Grief Care Basics:

Skills for Supporting the Grieving

Online Workshop Series

Compassionate Grief Support

In our grief-averse culture, it can be challenging to know how to support friends, family members, or colleagues who are navigating the complex journey of grief after a life-altering loss.

At The Grief Doula, we believe that supporting someone through their grief is a skill - one that can be developed and honed. Much like the skills required to build healthy, loving and balanced relationships.

Unless we’ve had an intimate lived experience of loss, most of us were unfortunately never taught these very basic skills in practical empathy. Especially when people close to us are experiencing life-altering losses.

Workshop Series Overview

The Grief Care Basics workshop series is an online event designed to equip you with the understanding, tools, and insight needed to support a grieving person in your life.

Whether you are a friend, family member, or colleague, these workshops will provide you with the knowledge, understanding, and skills to offer compassionate and caring support.

The intention is that you will leave the workshop series feeling more empowered, with a deeper understanding of the grief process, and practical knowledge on how to support your grieving loved one with care and compassion.

What You Can Expect to Explore

Understanding the Grief Process: Gain insights into the stages and types of grief, common emotional and physical responses, and how grief varies depending on the relationship and type of loss.
Communication Skills: Learn active listening techniques, how to avoid unhelpful comments, and how to engage in compassionate and supportive conversations.
Emotional Support: Discover ways to validate and acknowledge feelings, offer presence without trying to "fix" things, and recognise when to provide space.
Practical Support: Explore how to assist with daily tasks, offer logistical support, and identify specific types of help that can make a difference.
Creating a Supportive Environment: Build a network of support, encourage the use of support groups and counseling, and create rituals to honour the loss.
Setting Boundaries: Understand your own limits, balance support with self-care, and communicate boundaries kindly and clearly.
Self-Care for Supporters: Manage your emotional responses, practice self-compassion, and seek support for yourself when needed.
Time for Questions and Engagement: Participate in group discussions and guided reflections to reinforce what you've learned throughout the series. The final session in the series will be a closing session to consolidate and honour all that we have shared and learned together.

Workshop Series Details

Frequency: Weekly on Tuesdays for 4 weeks (starts Tuesday 6 August and ends Tuesday 27 August 2024)
Format: Online via Zoom
Duration: 6.30pm - 8pm South African Standard Time (1.5 hours)
Participation Fee:
R350 per person per individual session (total investment of R1,400).
Or book for all four sessions in advance and only pay R1,100.

Next intake: This workshop series will be presented every two months. The next intakes will be in November 2024, January 2025, March 2025, etc.

Thank you for being open to learning more about how you can support the people you care about as they move through their loss and grief journeys. I sincerely honour and respect that you are here.

Ready to Register for the August intake?

If you would like to proceed with registering for the workshop series, please click the link below to complete your registration form.

Or, if you have any questions to help you decide if you want to participate, please feel free to email griefcare@thegriefdoula.com

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