It’s very important to use the right words while consoling a grieving friend after cremation services Johnstown, PA. Losing some close to heart is the hardest experience of life and one cannot imagine the pain and emotional turmoil the grieving person is going through.
During such critical times, a few words of condolences can make your loved ones happy, bring a smile to their faces, and give them emotional relief. But unscrupulous or inappropriate words, even not intended so, can make you embarrassed.
To help you offer well-meaning and appropriate condolences to the bereaved, we have compiled a guideline on how should how to console a grieving person.
Talk Less and Listen More
It’s more important to listen to the grieving than to speak. Avoid taking the lead or changing the subject when the bereaved is mentioning the death or sharing his/her inner feelings. Give the bereaved a shoulder to cry if it helps.
The bereaved feels much better knowing their loss is being acknowledged. Let them know the deceased will never be forgotten and his/her memory will be alive forever. Simply listening to them and sharing their feelings without uttering a word can comfort them.
How to Share Condolences
Never go straight to the condolences especially if the grieving person is a close friend. Talk candidly about the deceased and when seemed appropriate, ask sensitive questions such as “I am always here for you, do you feel talking?”, “Is there anything I can do for you?” Such questions will invite them to express their feelings openly and weight off their shoulders.
Express Your Grief
Make them realize you are there to listen to them and you care about them and the deceased. Start from something simple such as, “I am still in shock on hearing the news”, “I can’t believe he/she (name) has left us”, “I am sorry it happened to you”. By acknowledging the situation, you are sharing the feelings of the bereaved.
Then, give them courage and strength. The grieving are emotionally overwhelmed and needs to be told to stay strong again and again. With every word of sympathy and support, the pain lessens and the healing process accelerates.
Avoid Comparing Feelings
A message sent to a grieving person reads, “I know exactly how you feel as I lost my dog last week’. How inappropriate and awkward that sounds even to a normal person, let alone the bereaved. So, never compare your own experience thinking it might help. It may work sometimes but mostly; it creates an uncomfortable situation.
Also never use sentences such as “It’s God Plan”, “You still have many things to be thankful”, “he/she is in a better place right now.” Such cliches may provoke an angry response from the bereaved.
Let Them Grieve – and Cry
Never tell a grieving person what they should or shouldn’t do. It’s perfectly natural to cry in front of you. Sometimes, the feelings of the bereaved may look irrational, but be genuine in your communication and don’t interrupt or criticize them.
Don’t press or force them to express their emotions, rather sit silently. If you can’t do anything else, hug them press their hands, or have sympathetic eye contact. Cremation services Johnstown, PA, may help start the healing process, but nothing is certain.
