In order to show up effectively for seniors who are grieving, we must keep in mind three important ways of being with someone in a supportive capacity.

Effective Engagement requires us to have:

Embodied presence:  this means we need to show up grounded and present in our bodies, minds and hearts. We’ll talk more about the importance of self care later but we want to introduce this as a core competency up front.

Self Awareness:  in this moment, how am I relating to my own grief experiences? Companioning someone on a grief journey will naturally invite our own stories to arise. Who/what might we be aware of carrying into this encounter?

Acknowledgment:  We need to build the muscle of being present in the face of suffering. We need to be able to hold space for someone who is grieving – that is allow for all of the person’s experiences, thoughts and feelings to be expressed without us moving to fix/change them or their experience.