Wendy Packman

Wendy Packman, JD, PhD is a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University( PAU) and holds clinical appointments at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University. She is the Director of the Joint JD-PhD Program in Psychology and Law at PAU and Golden Gate University Law School. She is admitted to the State Bar of California and is a licensed psychologist in California. Dr. Packman received her clinical training at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Judge Baker Children’s Center, and the Division of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics, UCSF. Her research interests and publications include studies of the psychological effects of bone marrow transplant on donor and non-donor siblings, psychological interventions for siblings of cancer patients, and psychological issues faced by children and young adults with inborn errors of metabolism. In the area of psychology and the law, research interests include ethical and legal issues in child and pediatric psychology, risk management with suicidal patients and malpractice. Dr. Packman has studied, presented and written extensively on sibling bereavement and continuing bonds, the impact of a child’s death on parents, and the psychological sequellae of pet loss. She is the primary investigator of an international cross-cultural study examining the continuing impact of a pet’s death and she is a co-investigator exploring the use of continuing bonds in pet loss.

Articles:

Continuing Connection with a Pet that Has Died

“Death ends a life – it does not end a relationship.” — (Anderson, 1974) When one suffers the loss of a dear, beloved animal companion, it is a profound loss and a heart-wrenching experience: “I feel like a part of me died with her. I feel a deep emptiness inside that is physically painful (bereaved pet parent).”  Bereaved pet parents are changed by the loss experience. Part of the change is a transformed but continuing relationship with their deceased pet. Many bereaved talk about maintaining and experiencing an ongoing attachment and continuing bond with their beloved pet following the loss. […]

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Grief Following the Loss of a Beloved Pet

The Pain of Loss “This is the most terrible pain I have ever had and I feel like I will never be the same person I was before my pet passed.  It felt like someone ripped my heart out of my chest when he died and a scream came out of me that was from some place unknown. I feel like I cannot go on and have lost my best friend who loved me without conditions or expectations.”  — Bereaved pet owner Becoming attached to beloved animal companions causes us to experience both joy and pain.  The bonds we develop with […]

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