How to Support Yourself Through Grief: Tools for Navigating Loss With Compassion
By Mallory Bonarrigo, LPC, Art Therapist
What Is Grief?
Grief is not just sadness. It’s a full-body, full-heart experience that can include heartbreak, confusion, numbness, anger, relief, guilt, and everything in between.
It’s the ache of missing someone or something that mattered deeply. It’s the disorientation that comes when the world keeps spinning — but your world has changed forever.
And it’s not limited to death. Grief can arise from:
The end of a relationship or friendship
A change in identity, health, or ability
Moving, job loss, or a major life transition
Estrangement or unresolved relationships
Collective or traumatic loss
Grief is a normal, human response to loss. And yet so many people feel alone in it.
Why Grief Feels So Hard
Grief isn’t linear. There’s no “right” way to do it. And while society often gives us a brief window to “move on,” real grief takes time, space, and compassion.
You might feel like:
You're going in circles — okay one day, devastated the next
No one really understands the weight you're carrying
Your body is exhausted or tense all the time
You don’t recognize yourself in this version of life
You want to talk about your person or your loss, but worry it’s “too much”
All of that is normal. You're not broken — you're grieving. And support is possible.
Grief Connects Us All
In my years as a therapist, I’ve come to believe this deeply: grief is a thread in every single person I’ve worked with. No matter what someone originally comes to therapy for — anxiety, trauma, relationship struggles, body image — grief is always there, quietly beneath the surface.
The grief of not having the childhood you needed
The grief of losing a version of yourself
The grief of a loved one gone too soon
The grief of time, opportunity, or innocence lost
The grief of living in a world that sometimes feels too painful
No one escapes grief. But that doesn’t mean we’re alone in it. In fact, we are connected through it. We become more human — more whole — not by avoiding grief, but by allowing it to be seen, held, and softened over time.
A Workbook to Help You Navigate Grief
This is why I created the Grief Workbook: Navigating Loss With Compassion — because I’ve seen how deeply people long for guidance, reflection, and healing around grief.
And I wanted to offer something gentle and grounding you could hold in your hands.
Inside, you’ll find:
Compassionate education about what grief really is
Reflective journaling prompts to help you explore your loss
Art therapy–inspired exercises to express what words cannot
Support for emotional, relational, and physical experiences of grief
Permission to grieve in your own way, at your own pace
This workbook is for anyone who is missing something or someone — and wondering how to keep going.
Get the Grief Workbook on Amazon
Books That Normalize the Grief Experience
These compassionate titles help clients feel less alone:
It’s OK That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine
The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
Final Thoughts: There Is No Timeline for Grief
If grief has touched your life, you’re not broken — you’re human.
And though we live in a culture that urges us to “move on,” I believe this: you don’t need to move on from your grief to move forward with your life.
Grief may never fully go away, but it does change shape. It softens. It weaves into the fabric of who you are and how you love.
If you’re seeking gentle support along the way, I hope you find space to be with your sorrow — and with your strength.
You are not alone. Not in your grief. Not in your healing.