The Grieving Process

Grief is a natural process that's painful, personal, and normal. Grief allows a person to come to terms with a significant loss, and make sense of their new reality without a loved one. In most cases, grief will resolve itself with the passage of time, and psychotherapy is unnecessary.

Other times, grief can become complicated and fail to resolve. The bereaved may be consume by their loss for years afterwards. In these cases, grief therapy may be warranted.

The Grieving Process Info Sheet was designed to help you provide grieving clients with a basic education about the grief process, and what it's like when that process gets derailed. This handout will define grief, normalize the process, and explain when it might be time to seek help for grief.

We recommend using this grief worksheet during the beginning stages of complicated grief treatment and bereavement groups. Those who are in the support system of a bereaved person may also benefit by learning about the wide range of normal grief responses.