How to Help Someone Who Is Grieving

When someone you care about loses a loved one, it's hard to know what to say and do. To help you support a grieving colleague, friend or family member, LegacyConnect offers advice from grief, condolence and etiquette experts. Click on the links below to learn more about grief, what you can say and do after a death, how to help a bereaved child and more.

Understanding Grief:
• The Purpose of Grief and Mourning
• Myths About Grief
• Why Won’t Anyone Let Me Feel Sad?
• People Want to Be Helpful, But...

What to Say:
• Condolence Notes, What Not to Say and More

How to Help:
• Helping Your Bereaved Friend
• 4 Ways to Help a Friend Deal with Grief
• Stand By Their Side
• Small Investment Pays Big Dividends
• Simple Things Make a Difference
• The Gift of Listening
• Seven Ways to Listen Better
• Don't Ask Someone Who Is Grieving to Take the Initiative
• 5 Ways to Help a Grieving Friend Re-Establish Routines
• Leaving a Message
• What’s Appropriate to Share?
• Creating a Caring Space through Prayer
• The Importance of Empathy
• The Importance of Acknowledging Anniversaries

Funerals, Flowers, Memorial Donations:
• Sending Flowers
• Memorial Contributions
• How to Make Memorial Donations
• Condolences from the Group
• What is a Memorial Service?
• Memorial Service Etiquette
• Visitation Etiquette
• Giving a Eulogy
• Star Eulogies
• When Attending a Funeral, Preparation Is Key
• When Not to Attend a Funeral

What to Do in Specific Situations:
• Grief in the Workplace: An Outline for Helping
• When Loss Hits the Workplace
• What to Do When an Acquaintance Dies
• Supporting the Bereaved After a Suicide
• Youth Suicide: What You Can Say and Do to Help the Survivors
• When a Baby Dies
• How to Be Supportive After a Miscarriage
• Grieving Loss During the Holidays

Helping a Grieving Child or Teen:
• How Can We Respond to the Grief of Children?
• Helping Children Through Grief
• Helping a Child Deal with Loss
• Writing a Condolence Note to a Grieving Child or Adolescent
• The Grieving Teen
• Military Kids: Responding to their Grief

Photo by foundphotoslj/Flickr Creative Commons