Supporting Someone Grieving
Practical guidance for friends, family, and workplaces who want to help
Without fixing, rushing, or causing harm.
Because good intentions aren’t always enough.
And silence doesn’t have to mean absence.
Supporting someone who is grieving can feel awkward, heavy, or frightening.
Many people worry about saying the wrong thing, and end up saying nothing at all.
You don’t need perfect words.
You don’t need to understand their grief.
What helps most is steadiness, humility, and the willingness to stay present.
What Often Helps
Listening without trying to fix or explain
Using their person’s name
Letting grief change from day to day
Showing up more than once
Allowing silence without rushing to fill it
What Often Hurts (Even When Well-Intended)
Rushing healing or “moving forward”
Explaining their grief to them
Avoiding the topic altogether
Comparing losses
Disappearing after the first few weeks
You don’t need to do this perfectly.
You just need to stay human.
Start Here
These short resources are part of the Grief Literacy Hub.
They’re designed to be practical, readable, and grounded in real grief - not theory.
You don’t need to read everything.
Choose what feels most relevant.
If you’re worried about saying the wrong thing
What to Say / What Not to Say
Common phrases that hurt, and what helps instead.
→ View resource
If you want to understand what grief actually looks like
10 Things to Know About Grievers
How grief shows up over time, and why it doesn’t follow rules.
→ View resource
If conversations feel hard or forced
Conversation Starters for Supporting Someone Grieving
Ways to open connection without pressure or platitudes.
→ View resource
If they seem physically different
Grief and the Body - Physical Impacts
Why grief affects sleep, memory, energy, and health.
→ View resource
If you’re supporting someone at work
What Grief Really Is / Types of Grief
Foundational understanding for teams, managers, and workplaces.
→ View resource
A Note for Workplaces
Grief doesn’t stay neatly outside workplaces.
It affects concentration, energy, confidence, and capacity.
These resources are often used by managers, colleagues, and HR teams who want to respond with humanity; not policy language.
You will not do this perfectly.
You will get things wrong sometimes.
What matters is that you keep showing up.
Presence, over time, is what people remember.