of her own illness, and felt her grief was misunderstood by those around her.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nSome attend the group once, others join for several months.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cGrief can be deep and it can be longterm,\u201d Mapperson said.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nIn addition, she writes to every person whose animal dies at the hospital \u2013 often following up with a phone call.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cPeople are generally very glad of that,\u201d she said. \u201cThey may be surprised, but they appreciate it. It is an acknowledgement that our job doesn\u2019t finish when they walk out of the door.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nIn 1989, Kenneth Doka argued that the loss of a companion animal is a type of disenfranchised grief \u2013 not unlike that experienced in cases of perinatal death or abortion \u2013 because the relationship with the companion animal is not sufficiently recognised by others. Unlike people, pet loss is not publicly mourned, depriving those grieving animal death of vital social support.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThat notion is borne out in a study which found that more than half of those who had recently lost a pet reported that they felt like society did not view the loss of a pet as worthy of grief (Adams et al 2000).<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAlmost all of those people believed that their veterinarian should provide emotional support before and after their pet\u2019s death, yet under 40 per cent had the opportunity to communicate with their vet following the death of the animal. That may be due to the busy nature of practice, or it may be due to other factors such as a feeling on the part of veterinarians that their role is over once the animal dies. It could also stem from a general discomfort around grief.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nMapperson said that grief is often challenging to witness, and empathises with veterinarians who deal with grieving clients.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nIt can be tempting to try to \u201cfix\u201d the problem, but grief is not fixable in the way a broken leg is.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cDoctors, veterinarians and nurses are practical people because they have to be, and they want to solve problems,\u201d Mapperson said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not God, and even God doesn\u2019t keep things living forever.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cGrief is often very confronting, it can be very disturbing and you may not want to be there,\u201d she said. \u201cThe instinct can be to get out of the way, but if you can stay present it helps, because people need most to feel that their grief is allowed and accepted.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe most any of us can do, she said, is bear witness.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cIt can be a very hard thing to stand and watch another person\u2019s grief and it can be emotionally draining, but it is also a good thing.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cGrief belongs to the grieving person, it isn\u2019t yours, you can allow it and witness it but you can\u2019t take it away or change it,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nLike anyone who works closely with people experiencing grief, the position can take an emotional toll. Mapperson draws strength from her surroundings, choosing to commute from her homestead in central Victoria which she shares with her partner, two dogs, two donkeys, the odd friend\u2019s horse on ajistment, and an abundance of wildlife including echidnas, kangaroos, owls and kookaburras.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m a really passionate gardener so I spend a lot of time doing that,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThe commute helps.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cBecause it happens that I travel a long way on the train I have time built into my day to read, which is a huge outlet. I read a lot, it has always been a great source of restoration.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThough she is keen to acknowledge that it isn\u2019t for everyone, faith is also an important source of strength for Mapperson.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cEach day, every morning and night, I read something from scripture and mediate upon it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat provides me with huge strength and makes a difference to how I approach everything. It gives me purpose.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nThat purpose, she added, is compassion \u2013 a quality she said she shares with those working in the veterinary profession.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s all about living compassionately in this world and finding ways to do that. I am very fortunate that my work provides that.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nReferences<\/b><\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAdams CL, Bonnett BN & Meek AH (2000) Predictors of owner response to companion animal death in 177 clients from 14 practices in Ontario. <\/span>Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association<\/i><\/span> 217(9):1303-1309. <\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nAdrian JAL, Deliramich AN & Fruch BC (2009) Complicated grief and posttraumatic stress disorder in humans\u2019 response to the death of pets\/animals. <\/span>Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic<\/i><\/span> 73(3):176-187).<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nDoka K (1989) <\/span>Disenchanted Grief: Recognising Hidden Sorrow<\/i><\/span>. Michigan: Lexington Books.<\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nANNE FAWCETT<\/b><\/span><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bond between human and animal is increasingly recognised in published literature as unique, important and typically mutually beneficial. More veterinary schools are explicitly training veterinarians to recognise and acknowledge that bond. But what happens when it breaks down? A US study involving 177 clients across 14 practices found that 30 per cent of pet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1500,1502,1501,201,1499,1359],"class_list":["post-1757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-adele-mapperson","tag-animal-chaplain","tag-chaplain","tag-features-2","tag-grief","tag-lort-smith"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":2,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":67,"name":"Features","slug":"features","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":68,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":63,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":67,"category_count":63,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Features","category_nicename":"features","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"The bond between human and animal is increasingly recognised in published literature as unique, important and typically mutually beneficial. More veterinary schools are explicitly training veterinarians to recognise and acknowledge that bond. But what happens when it breaks down? A US study involving 177 clients across 14 practices found that 30 per cent of pet owners experienced severe grief around..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"67":{"name":"Features","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=67"}},"tags_names":{"1500":{"name":"Adele Mapperson","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=adele-mapperson"},"1502":{"name":"animal chaplain","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=animal-chaplain"},"1501":{"name":"chaplain","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=chaplain"},"201":{"name":"features","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=features-2"},"1499":{"name":"grief","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=grief"},"1359":{"name":"Lort Smith","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=lort-smith"}},"comments_number":"2","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1757"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1765,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions\/1765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}