Understanding Grief: Blog Articles on Grief, Resilience and Solution-focussed Coaching
How did parents grieve for their children in the past? Did you grieve at all in times of low life expectancy, high infant mortality and frequent stillbirths?
Hard to say. And yet there are examples for grieving parents since the early modern period (in German).
The number of quotes and motivational sayings about goals seems endless. My current favorite comes from Lao Tzu:
“He who has no goal can achieve none.”
When an employee grieves, managers are often the ones who (have to) manage this special situation. What should be done in this special case? And: How can the death be made less emotionally stressful for the manager?
Grief support groups are all about waving scarves and incense sticks? To be honest: you can expect more. In the article on "grief support groups (in German)" you can find out,
- about different group concepts and how you can find a group for yourself,
- why grief support groups work for many people, and
- signs for quality in a support group.
In our society, death and mourning all too often take place behind closed doors. This is unfortunate, as grief is part of us as social beings: We build connections with people, and we grieve for them when they die (or miss them in our lives for other reasons). More in this article about "why connectedness matters when grieving (in German)":
- Ideas on where to find your support network,
- Thoughts on why you are allowed to accept help.
From my perspective, the essence is not in the talking but the listening . And also: small gestures, being able to listen, and accepting silence go a long way.
More in this article on "listening instead of talking (in German)".
A colleague suffers in loss in the family. What now?
- ideas for a gesture as soon as you learn of a loss
- gestures from a team
- for managers: possible topics for discussion
- Don'ts
- tips for condolences
More in the article on "When a colleague is grieving".
A colleague from work has passed away and you are unsure how to deal with their death? The blog article shares
- some thoughts on behavior and
- some suggestions what you can do with other colleagues.
Read the article with impulses for colleagues.
When a team member dies, this is also a job for internal communication.
- To have the colleague's interests at heart,
- while not violating the deceased person's privacy,
- and respecting the bereaved family's wishes.
Managers or HR employees who need to dislcose the death of an employee to their colleagues find some guidelines for communications in this article.
An employee dies. What needs to be done from the company's perspective?
This article shares prompts for action, as well as links to templates, checklists and more detailed articles. Hopefully, this is helpful for HR experts, leaders and people manager that have to deal with the death of an employee.
Read this article for tips and link for a situation when a colleague dies.
For many bereaved people, the loss of a loved one also means the loss of things taken for granted, These can be roles in their family or among friends, their belief in the world and certainties about their life. They are then faced with the task of rewriting parts of the life narrative.
Click here for the article on the reconstruction of meaning (in German).
The so-called stages of grief are still used to explain the process of grief. Unfortunately.
Because as simple as the model seems, it doesn't explain how grief works for most people. Fortunately, there are now models that describe grief more realistically than the old phase models.
Click here for the article about grief counseling models that are beyond simplistic phase models (in German).
When someone experiences a serious loss, many people around the bereaved feel helpless. Many people would like to help. In order to be effective in grief and feel more confident in conversations, it is worth taking a look at your own baggage.
This article shows how to deal with grief counseling - even if you have luggage of your own (in German) .
The SCARF factors status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness describe basic emotional and social needs in our interactions.
In grief counseling, working along these factors can help stabilize a bereaved client.
Find more in the article on SCARF factors in Grief Counseling.
Grief needs to be seen: It is part of being human, and giving it space is something that many people experience as healing. And yet it is largely relegated to the private sphere. Why is that?
This article describes how we give space to grief and bereaved persons.
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