G is for Grief Prompts

1. Think about a loss you’ve endured that you feel ready to reflect on. Take a moment to appreciate your experience.

2. How might you categorize the loss? Using the flower petal worksheet below, try shading in some petals that describe the type(s) of loss.

3. What has the loss revealed about some of your underlying needs for security, love, friendship, respect, freedom, esteem, belonging, etc. Which needs were threatened by your loss?

4. What thoughts or feelings does this exercise bring up? Pause, and take a breath!

• Loss of ground = loss of routine, home, community, culture, place, climate

• Loss of anchors & objects = loss of money, car, phone, belongings, drugs

• Loss of identity & imaginings = loss of job ,role, reputation, language, dreams

• Loss of relationships = death, miscarriage, break-up, divorce, estrangement, imprisonment, removal

• Loss of body & self - illness, impairment, disability, addiction, depression

1. Take a moment to journal about the types of grief & loss that your family and/or organization marks, and the types of grief & loss that go unacknowledged. What do you think are the affects of grief & loss that goes unattended?

2. Get curious. Come up with a list of questions or conversation topics you’d like to explore with your colleagues and the people you support about their experiences of grief, loss, and healing.

3. What collective rituals would you like to see for grief & loss?

1. Re-imagine bereavement leave for a fuller range of losses. Below is the Government of Canada’s policy for types of leaves employees can receive from federally regulated workplaces. What would a bereavement leave look like that didn’t just provide time off, but came with healing opportunities & resources? Describe the kinds of healing opportunities & resources you’d like to see more widely available.

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