Grief worksheets and a grief journal that hold the loss without hurrying it.
Free grief and bereavement worksheets plus a printable four-week grief journal, drawing on Worden's four tasks, Stroebe & Schut's dual process model, Klass/Silverman/Nickman on continuing bonds, Neimeyer's meaning reconstruction, Pauline Boss on ambiguous loss, and DSM-5-TR prolonged grief disorder criteria. Free, printable, client-facing.
Worden's Four Tasks of Grieving
Grief as work, not stages
Locate which of Worden's four tasks — accepting reality, processing pain, adjusting, enduring connection — is loudest right now.
Continuing Bonds Worksheet
Relationship with the deceased, in a new form
Inventory existing bonds with the person who died and design one new bond to build deliberately.
Dual Process Model Worksheet
Oscillate between loss and restoration
Track loss-oriented and restoration-oriented moments and rebalance the over-weighted side.
Meaning Reconstruction Worksheet
Re-author your life story after loss
Neimeyer's meaning reconstruction: name the assumptive world disrupted by loss and begin a livable next story.
Prolonged Grief Disorder Screen
DSM-5-TR symptom checklist
Symptom-by-symptom screen for prolonged grief disorder — indication for specialized grief-focused treatment.
Ambiguous Loss Worksheet
Loss without closure — dementia, addiction, estrangement
Pauline Boss's ambiguous loss framework — build both/and language for the loss that won't finish.
Grief Waves Log
Track waves so they stop feeling like ambushes
Two weeks of wave tracking to surface triggers, times of day, and what actually helps.
Letter to the Deceased
The oldest grief intervention we have
Structured letter to the person who died — what needs saying, what you imagine them saying back.
Anniversary Reaction Plan
Mark it deliberately or it marks you
Plan the day — ritual, company, soft landing — before the anniversary lands.
Grief Support Inventory
Who to ask for what — specifically
Map who's available, what they're best at, and the specific asks that actually get met.
Grief Timeline Map
Before, around, after — the shape of the loss
Map the ordinary time, the anticipation, the loss itself, and the first weeks — a container for the story.
Continuing Bonds Letter
Not letting go — a new kind of relationship
A structured letter that names what's kept, what's missed, and how to stay in relationship with the person going forward.
Anticipatory Grief Worksheet
Real grief, not premature grief
Names the loss-in-progress, the guilt around feeling it now, and what's still possible while there's time.
Grief Forgiveness Letter
Set some of it down, keep what matters
Work one specific instance of unfinished business — to them, or to yourself — with a closing ritual.
Secondary Losses Inventory
One death, many losses
Roles, routines, practical, future, community, identity — why grief feels bigger than one person.
Grief Legacy List Worksheet
Not letting go — naming what you carry of them, forever
A letter-format worksheet from the continuing-bonds tradition. Names what the client wants the person to know about their life now, what they carry of them, something never said, and one ritual to keep the bond alive.
Breakup Grief Stages Worksheet
Rotation, not stages
Tracks which grief state is present after a breakup — ache, anger, bargaining, numbness, relief, fear — what each pulls the client toward, a contact plan for the week, and seven days of basic daily anchors.
Anticipatory Grief Worksheet for Caregivers
Grieving someone still here
Names what has already been lost while caring for someone with dementia or terminal illness, the mixed feelings that come with it, and a weekly care-and-grief log.
Grief Journal Prompts
16 prompts over four weeks
A printable four-week grief journal: telling the story, remembering the person, naming guilt, anger and relief, and continuing the bond, with space to write under every prompt.
What are grief worksheets?
Grief worksheets are structured, printable exercises that help a grieving person put a loss into words — telling the story of the death, naming guilt, anger or relief, planning for hard dates, and finding a continuing bond with the person who died. They are tools to use alongside support, not a timetable for how grief should go.
Grief journal prompts
A grief journal is a private place to write to, about, or around a loss. Our free Grief Journal Prompts printable gives 16 prompts over four weeks: telling the story, remembering the person, naming the hard feelings, and continuing the bond. Writing for 10–15 minutes, a few times a week, is enough. If writing leaves someone more flooded each time, stop and bring it to a session instead.
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Where to start
In the first weeks: the grief waves log, support inventory and journal prompts. Once acute grief has settled: Worden's four tasks, the letter to the deceased, meaning reconstruction and continuing bonds. Around anniversaries: the anniversary plan. If grief stays intense and impairing beyond a year, the prolonged grief screen helps decide whether specialist treatment is needed.
Frequently asked questions
What should I write in a grief journal?+
Start with the story of the loss, then memories of the person, what you miss, what you wish you had said, and what feels hardest now. The Grief Journal Prompts printable gives 16 prompts in a four-week order so you never face a blank page.
Are these grief worksheets free?+
Yes. Every grief worksheet and the grief journal are free to print. Clinicians can also send them to clients as a secure fillable link.
Can grief journaling make grief worse?+
It can feel worse briefly — that is normal. If writing repeatedly leaves you more overwhelmed, take a break and talk it through with a counselor. If you are thinking about ending your life, call or text 988 in the US, or your local emergency number.
Do these replace grief-focused therapy?+
No — they support it. For prolonged grief disorder specifically, grief-focused treatments (CGT, PGDT) have the strongest evidence and these worksheets are best used inside that treatment.
Are they appropriate for early grief?+
Yes — the waves log, support inventory, and anniversary plan are helpful in the first months. The letter, meaning reconstruction, and continuing bonds sheets are usually more useful once acute grief has settled.