18: “Sorry for Your Loss” What to Say or Not to Say to Someone Who is Grieving
- Gemma Gladstone
- January 1, 2021
Today, we’re talking about an issue related to grief and loss. Grief is a multifaceted process, and it can be influenced by many different factors. Suffering the loss of someone we love can be a life-changing experience, and after going through that, it is quite normal to feel like a completely different person. In this episode, we discuss the process of grief, and we talk about how unique it is and how much it differs for every one of us.
Grief is a complex process that we all deal with in our own way. Sometimes, however, the people in our lives don’t quite understand our process of grieving and they expect us to be able to recover and move on far more quickly than we can. They could become frustrated or irritated with us when we don’t progress according to the timeline they have in mind, and that could make us worry or become concerned that we are not doing our grieving in the right way. Stay tuned today to learn the truth about the process of grieving, and learn how to show up for someone who is grieving and lean into their loss. You will also find out why you should never compare your experience of loss with that of anyone else.
Show highlights:
- Some of the factors that influence the way that we grieve.
- The things that people tend to worry about in terms of their grief.
- Why so many people are worried about not conforming to a socially-sanctioned grief path.
- People struggle to get their heads around the concept that we are all going to die.
- In our society, there is often something missing in how people relate to someone else’s loss.
- Why we try to protect ourselves from the pain of the real and raw feelings of loss and grief.
- 2020 has been a year of confrontation around the area of loss and grief.
- The pain of non-acknowledgment.
- Leaning into someone else’s loss.
- The kind of responses that tend to make a bereaved person feel uncomfortable.
- Looking at complicated grief.
- How to show up for someone who is grieving.
Links and resources:
Email Gemma and Justine at gemmaandjustine@goodmood.com.au
Go to the Good Mood Clinic website podcast page to download your free guide, which talks about the characteristics of an emotionally available partner.