Supporting Others Through Loss Practical Tools for Friends, Families, and Those Who Care

Supporting Others Through Loss Practical Tools for Friends, Families, and Those Who Care

Introduction What this course is — and what it is not. Who it is for. A note on the limits of the supporter role and the importance of self-care throughout.

Module One: Understanding Grief from the Outside What grief actually looks like in another person. The physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioural signs of grief. Why grief rarely looks the way we expect. The difference between supporting and fixing.

Module Two: What Grieving People Actually Need The gap between what supporters offer and what bereaved people need. Presence over problem-solving. The neuroscience of co-regulation. Why simply being there matters more than saying the right thing.

Module Three: What to Say — and What Not to Say The words that help and the words that harm. Common well-intentioned phrases that inadvertently minimise grief. How to sit with silence. How to speak about the person who has died. Practical language guidance for different situations.

Module Four: Practical Support — The How and the When Moving beyond "let me know if you need anything." Concrete, practical ways to support a bereaved person. How to read what is needed without asking. Supporting across the different phases of grief. The long haul — grief beyond the first few weeks.

Module Five: Supporting Specific Types of Loss The particular needs of those experiencing different kinds of grief — sudden death, suicide bereavement, child loss, pregnancy loss, disenfranchised grief, grief after estrangement, and the grief of those caring for someone with a terminal diagnosis.

Module Six: When Grief Becomes Complicated Recognising the signs that grief has moved beyond what general support can address. Complicated grief, prolonged grief disorder, and traumatic grief. How to encourage professional help without damaging the relationship. What to do when someone refuses support.

Module Seven: Supporting Grieving Children and Young People How grief presents differently across developmental stages. What children need from the adults around them. How to talk to children about death. Supporting a grieving child in a family or school setting.

Module Eight: The Supporter's Own Wellbeing Compassion fatigue and vicarious grief. Recognising when supporting another person's grief is affecting your own wellbeing. Self-care strategies for those in a sustained supporter role. Permission to have needs of your own.

Module Nine: Bringing It Together — Your Personal Support Framework Integrating the tools and understanding developed throughout the course into a practical, personal framework for supporting the bereaved people in your life. Knowing your own limits. Building a sustainable practice of grief-informed compassionate presence.