Webinar: Navigating The Seasons of Grief After The Loss of a Loved One

Take the first step toward understanding your grief, finding healthy ways to cope, and discovering that healing and hope can exist alongside.

Losing someone you love changes everything. The world keeps moving, yet your own feels as though it has come to a standstill. One moment you’re expected to return to work, care for your family, answer messages, and keep up with daily responsibilities. The next, you’re simply trying to make it through the day.

Grief doesn’t follow a timeline, and it certainly doesn’t look the same for everyone. Within the same family, one person may cry openly while another becomes quiet and withdrawn. Some experience anger, others confusion, guilt, or overwhelming sadness. You may even wonder if what you’re feeling is “normal.” When everyone is grieving differently, it can leave families feeling disconnected just when they need each other the most.

Over time, grief can begin to affect every part of life. Sleep becomes difficult. Energy disappears. Simple tasks like cooking dinner, helping your children with homework, or having a meaningful conversation with your spouse can feel impossible. Work becomes harder to focus on, patience grows thin, and the stress of carrying emotional pain can begin to impact your physical health as well.

The hardest part is that many people believe they simply have to “get through it” alone. 

The truth is, while grief never completely disappears, you can learn to navigate it with greater understanding, self-compassion, and support. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting the person you lost. It means learning how to carry both your grief and your love forward while making room for hope, connection, and even moments of joy again.

That’s exactly what you’ll discover in our upcoming Focus on Wellness webinar, Navigating the Seasons of Grief After the Loss of a Loved One, presented by therapist Courtney Chiles-Cloud.

During this compassionate and supportive session, you’ll learn:

• How grief affects your emotions, thoughts, relationships, and daily functioning.
• Practical coping strategies for managing overwhelming emotions.
• Healthy ways to communicate your needs with family and loved ones.
• How to support others who are grieving while honoring your own healing journey.
• How it is possible to experience moments of happiness and connection without diminishing the love you have for the person you’ve lost

Whether your loss is recent or occurred years ago, this webinar offers a safe space to better understand your grief and gain practical tools that can help you move forward with greater resilience and hope.

Courtney Chiles-Cloud brings a person-centered, empathetic approach to her work, empowering individuals and families to feel supported as they navigate life’s most difficult seasons. She is passionate about helping youth, adults, and families discover practical tools and resources that foster healing, emotional well-being, and meaningful change. Her compassionate style creates a welcoming environment where participants can feel seen, understood, and encouraged.

You don’t have to have all the answers right now. You don’t have to pretend everything is okay. And you don’t have to walk through grief alone.

Watch a replay of the presentation here(opens in new tab). 

This webinar is facilitated by Courtney Cloud. She is a licensed professional counselor here at Eddins Counseling & Therapy Group. We will be presenting on the topic: Navigating the Seasons of Grief After the Loss of a Loved One.

Eddins Counseling & Therapy Group offers webinars on the 2nd Thursday of every month on various mental health-related topics. We can access all of our recorded webinars on our website.

The presentation tonight will focus on the following 3 items: how grief affects your emotions, relationships, and daily functioning; practical coping strategies for managing overwhelming emotions; and how to support others who are grieving.

What is Grief?

What is grief? Simply put, it is the emotional experience we have after a loss. This includes physiological distress, anxiety, confusion, feeling stuck in the past, and even feeling apprehensive about the future. 

So not only is there the emotional experience, but there’s the physical, the psychological, the behavioral, and the spiritual part of it. Some of the most common emotions we feel are shock, sadness, loneliness, anger, and even emotional numbness.

Additionally, many of our sleep patterns become disrupted, which can cause hormonal changes and different sorts of illness. Our capacity can dip, making it difficult to work and even to take care of and provide for a family. Many people may have moments of brain fog where it just feels like our brain is not firing like it used to. You may not be able to concentrate, or you may have memory loss or forgetfulness.

Things that used to feel simple and easy may now feel daunting and overwhelming.

There’s also the relational part that gets affected. Many can become socially withdrawn, disconnected, and isolated. Grief can cause our relational roles to shift. So if someone loses their spouse, their role in taking care of a family may look totally different. Or if a parent loses a child, their parental role is now completely changed.

Some people may even become more dependent on others, which can feel unfamiliar if that was not our dynamic previously.

Grief can also cause disruption in our faith. Some may feel anger towards God or a higher being and even withdraw from our spiritual routine. It can be hard for us to feel hopeful for the future or even find meaning in life. So this truly can lead some of us to feel lost and spiritually uprooted.

The Grief Process

Beyond the 5 stages

Many people are familiar with the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. But grief is complex, and it does not follow a perfect sequence of stages, meaning you don’t gracefully flow from stage to stage. But you can flip-flop and go back and forth between them. 

One of the first states we experience is shock. And that shock phase can be days, weeks, and even months. And while you are facing the reality of your loss, you may also be experiencing a loss of identity or sense of self. There are memories that just randomly pop up that can feel so incredibly painful. There can be moments of confusion and guilt, or you can just have so much mental and physical exhaustion.

And then there’s the reminders of the person in a song or a movie, or a scent, or a place, or a phrase. You may then find yourself shifting to moments of peace, laughter, and even a bit of joy.

Grievers can oscillate between confronting and avoiding the pain of loss, while also trying to cope and adapt to new situations and life changes. Many people struggle to go forward, and then they regress many times, as they need to as they work through this process.

Secondary Loss

One death can create many losses

Now we’re going to talk about secondary loss. So these are the losses that happen after a loved one dies. It’s a normal part of grief, and it can happen over time. That could be the loss of income, your home, your business, and security. It could be a loss of your beliefs, your values, your dreams, your goals.

And then there can be that loss or that change in relationships, as well as your sense of self and identity.

The word liminality actually describes that. It’s that disorientation that happens when a person is no longer who they once were when that person was alive, and yet they have not become someone entirely new. So it’s like being in that in-between space that is just confusing, and it’s distressing, and it’s like those moments of not recognizing yourself. Feeling so disconnected from your body and just questioning reality.

The process of trying to rebuild yourself can be challenging and very uncomfortable, but it’s a necessary part of the journey of reconnecting and reclaiming self. This requires giving yourself grace and compassion. It looks like recognizing your limits and honoring what you have the capacity for and what you don’t.

Dual Process Model of Grief

Moving back and forth

We’re now going to discuss what’s called the dual process model of grief, which explains why we naturally move in and out of grief. This model helps us understand the importance of spending time with your grief, and then taking time away from it. 

So spending time with our grief looks like honoring the feelings by naming them and experiencing them along with those sensations inside of the body. And when those feelings and those sensations come up, we welcome them. We don’t try to dismiss, disregard, or push them down.

We also can mourn, which is the outward expression of our grief through behaviors, rituals, and customs. And we remember our loved ones, whether it’s looking at photos and videos or rereading letters or cards, talking about them to other people.

And then making space for when the reminders hit, when that Facebook memory pops up, or that random Google photo that says, ” Remember this day”, right? It just randomly pops up on our screens. And then there’s the firsts: the first birthday without them, the first Christmas, Thanksgiving, the first day back to school for the kids, the anniversaries, including the 1-year anniversary of their death.

All these moments can hit so hard. And when it is just too much, that is when we take time away from grief. So that we’re able to still function, so that we’re able to go to work or to school, so we’re able to fulfill our roles as a caregiver or a parent, as a business owner or a manager, as a friend or as a mentor.

Sometimes all that we’re able to do is survive. And that is okay. And that is enough right now.

Maybe today we only have the capacity to respond to one email, and that’s okay. Maybe today is going to be Chick-fil-A for dinner instead of that home-cooked meal that we were prepping for. And that’s okay. Maybe today we only had the bandwidth to get our kids to school and then go back home and get in bed, and that is okay. This is where grace and compassion come into play.

There will be times that you just also need to distract yourself, redirecting yourself to something else, whether it is an activity that requires little effort. Or something you don’t have to use much brainpower for, something fun and stimulating. And then there’s the enjoyment. We get that through adjusting to the newness of life and experiencing joy in the simple everyday moments.

We love the quote, “Let joy sit beside your pain.”

So we try to allow ourselves to hold space for both, because both processes are important for coping and healing. The rhythm of oscillating between being loss-oriented and restoration-oriented is not fixed. It’s shaped by life circumstances, emotional capacity, and what each day demands of you.

As you are navigating this unfamiliar territory, allow yourself to feel grief when it shows up and step back when you need to take a break from it. Pay close attention to what helps you engage with grief and what helps you recover from it.

Coping with Grief

Tend to Yourself with Love and Gentleness

Let’s now move into coping, because the way you care for yourself is crucial to the grieving journey. Coping is going to look different based on what stage you’re in. So how you cope in the early season may look drastically different 6 to 8 months down the road. Trust that you won’t abandon yourself in your pain. Know that all the resources you need to care for yourself are within.

And sometimes you may need outside support to help you recognize that. So we’ve provided a few ways to care for ourselves physically. Of course, sleep and rest. We all know it is necessary to get adequate sleep. What I have found is people asking the question, “Well, how the heck do I get quality sleep if I can’t even sleep because my brain won’t shut off, or I’m restless, or I’m having sleep disturbances and unpleasant dreams, or I am just maxed out with stress.

So what do I do? Well, that’s when we seek support, both professionally and within our close circle. So if you’re able to make that appointment with our primary practitioner, make it. Let them know what’s going on in your world and see what support they can offer you. What plan they can put together to help you get the sleep that you need.

You could also meet with a therapist, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist who can also help put together a plan to get you back into a healthy sleep routine.

When it comes to creating a new bedtime or sleep ritual, take into consideration that you may have to be a bit flexible and make some shifts to accommodate where you are. So that may look like putting down all the devices an hour or so before bed, maybe doing some light stretches or taking a bath, maybe incorporating some meditation or reading, listening to calming music, utilizing visualizations. So when you’re lying in bed, we visualize yourself in a safe, relaxing, calming space to help put your mind a bit at ease.

Balanced diet. We all know we have to eat, but sometimes when you’re grieving, you don’t have the appetite to eat. And so again, you have to get flexible. So if you have been used to eating 3 full meals a day, but you don’t have the appetite for that, maybe look at a morning smoothie or shake, or maybe you’re now kind of snacking throughout the day. And at dinnertime, maybe you only have the appetite for just a couple of bites. And that’s okay because our focus is making sure we’re putting something in our body.

The next is movement. Now, movement can be really hard, especially when someone is in a depressive state to where getting out of bed is like a huge chore. So if you were once active all the time— go to the gym 3 to 5 times a week, or go to the park, and you’re walking miles, or you’re in that yoga or Pilates class. You have to meet yourself where you are. If you don’t have the capacity to do that, look at what you are able to do.

So if you can’t get out of bed, move in the bed. That could be joint circles with your wrists or your ankles. That could be stretching out our arms and our neck. Up and down, side to side. That could be wiggling our fingers. That could be wiggling our toes. Any movement is helpful.

Substance use. Your emotions can become more heightened when you’re under the influence, and that’s across the board. So if you are already feeling anxiety, having alcohol can enhance that. So you have to look at: “Am I using this substance to cope, or am I using the substance just recreationally?” 

Being mindful of how your body and your mind respond to that substance and having to ask ourselves the honest question, “Is this more harmful to me, and is this going to be helpful for me throughout this process?”

The last thing is going to be breathing. Now, breathing is going to be primary for regulating our nervous system and just overall helping with our wellness. So if you often find yourself in, like, an activated state- so very anxious, on edge, overwhelmed, panicked- doing some breathing is going to help re-regulate your nervous system and get you back to your baseline. 

So a simple exercise we call the 4-4-6. That is inhaling through your nostrils for 4 seconds, holding your breath for 4 seconds, and then exhaling through your mouth for 6 seconds. You may have to do this a few times, so this might take 3 or 4 times for you to do for you to start to see your nervous system getting back to a regular state.

Coping with Grief

You are deserving of Grace and Compassion

Coping from an emotional and mental perspective. 

Expression of emotions. This is simply putting a name to what you’re feeling. I feel angry; I feel overwhelmed; I feel lost; I feel sad. You can do that verbally. You can do that through writing. And you can do that through talking to someone that you trust to hold space for you.

Sometimes, yes, it could be hard for us to name and identify what it is that we are feeling. There is this awesome app called How We Feel, and it helps us to be able to identify what it is that you’re feeling, where you are feeling it, like what are some of the sensations in the body that you are noticing. And then it gives you the opportunity to share that with a friend or a family member. And so that actually can help with the support and the connection that you need.

Art and creativity. Art can be painting, coloring, drawing, music, dance, baking, cooking… anything that allows you to express yourself in a way that feels safe, healthy, and good to you. Trying something new. There are so many different things online to tap into, like that creative side of you, or ask someone to join you in doing something creative, join you in doing something art-related.

Mindfulness practices. So being mindful simply means to be present, to be in the moment, to be in the here and now. My favorite expression is: be where your feet are. So even if you look down right now, where are your feet? Where are they planted?

Be where they are. Be in this moment. Tap into your senses. Take notice of what you see, of what you can touch and what you can feel, what you hear, the sounds, the smell, the taste. When you tap into your senses, it can automatically ground you and keep you in the present moment.

Therapy and support groups. So therapy can be so helpful for people who are grieving. There are so many support groups available online and in person. There is actually a website called griefshare.org(opens in new tab) that helps you locate support groups in your area. 

Self-compassion. Self-compassion is going to be so helpful in getting you to be more gentle with yourself. Sometimes we can be so hard and so critical of ourselves during grief, and the compassionate part helps us to be more attuned to ourselves and our needs and how we need to care for ourselves in all aspects—physically, mentally, emotionally. 

There is an amazing website that I use. It’s called Self-Compassion with Dr. Kristin Neff(opens in new tab). She offers amazing resources and exercises to help us incorporate the practice of self-compassion.

Coping with Grief

Grief is not a problem to be solved but an experience needing support

We then have the relational part. So when we’re looking at getting support from other people, we have to keep in mind that as humans, we are not mind readers, and people do not always know what we need and how they can best support us until we tell them. So try to be clear and specific about what it is that we need. Verbalize your needs. So “Hey, I need you to take my kid to basketball practice this Friday, or I need 30 minutes to take a bath. Can you handle dinner? I need to go to the grocery store, but I don’t want to go alone. Can you go with me?” These are very specific.

Welcome the “no” and the “yes”. So try not to get stuck in the nos, and do not overexert the yes. So we may find ourselves in a no loop, saying no to everything. No to going on the walk, no to going to get coffee or lunch, no to going to that event or participating in that activity. No to having company, no to accepting help. 

And then we may feel the need to say yes to everything, whether maybe that makes us feel more in control or functional. Having to find a balance between the two based on your capacity and your overall needs.

Avoiding isolation. Isolation can be so hard, especially when you find yourself in a depressive state, or you’re constantly activated with anxiety and overwhelm. Something I recommend is, if you often find yourself isolating, find that one person that you trust. To be your maybe unstuck partner. And what I mean by that is someone that does the check-ins for you, someone that y’all have maybe that one emoji that we send or that phrase or that word that is basically getting you to get out of the isolation state and move into allowing someone to come in and sit with you, or taking that call, or just dropping by.

Accepting support. This can be very hard for many people who do not like to ask for help or do not like to lean on others. But support is going to be what will help you through the journey of grief. We were not created to carry heavy burdens alone. That is why connection and community are so important.

Activities for Grief Overwhelm

When it feels too much

Let’s now go into activities that can be helpful when it just becomes way too much to bear. 

Temporary shut-off. So if a pipe bursts in our home, what is the first thing we do? Shut off the water supply, right? Because if you don’t, the water is just gonna keep pouring in and possibly flood your home. Similarly, when the emotions become too much to handle, sometimes we have to emotionally shut off. When it is not safe to feel them, that is okay. We are not abandoning ourselves.

We are honoring our capacity in that moment, and we’re taking a temporary pause. And then redirect to something else that does not require emotional processing at that time.

Opposite action. This is where we choose to respond opposite to what we’re feeling. So if you’re feeling sadness and it’s just too much, the opposite could be calling that one friend that you know is always going to make you laugh. Or if you are feeling angry, turn on maybe your favorite childhood Disney movie. Could be helpful.

The last one is cope ahead. So plan for the possible difficult events early on (when you know that anniversary date or the birthday or the holiday with that person not being here is probably going to be really hard). If we plan ahead for those events by scheduling or incorporating some type of activity or hangout, whether it is going to lunch with a friend or going to play pickleball or having a spa day or going to dance with our friend to help us get through that emotional weight.

Supporting Others During Grief

Learn to Bear Witness

Supporting others during grief can be so hard and painful and confusing. You want to help, but you’re unsure how. You want to show up, but you don’t want to intrude. And you may fear that making things worse by saying the wrong thing. 

That may make you want to pull away. And that is what we want to avoid. Your support is important, and you have to understand that you cannot take away another person’s pain, but you can show up and bear witness to that pain. Acknowledge their reality and avoid trying to fix them. 

Grief is not a problem to be solved, but an experience needing support.

Humans need to be seen, heard, and companioned during this process. You know, sometimes grievers don’t know what the heck they need, and so it can be helpful when you make a suggestion. 

• “Hey, I would love to pick up food and bring it to you this Friday. What is a good time?” 
• “Hey, I am free Saturday afternoon. Can I come by and help you with any cleaning or chores that you need to get done?” 
• “Hey, if you need to run some errands this week, I’m more than happy to go with you and drive. Just let me know what day and time works for us.” 
• “Or, hey, I would love to be able to financially support you. Is there a bill that I can contribute to this month?” 

All of those things can be helpful to a person who is unsure right now how you can help or support them.

It can truly be so difficult to sit and watch the people we love and care about cry and outwardly express their pain. In those moments, we want to avoid minimizing, disregarding, or judging their human experience. This is not the time for giving advice unless it’s requested, but this is an opportunity for connection. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to sit, lie, or walk alongside them, and that can be enough.

Grief Resources

So we have here a list of resources that are both for adults and for children. There are many websites and organizations, as well as books, that help people with navigating grief, as well as how you can show up for others. 

We wanted to provide this quote. We love how Elisabeth Kübler-Ross(opens in new tab), who is the founder of the 5 stages of grief, expresses this. 

The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not “get over” the loss of a loved one. You will learn to live with it. You will heal, and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again, but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to.

Consider this question for reflection, something that we can think about when we have the time and capacity. What would you need to feel more supported inside your pain? So that could be a question for self-reflection. And that can also be a question that you can ask someone who is grieving.

We appreciate you watching and tuning in to our webinar. Again, this webinar was facilitated by Courtney Cloud, and she is a counselor here at Eddins. She works with both adolescents and adults navigating the difficulties in life, whether it’s from trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, or relational difficulties. You can reach us by email. Our email is [email protected], or you could also contact our client care team by email, phone, or text.

Thank you so much for joining.