Chat Room Instructions, Guidelines, and Times

Please see our schedule below for days and times of the topics covered in our Chat Room
* All times are Eastern Standard Time

Chat Room Instructions

Once you Click the link above and enter our Chat Room, you will see the following window

Once you click in the Pink Area to join the conversation, you will see the following window

Below are some additional features our Chat Room offers

Guidelines & Ethics

These chatrooms are only for discussions of pet loss and bereavement. The focus here is solely on guided as well as peer supportiveness concerning pet bereavement. Our purpose is to offer timely help, while fostering healing and independence. To abet the security of our visitors we require all chatters to register with us.

Occasionally an individual will keep returning for a very extended period of time. Our chatrooms are designed to be an excellent emergency “first-aid” resource for new bereavers – or those anticipating a loss – and should not be used for any other purposes. We welcome and encourage the unique camaraderie here, and occasional re-visiting, but these chatrooms are not there to be a perpetual visiting place for any individual. Long-term visitors are expected to share some of their healing experience with our newer chatters. Sometimes our highly trained staff members are hard-pressed to give their best to everyone there. Their attention and focus are distracted and diluted by people who have not recently lost a pet, and want attention, nevertheless. That hinders our purpose and ability to help.

The specialized service offered here is intended to be short term. After a few months of non-productive visits we feel that a chatter is either not accepting our guidance, or he/she is unable to do so, because of underlying emotional/psychological reasons. That is beyond our purpose, and those underlying reasons legally may not be addressed here. In such cases we strongly recommend individual psychological counseling by a trained and licensed specialist. Of course, an occasional visit by a former chatter is always welcome.

NOTICE 
The APLB is not accountable for anyone’s comments in these chatrooms. Each visitor is fully responsible for anything he/she says or suggests here. And because this is online, caution should be reasonably exercised when sharing additional information of a personal or private nature.

Our highly-trained hosts are fully in charge of their individual chats, and may exercise their own discretion in making decisions. Any visitor who seems to be abusing this safe environment may be ejected from the chatroom. We do not permit abusive actions or expressions. A rude or offensive visitor will be permanently banned.

These chatrooms are caring and highly effective discussions, but must not be confused with clinical sessions. The counsel and supportiveness in this environment are nothing like a controlled professional situation. Although the tone here is one of compassion and constructive supportiveness, the APLB cannot always regulate the variables that may arise under these conditions.

Advice or other considerations offered here are not to be construed as part of a professional counseling session. They are typically the spontaneous products of the finest examples of human kindness and empathy. The benefits of carefully supervised peer support can be extremely supportive and helpful. But the APLB must disclaim any and all legal liability for anything that transpires in these dialogues, or as a result of them.

Despite the highly trained and experienced supervision, our chat rooms are not to be construed as a counseling service. Occasionally, in following up with certain individuals, private support via Email or telephone may be offered by the hosts. No fees are charged and all legal liability is disclaimed. If you are newly bereaved, and visiting our chatroom for the first time, please try to come in as early as possible. We want to give you as much individual attention as possible. Sometimes the chats get a little crowded, later on. Because they often become filled with return visitors, we find it necessary to focus mainly on those whose losses are most recent.