How to Deal with Grief at Work
While grief is a universal human experience, it remains a taboo subject that many of us feel uncomfortable discussing openly. In this episode of the Women at Work podcast, Tara Nash helps remove the stigma around grief through candidly sharing her own journey.
Whether you’ve experienced loss or not, Tara’s insights offer valuable lessons about emotional processing and self-care that are relevant to all of our lives. She discusses how societal expectations around “moving on” can complicate the grieving process.
By normalising difficult emotions like anger, jealousy, and triggers, Tara helps listeners feel less alone with their feelings. Her practical tools, like journaling, provide strategies for all of us to better understand and soothe our inner worlds.
Dealing with Grief at Work
The loss of a loved one is deeply painful, yet many of us feel pressure to return to our daily routines quickly. In her insightful podcast discussion, grief expert Tara Nash addresses the challenges of bringing grief into the workplace:
- Tara emphasises there is no “right” timeline for grieving. While responsibilities call us back, be gentle with yourself as emotions may still feel raw. Communicate to managers that your performance may fluctuate as you adjust.
- Find small ways to honour your loved one at work, like keeping a photo on your desk. Simple acts of remembrance can soothe grief that arises unexpectedly.
- Difficult feelings like anger or sadness are normal, despite societal pressure to “stay positive.” Identify coworkers you can confide in for support. If emotions overwhelm, take a brief break or go home if needed – your wellbeing is a priority.
- As time passes, grief may still ambush you through triggers at work. Understanding this helps manage reactions to insensitive comments. Speaking to a counselor can equip you with emotional tools to navigate challenges.
- With compassion for yourself and others, grief in the workplace becomes less daunting. By facing it consciously as Tara encourages, you can continue honouring your loved one while caring for your needs too.
- While the pain of loss never fully goes away, Tara’s message is one of hope. By facing grief consciously rather than avoiding it, we can continue to feel connected to loved ones after death. Her wisdom shows how honoring grief ultimately leads to greater peace, resilience and compassion for ourselves and others.
Even if you haven’t experienced a tragic loss, Tara’s message will leave you with a deeper appreciation for life’s fragility and our shared humanity. By making grief a topic we can discuss freely, her work helps all of us build a society of support, empathy and emotional literacy.
Guest: Tara Nash, author of Conscious Grief and spiritual psychologist
Show Notes:
[00:00-00:30] Tara’s background and journey to studying grief – how she pursued spiritual psychology after personal losses.
[00:30-01:00] Defining conscious vs unconscious grief – Tara explains how she unconsciously avoided grief for years vs a conscious approach.
[01:00-01:30] Moving death rituals out of the home – Tara discusses how mourning traditions have changed and the impact on grieving.
[01:30-02:00] Creative mourning practices – Tara shares examples of meaningful ways people have honored and remembered lost loved ones.
[02:00-02:30] Understanding grief’s holistic impact – Tara explains how grief affects us emotionally, physically, spiritually and intellectually.
[02:30-03:00] Tara’s grief group program – An overview of her case-by-case approach and goals for participants.
[03:00-03:30] Managing difficult emotions – Tips from Tara on identifying feelings and journaling as a way to process triggers.
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