Comforting Words
  • Home
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Author Bio
  • About
  • Media Room

What Not to Say to a Grieving Spouse

3/4/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
The death of a spouse is one of the most devastating and stressful life events. The grief is deep and lasts for a long time. While every individual is different in how they grieve, there may be a period of time when the best the bereaved can do is just get out of bed. Tasks that seem quite ordinary might feel like obstacles and it’s easy to feel insecure and doubtful. So how can you help?

Bolster the bereaved's fragile psyche and give compliments. Find anything that you can praise and let them know, “You’re doing fine.” The last thing they need is criticism or someone second guessing their decisions.

Here are some things to avoid as they hamper recovery:

  1. Don’t ask, “Are you going to be okay?” They won’t be okay for some time.
  2. Don’t think it is your job to distract the bereaved from their grief. If they want to grieve or cry, that’s okay; they’ve lost their spouse and they have something to grieve and cry about.
  3. Don’t tell them, “It’s been two (three or four) months and you don’t want to grieve too long.”
  4. Don’t offer to fix them up unless they have asked you to do so or mentioned that they’d like to start dating.
  5. Keep your opinions to yourself. Everyone handles things differently and it’s not your job to comment or critique on how the bereaved is handling things. 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Anniversaries
    Belated Sympathy Note
    Bereaved Children
    Condolence Note
    Coping
    Death Of Baby
    Death Of Child
    Death Of Parent
    Facebook Condolences
    Funerals
    Grief
    Guest Book
    Help
    Holidays
    How To Help
    Illness
    Listening
    Memorials
    Memorial Services
    Miscarriage
    Mourning
    Pet Loss
    Social Media
    Suicide
    Sympathy Notes
    Thank You
    Visitation Etiquette
    What Not To Say
    What To Do
    What To Say

    Author

    Robbie’s goal is to help her readers communicate effectively when their loved ones, neighbors, colleagues, and community members face difficult times. 

    RSS Feed



Buy the Books
Book Store
e-Books
Picture
About Words That Comfort
About the site
Author Bio
Media Room

Contact


Robbie Miller Kaplan
wordsthathelp@gmail.com
© Robbie Miller Kaplan. All Rights Reserved.
All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published, broadcast, neither performed nor used to prepare published works, without the prior written permission of Robbie Miller Kaplan. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright, logo or other notice from copies of the content.

Photos used under Creative Commons from Pink Sherbet Photography, Gytha69, EatLiveGrowPaleo.com, Ralph Hockens, adamthomasjones, mikecogh, Mike Sinko, scotbot, davidmulder61, szabolor, quinn.anya, Kekka, “Caveman Chuck” Coker, mikecogh, "Stròlic Furlàn" - Davide Gabino, garryknight, elPadawan, jennaddenda, Parker Knight, fabienlej, francisco_osorio, Vilellic