Grieving can be a very intense and individual process – different for each person. What we grieve, how we grieve, when we grieve… all may show up very differently. This makes sharing and connecting around grief sometimes very difficult. Often people feel alone with it, and do not know how to talk about the loss and the wide-ranging impact it may bring.

It doesn’t help that there are few spaces, places or processes in which we have support or guidance for coping or sharing our loss and grief. Often grief rituals are very restricted in time, topic or style (a somber funeral direct after a death). The rituals are often overwhelming, and do not address the grief that shows up later after the shock, or the disorientation of the loss really sinks. Nor are there spaces for grief linked with non-death situations, such as but not limited to loss of dreams, health of self or others, a relationship, a job, a community, etc. To further complicate matters often these different types of grief can be intertwined.

The default is often to ask the one grieving to organize and tell others how to support them at a point when they most overwhelmed or disoriented. This can lead to further isolation or misunderstandings.

I too have experienced this in the past few years, and as a professional trained in these topics and with an extensive professional and personal support network, found myself on the edge – noticing the wide-ranging impact that came with each loss. Yet, I have also learned a lot in the process – about myself, and an intense awareness of the spectrum of life (dark and light) which has become part of my slow healing.

Therefore, we at C2, my colleague Dr. Frei and I, have decided to create a protected space where we can share our experiences around loss, and feel less lost and isolated in this already intense process. Join us at our virtual grief circle once a month on Thursdays at 19:00. If there is a wish to meet in person in the future that is also possible. If you’d like to sign up please contact: patricia.vriesendorp@psychologie.ch or sign up here.

Some questions to start the process:

  • What do you miss about who or what you lost?
  • What ways has it impacted your life?  

We also have a few grief and loss resources on our website here.