Help for Professionals

Helping Professionals to Provide Bereavement Support

Whether you work in healthcare, the workplace, education, the funeral sector, or a community setting, AtaLoss is here to help you support people who are bereaved.

We know that professionals often feel underprepared when someone in their care is grieving. We want to change that — and we’ve made it as simple as possible to get started.

Here’s what we offer (a 3-tiered approach):

1. Signposting — free to use

Direct anyone you support to AtaLoss.org — the UK’s most comprehensive bereavement signposting and information hub. It complements your own support by helping bereaved people find the range of services and information that are right for their circumstances to provide holistic, all round care, and it’s free.

You can use our logo and describe us as ‘AtaLoss.org: UK wide bereavement signposting and information website’. No agreement is needed.

2. Bereavement Awareness Training

We offer filmed online training modules, purchasable through our website:

• Level 1 — for bereaved individuals and anyone wanting to support them: two 30-minute sessions at £5 each:

1A: Understanding grief and the impact of bereavement

1B: How to help someone who is grieving and personal wellbeing

• Level 2 — a professional CPD series: three 1-hour sessions at £30 each (completion of Level 1 required).

2A: Grief, mourning and bereavement – contours of complex grief, clinical markers, dimensions of bereavement

2B: Application to bereavement support – practical tools for compassionate engagement with individuals

2C: Grief literacy and organisational responses to people who are grieving.

Our training modules will be available soon. Contact us for details.

We also offer Level 3 bespoke in-person training for organisations, tailored to your context and chargeable as a fee or payable by donation (tax deductable). This is costed depending on the number of hours involved (preparation, travel and delivery) and the number in attendance, plus expenses, and starts at £1,000 plus expenses.

3. Community Support

Our award-winning The Bereavement Journey® peer group programme is available in over 600 UK locations and online. You can direct those you support straight to their nearest group or to one of the three online courses a year - and it’s free or at a modest cost depending on location

We recommend that organisations provide all three tiers where they are able, to ensure comprehensive support for staff and clients.

Bereavement Friendly Organisation Accreditation

AtaLoss also offers accreditation as a Bereavement Friendly Organisation - recognising your commitment to bereavement support for staff and those you serve. This is open to Partner organisations that meet the criteria.

If you’d like to explore Bereavement Friendly Organisation Accreditation or working with us otherwise, do visit our Partnering page.

We also offer training for professionals in schools and youth groups so they can provide better bereavement support to young people who experience loss. See our Training page.

Below are useful articles and information to help you as you support bereaved people.

If you have information you can offer for our website, please contact us.

Resources Listings

Carers’ Grief - and Bereavement

Caring often brings uncertainty, change and emotional strain. Find guidance on how to support yourself while supporting someone else.

Mother’s Day - Grief When a Parent Died

Like with many other days in the calendar, Mother’s Day can be very hard when we are grieving and an occasion which can trigger pain even many years after a death. Here are some things to consider for coping when a parent died.

Experiencing Grief? - Move More for Your Mental Health

Experiencing Grief? Movement can ease emotional pain, reduce stress, restore routine and foster connection, offering comfort and healing for those navigating bereavement.

Physical Manifestation of Grief - Understanding How Grief Affects the Brain

This article explores the physical manifestation of grief. Grief not only impacts our emotions but also brings significant changes to the brain, affecting memory, stress levels, and overall well-being.

Dying for Beginners - The Dying Process

This video explains the dying process very gently so that we understand it better and can have conversations with friends and family about it.

Traumatic Grief & - Bereavement Support

Trauma refers to the way that some distressing events are so extreme or shocking that they overwhelm a person’s ability to cope, resulting in lasting negative impact. This article contains information to help you understand and respond to people with traumatic grief.

What Is Effective - Bereavement Support?

This article explores effective bereavement support, how we can learn to offer it, and what it looks like.

Children and Young People

Resources Listings

Baby Loss - and Grief

Losing a baby is one of the most devastating experiences a person can go through. This article covers how to understand the impact of baby loss and how to help those who have gone through it.

Funerals: Everything a - Young Person Needs to Know

A useful film and book to help any young person understand funerals (burial and cremation) and decide whether to attend and what role they can play in saying goodbye to a loved one.

Losing a Child - and Grieving

Grieving the death of a child, of any age, brings heartbreak and devastation. This article was written by Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds who set up the Good Grief Project following the death of their son, Josh.

Young People and - Traumatic Grief and Bereavement

In traumatic grief and bereavement, children and young people experience very strong emotions because of the meaning they make of the death.

Five Tips for Supporting - a Grieving Young Person

Here are five tips for supporting young people who are bereaved.

Different Circumstances

Resources Listings

Facing Father's Day - when a Father has Died

Has your father died? The loss of a father, whether recent or long ago, can make Father’s Day especially painful. We offer some thoughts for how you might take care of yourself around Father’s Day.

Carers’ Grief - and Bereavement

Caring often brings uncertainty, change and emotional strain. Find guidance on how to support yourself while supporting someone else.

Bereavement and Loss - in the LGBTQ+ Community

Switchboard explores the unique challenges LGBTQ+ people may face in bereavement, including disenfranchised grief, family estrangement and exclusion from mourning rituals.

Autistic People and - Bereavement

Autistic people are bereaved in a wide range of ways, just like anyone else. Being autistic may influence how it is experienced or expressed. This guidance is for autistic people and those who want to help.

Surviving Easter - as a Widow

Easter, like Christmas, is one of those times of year that can hit especially hard when you’re grieving. There’s the build-up, the family traditions, the messages of hope and renewal…and yet, for many of us (especially widows), it just highlights what’s missing.

Coping with Grief on Valentine’s Day - The Death of a Partner

For a lot of people Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love, romance and togetherness. But if you’ve lost a partner, the day can bring a renewed sense of grief and loneliness. This article explores coping with grief on Valentine’s Day.

International Day of Families - Adults Bereaved as Children

Reflecting on the International Day of Families, Mandy Gosling, AtaLoss Subject Matter Expert considers the challenges adults bereaved as children face.

Bereavement Support - in Older Age

Although losing a loved one is perhaps more common in later life, this doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. If someone you know has been bereaved, there are some simple things you can do to provide bereavement support.

Offering Bereavement Support - to Grieving University Students

Supporting young adults as they navigate being away from home at University and providing them with bereavement support can be challenging. Here our Founder, Yvonne Tulloch provides quick tips on how to do so.

Learning Disabilities - and Bereavement Support

This briefing is produced by Brake, the road safety charity. It aims to raise awareness of how people with learning disabilities experience grief, and provides advice on how to offer them bereavement support.

Help for Professionals

Helping Professionals to Provide Bereavement Support

Understanding and Supporting Bereavement

Children and Young People

Different Circumstances

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