Vet techs carry more grief than almost any other healthcare worker. Anyone else feel that?
I'm a clinical psychologist and I've spent a good chunk of my career working with grief—including pet loss, which doesn't always get taken seriously in clinical circles. It absolutely should.
One thing I've picked up on is how vet techs carry a disproportionate share of client grief and almost nobody prepares you for it. You're in the room. You're the one who stays in the room after the vet leaves. And then the next patient is already waiting.
I built a grief support resource specifically for pet loss—it's a guide clients can use in the days and weeks after losing a pet (link in comments). I've been sharing it through a few vet clinics and the feedback from front desk staff and techs has been that it gives them something to hand someone when they don't know what to say. Which, honestly, is most of the time...nobody knows what to say.
Also genuinely curious: how do you all handle this? Is there any training or protocol at your clinic for client grief?