Friendship loss can be a painful and disorienting experiences. That's why we created this series. Whether the friendship faded over time, ended suddenly, or dissolved due to conflict, the grief that follows is real and valid. Healing and moving forward takes time, but there are practical and soulful steps you can take to honour your emotions, find completion, and move forward with grace.
Healing from friendship loss is a journey, but there are steps you can take to ease the pain and move forward:
Acknowledge and Validate Your Feelings
The loss of a friend can trigger a complex mix of emotions—sadness, anger, guilt, relief, confusion. Whatever you're feeling, it’s important to name and acknowledge those emotions. Suppressing them will only prolong your grief.
Journal your feelings: Write without censoring yourself. Let your emotions flow onto the page - raw, free, and unfiltered.
Speak them out loud: Whether to a trusted friend, therapist, or even yourself in the mirror, giving voice to your pain can be therapeutic.
Practice mindfulness: Sit with your emotions rather than resisting them. Notice where they show up in your body and breathe through them.
Reflect Without Blame
It’s easy to fall into a cycle of blaming yourself or the other person, but true healing requires a deeper, more compassionate reflection. What did this friendship teach you? What values did it reflect or challenge in your life?
Write a letter (without sending it): Express everything you wish you could say. This can be a way to release lingering thoughts and emotions.
Ask yourself meaningful questions:
What role did this person play in my life?
What patterns or lessons can I take from this experience?
What am I grateful for, even in the loss?
Meditate on the bigger picture: Friendships, like all relationships, have seasons. Trust that some connections are meant to be temporary.
Find Closure or Completion
Closure doesn’t always come from a final conversation with the other person. Sometimes, we have to create our own.
Engage in a personal ritual: Light a candle, take a symbolic walk, or create an altar with objects that remind you of the friendship.
Write a goodbye letter to the friendship itself: Thank it for what it gave you and release it with love.
Release unspoken words: Speak them aloud or write them down and burn the paper as an act of letting go.
Lean on Your Support System
Losing a friend can feel isolating, but you are not alone. Connecting with others who support and uplift you is essential to healing.
Share your experience with a trusted person: Talking can help you process your emotions and feel less alone.
Join a support group or community: There are online and in-person groups dedicated to navigating friendship loss and relational grief.
Seek therapy if needed: A therapist can help you untangle deeper emotions and provide guidance on moving forward.
Create New Rythms and Rituals
When a friendship ends, your routine might shift, leaving empty spaces where that connection once was. Instead of letting those voids become sources of pain, intentionally fill them with new, nourishing practices.
Establish a self-care routine: Prioritize things that bring you comfort, like morning tea rituals, evening walks, or creative hobbies.
Redefine your time: If you used to talk to this friend daily, consider using that time to read, journal, or explore a new interest.
Make space for joy: Reconnect with activities that make you feel alive, whether that’s dancing, cooking, hiking, or something else entirely.
Allow Yourself to Grieve
Grieving a friendship loss is just as important as grieving any other significant change in life. Give yourself permission to feel the loss fully.
Recognize grief as a non-linear process: Some days will be harder than others, and that’s okay.
Create a ritual of remembrance: Honor the friendship by keeping a small memento or writing down a favorite memory.
Cry if you need to: Tears are a natural release. Allow yourself the grace to feel without judgment.
Explore New Connections
While it’s natural to feel hesitant, opening yourself up to new connections can bring fresh joy and support into your life. Each friendship is unique and irreplaceable, but that doesn’t mean new bonds can’t be meaningful. Engage in activities that align with your values and interests to meet like-minded people. While no one can replace the friend you lost, life has a way of bringing new people into your world when you’re ready. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting; it means creating space for new, meaningful connections.
Be intentional about meeting new people: Engage in activities that align with your values and interests.
Strengthen existing relationships: Deepen connections with family, coworkers, or acquaintances who bring positivity into your life.
Stay open to possibilities: Friendships often emerge in unexpected places. Trust the unfolding of your journey.
Embrace Lessons and Growth
Every loss carries wisdom. Even in pain, there are opportunities for growth, transformation, and deeper self-awareness. How to do this:
Acknowledge how this experience has shaped you: What have you learned about yourself? About boundaries? About what you value in friendships?
Cultivate gratitude for the good times: Even if a friendship ended, it was still meaningful. Hold onto the moments that brought you joy.
Trust your resilience: You have navigated loss before, and you will again. You are capable of healing and growing stronger.
Conclusion
Healing from friendship loss is not about rushing to “get over it” but about honouring your experience with tenderness and care. It’s about allowing yourself to grieve, reflecting on the lessons, and making space for new, life-giving connections. Remember, friendships come and go, but the love and wisdom they bring remain woven into the fabric of who you are. Be gentle with yourself as you move forward—you are healing, and that is enough.
>> Over here in our world we aren't doing grief work the way we’ve been sold, taught, and fed throughout our lives. If you’re like us, you’re ready to do it differently.
>> To learn more, download Being with Grief: A Soulful and Regenerative Pathway for Navigating Grief and the Most Uncertain Times [PDF workbook].
>> Not sure where to begin? Click here to book a discovery call where we will get to know you, your grief, and invite you into the path that we think would be most supportive for where you're at (no pressure, invitational always, left in your hand to decide your next right step).
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About Us:
Weaving Grief specializes in compassionate grief therapy for individuals navigating loss of any kind, relationship transitions, chronic illness and existential questions about life and death. By addressing these profound experiences, Weaving Grief empowers clients to grieve freely and live fully. Through somatic practices and meaningful reflection, we’re here to help you navigate these tender moments and rediscover the fullness of life.
Specific areas of focus: death of a loved one (recent or past), life changing transitions, relationship transitions and break ups, pregnancy loss, grief around family planning, chronic illness, loss of Self, and supporting entrepreneurs through the grief that comes with growth.