Tasks of mourning worksheet

If you’re looking for a resource to explain the tasks of mourning to grieving therapy clients, this tasks of grief worksheet can be helpful.

This guide to the tasks of mourning gives mental health therapists a brief overview of Worden’s four tasks of mourning, example tasks, and a list of grief therapies.

You can also download a free tasks of grief worksheet to save to your electronic health record (EHR) and share with clients. 

What are the tasks of mourning?

Designed by psychologist William Worden, tasks of mourning are a framework to navigate grief and loss. 

Worden emphasized mourning involves active engagement in the grieving process by completing the following tasks:

Accept the reality of loss

The therapist's role is to support clients to understand that their loss is real and irreversible. 

Clients may experience disbelief, denial, or avoidance. Tasks to acknowledge loss may include attending a funeral or memorial service. 

Process the pain of grief

Big feelings and the pain of loss are incredibly uncomfortable, and clients might distract themselves, use substances, and experience denial. 

However, ignoring or suppressing their feelings could result in a more problematic return of the pain of loss. 

Tasks of mourning that can help clients process their pain include encouraging them to experience the full range of emotions associated with loss and find ways to express their grief. 

These tasks might include journaling, talking about loss, crying, and finding other creative outlets. 

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Adjust to a world without the person

While clients may feel overwhelmed or struggle with their identity now that their loved one is gone, part of grieving is adapting to life without the person. 

Tasks might involve finding new ways to navigate gaps left by their loss, such as:

• Externally: Taking on new roles and responsibilities that their loved ones may have managed, learning new skills, and adapting socially.
• Internally: Understanding who they are now that their loved one is gone.
• Spiritually/emotionally: Navigating changes to their values and beliefs and how they understand the world around them. Grief changes your perception of the world, and survivors may change their worldviews after a loss.

Help survivors find an appropriate place for the deceased in their emotional life

Even though clients might express feeling guilty about moving forward, this task of mourning is intended to help them find an enduring connection. 

Maintaining a connection to their loved one while continuing to live a fulfilling life might mean honoring their loved one’s memory through traditions, rituals, and anniversaries while creating new routines, setting new goals, and making new relationships.

Types of grief therapy

Therapists may incorporate a variety of methods to help clients process their grief, including: 

Person-centered therapy

This involves using techniques like active listening, reflection, affirmation, and compassion.

Tasks of grief worksheet 

Using the tasks of grief worksheet, clients can process their grief through Worden’s four tasks of mourning framework with an emphasis on the actions they’ll take for each task.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for grief 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help clients challenge distorted beliefs, like guilt or self-blame, and find coping strategies to manage grief-related feelings and emotions. 

Complicated grief therapy (CGT) 

Designed for prolonged grief disorder, CGT supports clients to process their loss in a structured way and to cope with persistent and intense grief that may be impairing their daily functioning. 

Narrative therapy 

This type of therapy encourages individuals to use stories to describe their grief, share personal narratives about their loss, and help them find meaning in their loss. 

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) 

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) emphasizes accepting grief-related emotions and a values-based commitment to living a meaningful life. 

Expressive art therapy 

Drawing, painting, writing, dancing, and other types of art are helpful ways to symbolize the emotions of grief and loss. Art therapies may benefit children or people who struggle to express their feelings verbally. 

Group therapy

Finding a supportive environment with others who are grieving can build community, provide peer support, and promote shared understanding. 

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Using the tasks of grief worksheet with clients 

Therapists can use the tasks of grief worksheet with clients in several ways:

• In session, you may use the worksheet to illustrate navigating, processing, and adapting from grief and loss using the tasks of mourning framework.
• To empower the client to identify ways to navigate the tasks of mourning.
• Instruct clients to complete the tasks of grief worksheet between sessions and then debrief at their following therapy appointments. 

Sources

• Khosravi, M. (2021). Worden’s task-based approach for supporting people bereaved by COVID-19. Current Psychology.
• Luchterhand, C. (2019). Grief reactions, duration, and tasks of mourning. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 
• Wetherell J. L. (2012). Complicated grief therapy as a new treatment approach. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience.

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