Grief isn’t a mental illness. But it often shows up in mental health services
Someone may come to your service experiencing anxiety, depression, difficulties sleeping or a sense that they can no longer cope.
Beneath these difficulties may be a bereavement.
Sometimes the connection is clear. Sometimes a person may not recognise the relationship between their loss and how they are feeling. A death that happened months or even years ago may still be shaping their emotional wellbeing, relationships and sense of identity.
For mental health practitioners, understanding grief means recognising its impact without automatically viewing it as something that needs to be treated or resolved.
It also means knowing when someone may need additional or more specialist support.
Our bereavement training helps mental health professionals develop the understanding, confidence and practical skills to navigate these conversations.
When grief presents as something else
Grief can affect almost every aspect of a person’s wellbeing. It may be part of the reason someone seeks mental health support, even when bereavement isn’t mentioned during their initial assessment.
Anxiety
A death can change someone’s sense of safety in the world. They may worry about other people dying, their own health or what the future holds.
Low mood
Someone may experience sadness, withdrawal, a loss of motivation or difficulty finding enjoyment in activities that once mattered to them.
Sleep difficulties
Intrusive thoughts, memories, worry and changes to daily routines can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep.
Guilt and self-criticism
People may revisit conversations, decisions or events surrounding a death, questioning what they could or should have done differently.
Trauma responses
When a death is sudden, traumatic or distressing, grief may be accompanied by intrusive memories, avoidance or heightened feelings of threat.
Changes in identity
The death of someone important can change how a person understands themselves, their relationships and their place in the world.
Understanding the role of grief can help practitioners make sense of these experiences and respond in ways that reflect the person’s individual needs.
Use this form to tell us a little about your training needs. You’ll receive our Training Brochure + Indicative Pricing immediately – on screen and straight to your inbox.
Supporting grief without pathologising it
Mental health practitioners are trained to recognise distress, assess risk and help people improve their psychological wellbeing.
Grief can challenge some of the usual expectations around recovery.
A person may be deeply distressed one day and experience moments of joy or connection the next. They may feel that they are coping well, only to find an anniversary, memory or unexpected reminder brings their grief to the surface again.
These experiences do not necessarily indicate deterioration.
Contemporary psychological models help us understand grief as a dynamic process, in which people move between engaging with their loss and adapting to the changes it brings.
The aim is not always to reduce grief. Sometimes it is to help someone find ways of living alongside it.
At the same time, practitioners need to recognise when someone is experiencing significant ongoing difficulties, including prolonged grief disorder, depression or trauma-related difficulties, and when further assessment or specialist intervention may be appropriate.
Our training explores this balance, helping teams respond to grief with compassion, clinical awareness and confidence.
What our bereavement training can cover
Our training is tailored to the needs of your mental health service, the roles within your team and the people you support.
Topics can include:
Understanding grief and bereavement
Explore how grief affects emotional, cognitive, physical and social wellbeing, and why grief experiences vary so widely between individuals.
Psychological models of grief
Develop an understanding of contemporary grief theories, including the Dual Process Model and Continuing Bonds, and how they can inform everyday practice.
Grief, depression and trauma
Explore the relationship between bereavement and mental health difficulties, including overlapping experiences and the importance of understanding each person’s individual circumstances.
Having supportive conversations
Build confidence in talking about death, acknowledging loss, responding to difficult emotions and supporting people who may struggle to articulate their experiences.
Recognising when additional support is needed
Understand more complex grief presentations, including prolonged grief, and explore appropriate pathways for further assessment, referral and specialist support.
Working with guilt and self-criticism
Understand how guilt, regret and self-blame can shape grief, and explore compassionate ways to respond.
Looking after yourself as a practitioner
Recognise the emotional impact of supporting people through loss, including compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and the importance of reflective practice and supervision.
Who is this training for?
Our bereavement training is suitable for professionals working across statutory, independent and voluntary sector mental health services, including:
- Mental health nurses
- Clinical and counselling psychologists
- Psychological wellbeing practitioners (PWPs)
- Counsellors and psychotherapists
- Community mental health teams
- Mental health support workers
- NHS Talking Therapies teams
- Crisis and home treatment teams
- Mental health charity staff
- Peer support practitioners
Whether your team provides brief interventions, ongoing therapeutic support, crisis care or community-based services, we can tailor the training to reflect your setting.
Supporting the people who support others
Working in mental health often means being alongside people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
When grief is part of that work, practitioners may find themselves hearing distressing accounts of death, supporting people experiencing profound sadness, or holding conversations that resonate with their own experiences of loss.
Over time, this emotional work can take its toll.
Our training recognises that supporting practitioners is an essential part of providing compassionate mental health care.
We explore how staff can recognise the impact of their work, maintain supportive professional boundaries and make space for their own emotional wellbeing.
Looking after the people who provide care helps make compassionate care sustainable.
Led by experts in grief and bereavement
Our training is developed and led by Dr Erin Hope Thompson MBE, Clinical Psychologist, Founder and Director of The Loss Foundation.
Erin has extensive experience working across the NHS, private and charity sectors. She founded The Loss Foundation to provide psychological support to people experiencing bereavement and was awarded an MBE in 2022 for her services to bereaved families.
Our training brings together psychological research, clinical expertise and the experiences of the people we support through our bereavement services.
We believe that understanding grief is not simply about learning the theory. It is about developing the confidence to apply that understanding in real conversations with real people.
Further learning for mental health practitioners
Looking to develop your individual therapeutic practice or explore grief in more depth?
We also offer specialist online learning and resources for mental health professionals.
Grief counselling training
Explore our on-demand courses, including Formulating Grief – Psychological Models, Compassion Focused Therapy in Grief Work, and How to Lead a Grief Support Group.
Explore grief counselling training
Working with grief
Read our comprehensive guide to working therapeutically with grief, written by Dr Erin Hope Thompson MBE. Explore psychological models, therapeutic approaches and more complex grief presentations.
Read our Working with Grief guide
Bring bereavement training to your mental health team
Every mental health service is different. We work with you to understand your team’s needs, experience and the challenges they encounter when supporting people through bereavement.
Whether you’re looking to build foundational knowledge across your service or explore more specialist aspects of grief, we can help.
Tell us a little about your training needs and receive our Training Brochure + Indicative Pricing Guide straight away.
Use this form to tell us a little about your training needs. You’ll receive our Training Brochure + Indicative Pricing immediately – on screen and straight to your inbox.
Frequently asked questions
Why is bereavement training important for mental health practitioners?
Grief can be an important part of someone’s mental health presentation, even when bereavement is not their primary reason for seeking support. Training helps practitioners recognise the impact of loss, respond compassionately and understand when additional or specialist support may be needed.
Is grief a mental health condition?
Grief is a natural response to loss and is not, in itself, a mental health condition. However, bereavement can affect psychological wellbeing, and some people may experience mental health difficulties alongside their grief. Prolonged grief disorder is also a recognised condition that may require specialist support.
Is your bereavement training suitable for NHS mental health teams?
Yes. Our training can be tailored to NHS mental health services, including community mental health teams, Talking Therapies services and multidisciplinary teams working across different care settings.
Can the training be tailored to our service?
Yes. We work with organisations to understand their team’s existing knowledge, professional roles and the needs of the people they support. Training content can be adapted to reflect your service.
Do you offer grief training for individual counsellors and therapists?
Yes. Our on-demand grief counselling courses are designed for professionals looking to develop their therapeutic knowledge and skills. You can explore our courses, psychological models and practical resources on our grief counselling training page.
Is the training delivered online?
We offer interactive online training for organisations, making it accessible to teams working across different locations. Contact us to discuss your requirements and delivery options.
