Health and Wellbeing
Support a Grieving Adult
When a friend or colleague is bereaved, find the words and practical help that make a difference, even if you're scared of getting it wrong.
- 19 minutes
- 9 modules
- Certificate
Members
Parent membership: all 50 courses for parents and carers, £40 a year or £4 a month after 14 days free.
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If you need help now
- If someone is in danger, call 999.
- For urgent mental health help, call NHS 111.
- Samaritans: call 116 123, any time.
- Shout: text SHOUT to 85258.
- Childline (for children and young people): 0800 1111.
- Papyrus HOPELINEUK (suicide, under 35s): 0800 068 4141.
What you'll learn
- Make specific, practical offers of help instead of 'let me know'
- Make room for anger, laughter and the feelings people keep hidden
- Understand how a new bereavement can bring back earlier losses
- Mark birthdays and anniversaries so the person isn't alone on hard days
- Use calmer days to plan with them for the difficult ones
About this course
When someone you know loses a person they love, it's easy to hang back. You don't want to intrude or say the wrong thing, so you end up saying nothing at all.
Doing something, even clumsily, is almost always better. You'll find simple ways in. Swap "let me know if there's anything I can do" for a specific offer, like walking the dog together tomorrow. Make room for anger and laughter as well as tears. Put the anniversary in your diary so they aren't on their own on the hardest days.
You'll also understand why a new loss can stir up old ones, and why an evening at choir or a chat about the soaps can help as much as any conversation about grief.
9 modules
Open in order
- 1 min
Introduction
- 2 min
Wrap Up
- 2 min
Anything is better than nothing
- 3 min
Be specific and practical in your offers of help
- 4 min
Talk about the tough stuff
- 3 min
New grief reignites old grief
- 3 min
Do non-grieving things together
- 2 min
Be there on difficult dates
- 3 min
Plan for the hard days on the better days