Grief & the Holidays
Grief during the holidays
The holidays can be one of the hardest times to be grieving. Everywhere you look, the season says this is supposed to be the happiest time of the year, full of family, warmth, and tradition. When someone you love is missing, or when a divorce, a diagnosis, or another loss has changed the shape of your life, that message can feel almost impossible to carry. The empty seat at the table. The card that does not get signed the same way. The traditions that suddenly ache instead of comfort.
If that is where you are this season, you are not doing anything wrong, and you are not alone. Feeling grief during the holidays is a natural response to missing someone, or something, that mattered deeply to you.
Whatever this time of year means to you, whether it is deeply religious, quietly personal, or simply hard to get through, the articles below are here to help you move through the season with a little more honesty and a little less pressure. Take what helps. Leave what does not.
Getting through the holidays after a loss
Where to start when the whole season feels heavy. Practical, gentle guidance for the days ahead.
- 3 Ways to Survive the Holidays After Someone Dies
- 5 Tips for Dealing With Grief During the Holidays
- Holiday Grief Tips: Getting Through the Holidays
- Navigating the Holidays With a Broken Heart
- Coping With Heartache: 5 Strategies for the Holiday Season
- Embracing Change and Letting Go of Expectations During the Holidays
- Is There More Grief During the Holidays?
- Uh-oh, It's That Time Again: Grief and the Holidays
- Grief and Expectations During the Holidays
- Grief Support During the Holidays
Helping someone else who is grieving
When you want to support a friend or family member through a hard season.
Thanksgiving
When gratitude is the last thing you feel.
Christmas
Finding a little peace in a season that asks for joy.
The New Year
Turning the calendar when you would rather not.
Valentine's Day
When a day about love lands on a broken heart.
Mother's Day
For the day that can ache in so many directions.
Father's Day
Carrying a dad you miss through the day.
Easter and spring
When the season of renewal meets a heart that is still hurting.
You do not have to get through the holidays alone
A Certified Grief Recovery Specialist can walk alongside you, in person or online. And The Grief Commons is a free place to find tools, resources, and a community that understands.