How Can You Actually Help A Bereaved Family?

For the Love of Grief is the podcast that talks about parenting after loss. Grief isn’t something that goes away - it will always live with us. In this episode, hosts Odette Mould and Sophia Giblin explore the role of community in the grief journey.

Most communities are eager to help members who are grieving the loss of a loved one, but sometimes they don’t know how to help. Some people may even avoid the bereaved persons because they don’t know what to say, so they say nothing at all. Rather than doing this, it’s better to actually tell them you don’t know what to say - something as simple as “I don’t understand what you’re going through, but I’m here for you” can go a long way.

To better prepare yourself, think about what you can offer before starting the conversation. Is it something practical? Is it emotional support? Do you know of an organisation that can help the family? 

Part of what makes reaching out so difficult is society’s aversion to talking about death and dying, despite it being a natural part of life. We also respond to news of other people’s loved ones dying in ways similar to our first experience, Sophia suspects. We struggle to respond to others because we have nothing to model our responses after. 

Key Takeaways:

• Rather than saying nothing at all when you don’t know what to say, you can literally just say you don’t know what to say.
• To better prepare yourself, think about what you can offer a bereaved person in your community before you start the conversation.
• We often struggle to offer support to bereaved persons because people once struggled to offer support to us. 

Resources

• Harry’s Rainbow
• Odette Mould on LinkedIn
• Sophia Giblin on LinkedIn
• Donate to Harry’s Rainbow