BEREAVEMENT

Dealing with loss can be difficult, but you don’t have to do it alone. 

 We understand 

Doing all stages of life together.

What Is Bereavement?

Bereavement is the state of having lost someone usually through death. It refers more to the situation or condition you’re in after the loss rather than the emotional response itself.

Lets break it down:

  • Bereavement = the fact that you’ve lost someone
  • Grief = how you feel and react to that loss
  • Mourning = how you express that loss outwardly

Although this terms are closely related and often overlap, breaking them down allow us to but distinction betweeen each position. 

 How Can You Help

Bereavement can a be hard to navigate. We want to come alongside and support you no matter where you find yourself. We provide:

  • Support groups –  connect with others who understand what you are going through.
  • Yearly support material to help you navigate grief at your own pace.
  • Individual grief support and bereavement care plans
  • Community education
  • 24 hour bereavement support

Click here to find a location near you to support you on your journey.

5 Stages Of Grief

Grief is the emotional, mental, and sometimes physical response to losing something or someone important to you. Most people associate it with death, but it can also come from breakups, losing a job, major life changes, or even letting go of a version of your life you expected.

At its core, grief is how we process attachment and loss. It can show up as sadness, anger, confusion, numbness, guilt, or even relief—often in unpredictable waves rather than a steady progression. You might also notice physical effects like fatigue, trouble sleeping, or changes in appetite.

The idea of grief being broken into stages maybe helpful, but real grief doesn’t follow a neat path. It’s more like something you move through and revisit over time.

Importantly, grief isn’t something to “fix” or rush. It’s a natural process of adapting to loss and gradually learning how to carry it while continuing to live your life.

Denial

A sense of shock or disbelief. People may think, “This isn’t happening.” Denial acts as a buffer against the immediate pain.

  • The person refuses to see the upsetting reality and holds onto a preferable outcome or scenario.
  • The shock of loss is disabling; the inability to cope with it causes the person to adopt an alternate reality.
  • As the person carries on, the thought of loss is in the background and, with time, becomes less and less acute.
  • Denial will continue until the person is finally able to face the reality of the loss.
Anger

Frustration or helplessness can turn into anger—at others, oneself, or even the situation (“Why me?”).

  • The person may ask the question: Why did this happen? This is a sign that the person is starting to deal with the real and not an adopted or preferred situation.
  • Anger is a powerful emotion that engulfs the person and spreads to everyone around him or her.
  • Anger stems from the fear of looking at the uncomfortable truth of living without the loved one.
  • This fear manifests itself as anger but will get weaker overtime.
Bargaining

Trying to make deals or “what if” thinking. For example: “If only I had done something differently…”

  • An attempt to regain control of the situation.
  • What if he or she did something different that maybe could have prevented the tragedy of loss from taking place; or thoughts turn to the person not being kind enough to the person he or she lost.
  • This stage of grief is marked with feelings of guilt.

 

Depression

Deep sadness, withdrawal, or feeling overwhelmed by the reality of the loss.

  • The person enters the realization of not having someone he or she loves.
  • Loss creates the feeling of emptiness that seemingly voids the meaning of life.
  • The loss is senseless and takes the ground from underneath the person.
  • The person feels this way because he or she appreciates the person who has been lost.
  • It is appropriate to go through these experiences.
Acceptance

Coming to terms with the loss. This doesn’t mean being “okay” with it—it means recognizing reality and beginning to move forward.

  • The person now realizes, to a certain degree, that there is a new reality without the physical presence of a loved one.
  • It does not mean that the person is okay now.
  • The strong emotions of denial, anger, bargaining, and depression have subsided enough for the person to re-enter reality.
  • This is a new reality, where the person might not have physical presence of the loved one, but the person continues to live celebrating the loved one’s life.
  • This is ultimate re-adjustment stage where the person adopts to this new, challenging reality.

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