How you can help others through grief
As a friend, you may find yourself comforting someone close to you through an experience like this. Victor Parachin, author of Grief Relief, offers some suggestions on how to comfort a grieving family member or friend during this difficult period.
- Be available to help, even with everyday tasks. Offer to help take care of the pets or to pick up the kids from school.
- Don’t judge what a grieving person may say. They are in pain and don’t always mean what they say. Allow them to express
all their feelings. - Be sensitive and respectful. Don’t trivialize their pain or try to comfort them with cliches like “It was God’s will.”
- Most of all – be patient. People who must suffer through a murder trial or other reminders of a death may need more time to heal.