Bereavement, Grief and Loss
Coping With Grief
Grief is Normal
Timeline
Social Connections and Support
Self-Care and What You Can Do
There is a range of things you can do to support yourself during challenging time. The resources we have provided below are a great place to start as you navigate your grief journey. As you move forward, do what you can to maintain your normal routines and continue to keep in touch with family members and friends. You may also find it helpful to join a grief group to connect with other individuals who have also experienced a loss or to seek professional counselling.
Additional Support:
Palliative Manitoba’s Telephone Bereavement Support service is a non-profit, confidential resource that provides compassionate listening and support for individuals coping with grief. Trained volunteers provide one-on-one telephone support and can help connect you with the appropriate resources, support groups, and agencies.
Online Bereavement Support Group available.
If you are looking for bereavement support call: 204-889-8525 ext. 225 Mon – Friday 9 am to 5 pm or Email: info@palliativemanitoba.ca
Please note this is not a 24-hour crisis service, if you are in crisis please contact the Klinic Crisis Line at 204-786-8686.
Province-wide crisis and non-crisis services in Manitoba
The province of Manitoba has a wide range of resources for those who may be experiencing crisis or seeking mental health support. Trained staff is available over the phone, online and in communities across the province to support the mental well-being and psychological safety of experiencing distress and mental health concerns. To learn more about these resources visit the province’s list of Mental Health Crisis and non-crisis contacts. If you are currently in crisis, call the Klinic Crisis line at 204-786-8686 or 1-888-322-3019
TTY 204-784-4097
Web Resources
For more information, we have compiled a list of resources to help you cope up with grief during these difficult days.
Global
That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief
An article from the Harvard Business Review.
E-Mental Health: Grief and Bereavement Resources
Created by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, this resource database includes links to grief and bereavement supports and information tailored for the general public, medical students, primary care givers and psychiatrists. We believe that wellness is a journey, not a destination—and every day, we can each take a step toward our own well-being.
The Compassionate Friends
Resource library, support meetings, drop-in, newsletter, workshop, and telephone friends for bereaved parents. 685 William Avenue, Winnipeg, MB. Phone: 204-787-4895
Printable Resources
Free Grief Seminars with Palliative Manitoba
Grief seminars schedules and locations. For more information contact info@palliativemanitoba.ca
Videos
The Unstoppable Power of Letting Go | Jill Sherer Murray
(death of a relationship)
Stories of the Heart
by BC Centre for Palliative Care
Stories Of The Heart Trailer
by BC Centre for Palliative Care
Podcasts
Where's the Grief? By Jordan Ferber
Comedian Jordan Ferber helps shine some light into the darkest parts of our own existence and encourage a more open discussion about the effects of grief and offers coping mechanisms to those suffering.
https://podcast.app/wheres-the-grief-p92503/
What's Your Grief by Eleanor Haley and Litsa Williams
Two mental health professionals seek to demystify the complicated experience of grief. Listeners will find their approach practical, relatable, informative and engaging as they tackle a range of topics related to grief.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/whats-your-grief-podcast-grief-support-for-those-who/id946757971
Terrible, Thanks for Asking by Nora McInerney
Nora McInerny asks real people to share their complicated and honest feelings about how they really are. It’s sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and often both.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/terrible-thanks-for-asking/id1126119288
Griefcast
In this award-winning podcast, Lloyd makes space for natural, unhurried conversations for her guests to talk about death in an uninhibited way. Lloyd interviews media personalities who share stories of loved ones lost and acknowledging that the world continues when we often feel our most alone, but that we too, can keep going.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/griefcast/id1178572854
Books
Bittersweet: (2022)
By: Susan Cain
Shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain, whether from a death or breakup, addiction or illness. Embracing the bittersweetness at the heart of life is the true path to creativity, connection, and transcendence.
It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok
by Megan Devine
Offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. This book invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it.
The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After Loss
by George A. Bonanno
Challenges the conventional model of the 'Five Stages of Grief'. Grief is not a linear, predictable process and people are more resilient and capable of living with deep loss than thought.
A Parent’s Guide to Raising Grieving Children
by Phyllis R. Silverman and Madelyn Kelly
Offers wise guidance on virtually every aspect of childhood loss, from living with someone who's dying to preparing the funeral; from explaining death to a two year old to managing the moods of a grieving teenager; from dealing with people who don't understand; to learning how and where to get help from friends, therapists, and bereavement groups; from developing a new sense of self; to continuing a relationship with the person who died.
The Invisible String
By: Patrice Karst
The perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. In this relatable and reassuring contemporary classic, a mother tells her two children that they're all connected by an invisible string.
Straight Talk About Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love
by Earl A. Grollman
With brief entries such as “Accidental Death,” “Self-Inflicted Death,” “Talking,” “Crying,” and “Going Nuts,” Grollman offers advice and answers the kinds of questions that teens are likely to ask themselves when grieving the death of someone close.
Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair
Miriam Greenspan (May 11, 2004)
This revolutionary book offers a more hopeful view: there is a redemptive power in our worst feelings. Avoidance and denial of the dark emotions that results in the escalating psychological disorders of our time: depression, anxiety, addiction, psychic numbing, and irrational violence.
The Grief Recovery Handbook 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition, The Action Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce, and Other Losses, Including Health, Career and Faith, How Grife Recovery Addresses Trauma & PTSD
By: John W. James and Russell Frieman (Founder of The Grief Recovery Institute)
Drawing from their own histories as well as from others', the authors illustrate how it is possible to recover from grief and regain energy and spontaneity.
Looking For More?
Free resources to help with your anxiety available from your phone
Suicide Prevention Line
If you are considering suicide or are concerned about someone who may be, call the Suicide Prevention line. Someone will be ready to listen and speak to you.
Call 1-800-784-2433 anytime.
Text4Mood
If you are suffering from depression or anxiety, Text4Mood sends you a daily inspirational text message to support positive mental health.
To join, text Mood to 760-670-3130.