Free Bereavement Training

Build confidence. Understand grief. Support others.

✅ Free bereavement training from Clinical Psychologists

✅ Practical, evidence-informed video learning

✅ Free + paid grief worksheets and resources

✅ Free Compassion Fatigue Toolkit for charity workers

Free bereavement training

Free, expert-led online training designed to build your confidence in understanding and supporting grief.

What You’ll Learn:

✔️ Understand different grief experiences, reactions and assumptions
✔️ Respond with empathy, active listening and practical support
✔️ Have more confident and supportive conversations about grief
✔️ Understand the role of compassion in supporting bereavement
✔️ Navigate difficult moments and look after yourself too

Each module comes from one of our full paid courses, which allow you to explore the topic further.

“She was so passionate about her work… which made learning from her interesting.” – Training Delegate

About Your Trainer

Dr Erin Hope Thompson MBE

Clinical Psychologist + Founder of The Loss Foundation

This free bereavement training has been created by Dr Erin Hope Thompson MBE, a Clinical Psychologist specialising in grief and bereavement.

Erin founded The Loss Foundation following the death of her father, combining her clinical expertise with lived experience of grief to create the kind of support she had struggled to find herself.

She trained at UCL and has developed and delivered bereavement training for professionals, organisations and volunteers, translating psychological theory into practical skills people can use when supporting someone who is grieving.

Erin was awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to bereaved families.

Know what to say, how to help, and how to support employees in grief – without getting it wrong.

Trusted by charities, healthcare organisations, managers, and HR teams across the UK.

Grief looks different for every child. Some might talk, others might draw, play, or stay quiet. The most important thing is to help them feel safe, seen, and listened to. You don’t need perfect words – just your calm presence and honesty.

Our free PDF guides for parents, carers, and teachers offer simple, practical ways to support children of all ages as they navigate loss.

Inside the Guides:

🧠 Understanding how children experience grief

💬 What to say (and what to avoid)

🏠 Creating safety and routine after loss

🎨 Encouraging healthy expression through play and creativity

🧭 Supporting yourself while helping your child

Worksheet 1

Shock – Mapping Your Grief Journey: Explore what grief feels like for you and reflect on how your experience changes over time.

Worksheet 2

Anger – Understanding Anger in Grief: Understand your anger, explore what might be underneath it and find ways to express difficult emotions safely.

Worksheet 3

Coping Mechanisms – My Coping Tools: Identify what helps you cope with grief, what makes things harder and other strategies you could try.

Worksheet 4

Guilt + Regret – Understanding My Grief: Explore the “what ifs” and “if onlys” of grief and reflect on what was within your control.

Worksheet 5

Memories as Comfort – Treasured Memories: Create space to record and reflect on the memories, moments and little details you want to hold on to.

Worksheet 6

Self-Care – Looking After Yourself in Grief: Reflect on your wellbeing and identify small, manageable ways to look after yourself while grieving.

All bereavement courses, plus grief worksheets + meditation

The seven modules in our free bereavement training have been selected from our wider professional courses. If a topic is particularly relevant to your work, you can continue your learning with the full course…

• Interested in understanding grief? Continue with Formulating Grief: Psychological Models
• Want to feel more confident supporting someone? Continue with Mental Health First Aid: Supporting Others
• Want to develop your bereavement support skills? Continue with Foundations of Bereavement Support
• Interested in compassion-focused approaches? Continue with Practicing Compassion Focused Therapy in Grief Work
• Supporting people in groups? Continue with How to Lead a Grief Support Group
• Want help navigating challenging group situations? Continue with How to Run and Manage a Support Group
• Supporting others regularly? Continue with Resilience Training

Working with grief hub

This hub, created by Dr Erin Hope Thompson MBE, brings together key psychological models and therapeutic approaches to help counsellors, therapists and mental health professionals work with grief with greater confidence and compassion.

Exploring approaches including CBT, ACT and Compassion Focused Therapy, alongside key grief models, it offers practical, evidence-informed ways to support individual experiences of grief.

Discover which grief model resonates with you

As you explore different ways of understanding grief, our short Grief Model Quiz offers another way to put that learning into context.

✅ 8 simple questions

✅ Instant personalised results

✅ Different ways of understanding your grief

✅ Evidence-informed models, guidance and practical support

Explore different models of grief

There’s no single model that can explain every experience of grief. Explore some of the best-known grief models, what each can help us understand, and what to keep in mind when using them.

Our grief models hub provides a clear overview of various grief models, what they can offer, and gentle reminders about what to keep in mind as you explore them. Use this as a guide, not a checklist – everyone’s journey is unique, and it’s okay to take what resonates and leave what doesn’t.

Kubler Ross Stages of Grief

The Kübler-Ross stages of grief, first introduced in her 1969 book On Death and Dying, were initially designed to describe the emotional journey of individuals facing terminal illness.

Over time, the model was adapted to reflect the grief of those coping with the loss of a loved one.

The ‘Five Stages’ were never intended to be a rigid framework, but rather a way to give language to the emotions many experience.