At Faith’s Lodge, we know grief. Since 2007, over 10,000 people have walked through our doors. With every encounter, we seek to understand how to better help bring support and hope to those coping with the death of a child.
When a loved one is coping with the death of a child, you so desperately want to help, but it’s difficult to find the best way. Many questions run through one’s head such as “What should I say?” “What should I not say?” “How can I help right now?” “How can I make this better in the weeks or months or years to come?”. While nothing can take away the pain and sadness of losing a child, there are a few things that can help a grieving parent or family feel less alone in their grief journey.
Here are our Top 10 most helpful blogs and articles for friends and family of a grieving parent:
1. “Help Someone in Grief” from the Center for Loss and Life Transition
Led by death educator and grief counselor Dr. Alan Wolfelt, the Center for Loss and Life Transition is an organization dedicated to helping people who are grieving and those who care for them. Dr. Alan Wolfelt, has been recognized as one of North America’s leading death educators and grief counselors. This article outlines the most fundamental ways to help someone grieving as well as different approaches depending on your relation to the person who is experiencing a significant loss.
2. “Grieving The Loss Of A Child: Six Things That Everyone Needs To Know” from The Grief Toolbox
Author Katherine Rundell outlines six things that parents grieving the loss of a child want you to know.
3. “7 Things I’ve Learned Since the Loss of My Child” from A Bed for My Heart
After death of her son, Angela Miller founded A Bed for My Heart in 2013, and has given people around the world a compassionate and supportive community to express their grief and honor their children. In this blog, you’ll get an inside look at why the loss of a child is a grief that lasts a lifetime.
4. “Helping Someone Who’s Grieving” from The Help Guide
The Help Guide outlines 5 practical ways to help someone who is grieving from practical assistance to ongoing support.
5. “64 of the Best Things Ever Said to a Griever” from What’s Your Grief
This blog written by Litsa Williams has compiled practical things to say to someone who has lost a child from grieving parents themselves. What’s Your Grief is a well-known resource for those seeking to understand and coping with loss. All of their articles on Supporting a Griever are listed here.
6. “6 Things to Never Say to a Bereaved Parent” from Still Standing Magazine
Author Angela Miller from a Bed for My Heart outlines six things to never say. Founded in 2012, Still Standing Magazine has been the world’s leading online voice in breaking the silence on child loss.
7. “How to talk to a parent who is in grief. From someone who’s been there”Author Samantha Hayward shares how to help a grieving parent from the perspective of a parent who has experienced the pain of child loss. She outlines ten things she wishes people knew about the loss of a child.
8. “The Gift of Someone who Listens” from The Compassionate Friends
When a child dies, at any age, the family suffers intense pain and may feel hopeless and isolated. The Compassionate Friends provides highly personal comfort, hope, and support to every family experiencing the death of a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, or a grandchild, and helps others better assist the grieving family. The Compassionate Friends offers support through their online resources as well as local chapters throughout the U.S. which offer support groups. Find
Read their article on “The Grief of Parents When a Child Dies”
9. “How To Support Someone Grieving During A Time Of Social Distancing” from An Unexpected Family Outing”
While this blog is specific to social distancing, this also applies to those who are supporting a grieving person from a distance. Author Rachel Whalen founded An Unexpected Family outing in 2016 after the loss of her daughter Dorothy.
10. “Helping a Grieving Person” from The Centre for the Grief Journey
The Centre for the Grief Journey was founded in 1992 by Dr. Bill Webster out of a desire to bring comfort, direction and hope to grieving people. There is no “cookie cutter” approach to grief, and no “magic want” to instantly “fix“ things, but over 35 years the grief support program has been widely recognized as a resource for people after a significant loss.
