Join Platfform Wellbeing’s Lead Counsellors Katie and Jody Skene as they discuss navigating grief.
Together, they talked about important milestones like anniversaries, as well as experiences such as anticipatory grief, which includes the feelings of mourning and loss before a significant event, such as the death of a loved one. Additionally, there was a focused conversation on coping with grief after suicide.
Tracey Booth shared her lived experiences, including the unique challenges of bereavement during the pandemic, offering insights into the diverse emotions people can experience like guilt and the ‘what ifs’, and provided practical coping techniques to navigate through grief’s challenges.
Key takeaways
Katie discussed the idea that grief doesn’t shrink over time; instead, it remains the same size while our life grows around it:
There may be times when the grief feels just as intense as when it first happened but there are other times when it feels that you can live in that space outside it. This view of grief doesn’t tell somebody that the grief will go away in time and you’ll never be over it but it does acknowledge that there are times when the grief will feel stronger but there’ll also be days where you feel that you’re able to move on with parts of your life.
Jody talked about supporting grief from a workplace perspective and approaching conversations:
Offer your condolences, ask if they would like someone else to be speaking on their behalf, what support they need from you, and how they would like to keep in touch with you. Perhaps they would like to be contacted via email or text rather than a phone call at the moment when they know they’re going to be upset
Tracey shared advice on how to support a staff member who is grieving and doesn’t want to communicate.
I think it’s about giving them the space, so just letting them know that you will be there for them when they’re ready. Sometimes it’s overwhelming and people don’t want to talk because it’s just too much and some people don’t like to show their emotions.