It seems many of us in Western culture are not trained up in grief. We don’t know what to do, what to say, how to be, which is often isolating for the person/people who experience a significant loss. Less than two years into my parenting journey, my son was diagnosed with a rare and progressive disease (MPS II). I was quickly brought into a community which regularly loses children. Now working with clients in grief and loss, this tool- the ring theory of grief, which I was originally introduced to in my MPS journey, can be incredibly helpful.
You place yourself in the ring. The person or people closest to the person who passed are in the centre and can share with anyone. Anyone not in the centre ring can share with anyone in their ring or farther out rings. Anyone in a smaller ring than your ring (people closer to the loss), you support. The idea is: share out, support in. The folks in the inner circle want to know you remember their loved one (as talked about in my last post), but it is not helpful for you to have your full feelings with people in smaller rings than yours.
