Hidden Grief - Craft Conscious

Hidden Grief: Understanding and supporting non-death losses

What is Hidden Grief?

When people think of grief, their minds automatically go to bereavement.

However, this represents only one of over sixty losses people can experience in their lifetime. Unfortunately, different types of grief are judged differently, and often people’s grief about life transitions – like losing their job, divorce, or loss of health – are not as recognised and acknowledged as the grief of bereavement.

Many of us carry unrecognised grief that affects our wellbeing daily. We might feel stuck, anxious, or depressed without understanding why. The truth is, we don’t just grieve people; we grieve dreams, identities, abilities, safety, and countless other losses that shape our lives.

Why Hidden Grief Matters

These losses are often minimised or dismissed, yet they require genuine grief work and healing. When grief goes unrecognised, it doesn’t disappear – it manifests as:

Unexplained anxiety or depression
Difficulty concentrating at work
Relationship strain
Physical symptoms with no clear cause
A persistent sense of something being “wrong”
Feeling stuck or unable to move forward

The impact extends beyond individuals. In workplaces, unrecognised grief affects productivity, engagement, and team dynamics. When organisations understand hidden grief, they create cultures where people feel genuinely supported through life’s inevitable transitions.

The Many Faces of Hidden Grief

Relationship Losses

The end of relationships – whether through divorce, separation, estrangement, or friendship breakdowns – creates profound grief that’s rarely acknowledged with the same compassion as bereavement. Losing contact with someone who’s moved away or experiencing family estrangement leaves us grieving the relationship that was, the one we hoped for, and sometimes the community we’ve lost alongside it.

Health and Ability Losses

A chronic illness or disability diagnosis changes everything – not just physically, but emotionally and socially. We grieve lost independence, mobility, and the body we once had. Infertility and childlessness not by choice involve grieving a future that will never exist. Miscarriage brings complex grief that’s often minimised by others. Body changes from illness, surgery, or ageing can trigger grief for who we were. Watching cognitive decline in a loved one whilst they’re still alive creates anticipatory grief that goes unrecognised.

Identity and Life Path Losses

Late diagnosis of autism, ADHD, or other conditions brings grief for the support you didn’t receive, the childhood you didn’t have, and the years spent feeling wrong. Coming out can mean losing relationships or entire communities alongside finding authentic self-expression. Job loss or redundancy affects not just finances but professional identity and self-worth. Retirement brings grief for purpose and daily structure. Leaving a faith community means grieving spiritual home, community, and sometimes entire worldviews.

Life Transition Losses

Empty nest grief is real, even when you’re happy for your children’s independence. Relocating or emigrating means grieving place, community, and familiar rhythms. Losing your home through financial hardship carries shame that compounds the grief. Having to rehome a beloved pet creates genuine loss that’s often dismissed as just an animal.

Dreams and Expectations

Sometimes we grieve what never was – unfulfilled life goals, the gap between the life we expected and the life we have, lost future plans like cancelled weddings or abandoned career paths. This grief is particularly hidden because we’re mourning something that never existed, yet the pain is entirely real.

Safety and Security Losses

Loss of financial security affects every aspect of life and often carries shame. After trauma or abuse, we grieve lost feelings of safety in the world. Loss of trust – in institutions, systems, or specific people – changes how we navigate relationships and society. These invisible losses profoundly impact daily functioning.

How We Can Help

Workshops & Courses

Whether you’re an individual seeking to understand your own grief experiences or an organisation wanting to support your teams, these workshops provide comprehensive guidance:

Available workshops include:

Hidden Grief: Understanding and Supporting Non-Death Losses – Comprehensive exploration of the 60+ types of losses beyond bereavement
Grief of a Late Autism/ADHD Diagnosis – Supporting the emotional journey following neurodivergent diagnosis
Compassion Fatigue in Frontline Workers – Addressing vicarious trauma in caring professions
Selfcare Without Guilt – Supporting those juggling care responsibilities

Available for individual learning or as organisational training

EXPLORE WORKSHOPS & COURSES

Individual Support

Through one-to-one coaching, I help individuals recognise and process hidden grief. We work together to:

Identify unrecognised losses affecting your wellbeing
Develop practical strategies for processing these experiences
Build resilience whilst honouring what you’ve lost
Create pathways forward that acknowledge your full experience

EXPLORE INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT

Organisational Support

I help organisations understand that grief extends far beyond bereavement and develop practical approaches to support their people through life’s inevitable transitions. Through evidence-based education and compassionate consultancy, we work together to:

Create grief-informed workplace cultures where people feel genuinely valued
Develop policies and practices that acknowledge the full spectrum of loss
Train managers and teams to recognise and respond to hidden grief
Provide direct employee support through confidential coaching
Build resilience across teams whilst protecting your most valuable asset – your people

EXPLORE CORPORATE SUPPORT

Books & Resources

My book “Dealing with Grief” provides comprehensive guidance for understanding grief beyond bereavement, with practical tools for supporting yourself and others through hidden losses.

EXPLORE BOOK OPTIONS

Recognition Changes Everything

When we acknowledge that grief extends far beyond death, we:

Give ourselves permission to grieve what we’ve lost
Stop judging ourselves for struggling with “things that shouldn’t affect us so much”
Recognise that healing requires grief work, not just “getting over it”
Create space for genuine support rather than platitudes
Build workplaces and communities where all losses are honoured

Whether you’re supporting colleagues, friends, family members, or yourself, understanding hidden grief gives you the tools to recognise and respond to loss that often goes unseen.

READY TO EXPLORE SUPPORT? GET IN TOUCH