26/01/2026
On this day- 26th of January- invasion day, survival day- i want to acknowledge the unprocessed grief…and offer a method of HOPE
Because we hold so much~
The 4 tasks of grief.
Grief isn’t just about death.
It’s about change. Transition. Loss of roles, function, identity, safety, connection.
And for our clients — and ourselves — grief is often an unspoken companion. In OT, we walk alongside people navigating invisible losses:
→ A diagnosis
→ A degenerative condition
→ A shift in capacity
→ A move away from who they used to be
The process of grief is not linear — but we can offer a map.
As an OT working with people with functional decline, drastic change, grief and loss, I was searching for maps to help me guide and hold this becoming...I found William Worden’s Four Tasks of Mourning, and have reimagined this through a somatic OT lens, can help us support healing that honours both body and soul: I would love to hear your reflections on this?
Task 1. Accept the reality of the loss:
This begins with gentle acknowledgement.
Naming what’s changed — in the body, in identity, in life.
As OTs, we create safety for truth to emerge.
Somatic cue: grounding touch, hand on heart or thighs, orienting to the present moment.
OT lens: help clients process and integrate new realities of function, role, or identity with compassion
Task 2. Process the pain of grief:
Pain needs presence, not pressure.
This task is about feeling — not fixing.
Grief is held in the tissues, the breath, the posture.
Somatic cue: movement, breath, tremor, expression.
OT lens: allow space for emotion, and offer safe body-based ways for clients to feel, release, and regulate, with co-regulation and compassionate witnessing...
Task 3. Adjust to a world without the old self:
This is the rebuilding task — where we help reconfigure life.
New routines, new roles, new ways of being.
Somatic cue: experimentation, feeling into new futures through somatic enquiry and body cues
OT lens: support occupational re-engagement, adaptive strategies, environmental changes, and daily rhythm.
Task 4: Find an enduring connection and move forwards
We don’t “get over” loss — we integrate it.
Help clients honour what was while finding new purpose, meaning, and engagement.
Somatic cue: heart-breath connection, symbolic rituals, storytelling through the body.
OT lens: support meaning-making, continuity of self, and gentle forward motion.
As Embodied OTs, we hold the grief, the body, and the possibility.
We walk with people as they mourn not just who or what they’ve lost — but who they’re becoming.
Save this as a grief-informed roadmap you can revisit in your client sessions or your own transitions.
Would you like a printable HOPE workbook PDF? Comment Hope below, and i will send it to you.
