Keeping Lily Safe
An Autoethnographic Exploration of Human–Animal Attachment during Adversity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13027295 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Catherine Lee (0000-0002-4564-0787, Anglia Ruskin University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 217-217 |
| Publication date | 2019-07-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/socsci8070217 |
| OpenAlex | W2956680482 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
This article is an autoethnographic examination of my experiences as a pet owner during a particularly challenging time in my life. Beginning with a summary of a critical incident, it shows the way in which fears for the safety of my pet cat, Lily, and my relationship with her impacted my health, wellbeing and identity. Depicting self-knowledge as partial, local and culturally located, I deconstruct the relationship I had with Lily in relation to the particular set of circumstances in which it was situated. I was seen by my doctor and prescribed a course of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) during this period, and so, my account draws on my medical records, CBT notes and my CBT thought diary in an attempt to understand how and why my anxiety was manifested in my concern for Lily. The article calls for cognitive behaviour therapists to carefully evaluate external stressors before fears are dismissed irrational and reformulated as alternative thoughts. This article also demonstrates that familiesare diverse, and there are many ways of ‘doing family’. For many heterosexual and same-sex couples, pets give stability to a partnership and elevate it to family status, if only within the privacy of the home. Human–animal attachments can be comparable to human–human attachments, and where attachments to pets are as strong as those toward humans, fear of harm can be devastating
Aesthetics · Anxiety · Autoethnography · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Harm · Human animal · Identity (music · Psychiatry · Psychotherapist · Situated · Sociology · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Gender Studies · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology
Human‐Animal Bonds II
Sourcebook of Family Theory and Research
For better or worse
Gay and Lesbian Couples at Home
Lesbian Living Spaces
Older Lesbian Adults’ Psychological Well-Being
Crone Songs
Considering Alternate Sources of Role Identity
Changing Family Life in the Rural Context
Pets as safe havens and secure bases
Doing Family Without Having Kids
The Re-Branding of Marriage
A Critique of Current Practice
Therapeutic landscapes and non-human animals
Pet owner behaviors and attachment to yard versus house dogs
Animals as Lifechangers and Lifesavers
Lived Experiences of Childfree Lesbians in the United Kingdom
Animals Just Love You as You Are
Cultures of Intimacy and Care beyond 'the Family
Sex in Public
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |