WAVE PATHWAYGrief & Loss
Grief doesn't follow a timeline or a script. It comes in waves, it shows up in unexpected places, and it doesn't always look the way other people expect it to. This pathway makes room for the full reality of grief — including the kinds that don't get named, the guilt that follows loss, and the slow work of figuring out who you are now.
-
No prescriptions for how to grieve
This pathway doesn't tell you to "move on" or stay positive. It makes room for grief as it actually is — messy, nonlinear, and sometimes lasting longer than the people around you expect.
-
Support for the complicated kinds
Hidden grief, anticipatory grief, grieving someone who's still alive, forgiving yourself after loss. The forms of grief that are hardest to talk about.
-
Honest tools for moving through
Not past grief — through it. With support for the identity questions, relationship shifts, and meaning-making that come in grief's wake.
Grief is not a problem to solve. It's a process to move through — and it rarely moves in one direction. This pathway starts from that reality. It makes space for the full range of grief: the sadness, the anger, the guilt, the relief, the numbness, the way grief comes back even after you thought you were through the worst of it. It also covers the kinds of grief that rarely get acknowledged: the grief of a relationship that changed without ending, the grief of support you never received, the anticipatory grief of a loss still coming. And it offers honest tools for navigating all of it — with support for the identity questions, relational shifts, and meaning-making that loss brings alongside the pain.
What You’ll Work On
-
Understanding what grief is and why it doesn't follow a straight line
-
Allowing yourself to feel grief without being overwhelmed by it
-
Noticing when staying busy is keeping grief stuck rather than helping you cope
-
Working through guilt, self-blame, and "if only" loops after loss
-
Processing hidden and complicated grief that doesn't get recognized by others
-
Navigating the relationship changes that come in the wake of loss
-
Supporting someone else who is grieving with presence rather than fixing
-
Finding meaning and identity on the other side of grief — not by leaving it behind
Topics in this Pathway
-
Grief is often more confusing than people expect: the waves that return years later, the numbness that doesn't feel like "real" grieving, the anticipatory grief that arrives before the loss does. This section covers the fundamentals of grief — what it is, why it's not linear, and how to begin supporting yourself through it.
Understanding grief
The complex emotions of grief
Why grief isn't linear
When you're grieving before the loss
Coping with grief
-
The instinct to stay busy, push through, or keep grief tightly held is understandable — but it can leave grief stuck. This section covers the work of actually being with grief: how to feel it without falling apart, how to recognize when avoidance is getting in the way, and how to pause without losing your footing.
Letting yourself feel without falling apart
Avoiding the pain of grief
When staying busy keeps grief stuck
Coping with grief
-
Not all grief is recognized. The grief of a relationship that changed, the grief of support that never came, anticipatory grief, and the self-punishment that follows loss — these are real forms of grief that often go unsupported. This section makes space for all of them.
Grieving someone who's still alive
When your grief isn't recognized
I'm grieving the support I never had
Grief and guilt
Forgiving yourself after loss
If only I had…
-
Grief changes relationships. Needs shift, capacity changes, and even supportive people can start to feel like they don't quite understand. This section covers the relational side of grief: building support, navigating the longing for someone you've lost or from whom you're separated, and understanding how grief reshapes the connections around you.
Creating a personal support system
Missing someone
Grief and changing relationships
-
When someone we love is grieving, most of us reach for reassurance or fixing — because sitting with someone in pain is uncomfortable. This section offers something more useful: how to show up with presence rather than platitudes, how to support a grieving child, and what to do when a friend is in serious distress.
What to say (and not say) to someone grieving
Supporting a grieving child
Supporting a friend who's struggling
-
Moving forward after grief doesn't mean leaving the person or thing behind. It means figuring out how to carry it differently — and who you are now that you've been through it. This section covers the identity questions loss raises, the challenge of holding grief and purpose at the same time, and the slow work of making meaning without forcing it.
Who am I now that they're gone?
Holding grief and purpose at the same time
Making meaning after loss
Moving forward
The Research Behind this Pathway
The tools in this pathway draw on acceptance-based approaches to grief, ACT-informed meaning-making, and compassion-focused practices for guilt and self-forgiveness. Wave coaching provides a space to work through grief with personalized support — including helping you recognize when grief is becoming complicated or when additional support might be needed.
Common Questions
-
Both. Grief doesn't have an expiration date, and this pathway is as relevant for someone navigating loss from years ago as it is for someone in the acute aftermath of a recent one.
-
This pathway covers grief broadly — the loss of a relationship, a role, a version of yourself, support you never received, or a life you expected to have. You don't have to have lost a person for grief to be real and deserving of support.
-
The "Why grief isn't linear" Byte addresses exactly that. Waves of grief returning after periods of feeling okay is normal — not a sign that something is wrong with you or that you haven't healed enough.
-
The Supporting Others section is specifically for that. It covers how to show up with presence, what not to say, and how to support a grieving child.
Ready to start?
Your Wave coach will help you navigate this pathway based on your specific experience of loss — with compassion, without a timeline, and without telling you how grief is supposed to look.
