Blog

Popular

Most read blogs

5 Texts to Send a Grieving Friend on Father's Day

Five texts to send to a grieving friend on Father's Day

Whether your grieving friend lost their dad or is a grieving father, there are many meaningful ways to comfort them. At Grief Coach, we love a simple text! Sending a text message is a quick, easy way to show your grieving friend you care about them on Father's Day.

Grief Support5 min read

How to support a grieving friend over text: Use the C.A.R.E. formula

When someone you love is grieving, it can feel impossible to know what to say. You don't want to say the wrong thing. You don't want to upset them.

Illustration of two text bubbles hugging

Grief Support3 min read

Six text messages you can send right now that will feel (almost) like a hug

Words can create connection, and even help us fight infection. Here are six texts you can send right now, to give friends and family a dopamine boost.

5 Texts to Send a Grieving Friend on Mother's Day

Grief Coach3 min read

Five texts to send to a grieving friend on Mother's Day

Whether your grieving friend lost their mom or is a grieving mom, there are many meaningful ways to let them know you care. At Help Texts we love a simple text! Sending a text message is a quick, easy way to show your grieving friend you care about them on Mother's Day.

Quote graphic: Are we trying to build machines that are better than people — or are we trying to build machines that will help people become better? — Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, May 2025

Grief Support8 min read

What AI and grief-bots can teach us about supporting grieving people

The lesson isn't that AI is replacing human connection, but rather that AI is showing us (or reminding us) exactly what human connection should look like. Every feature that makes grief-focused AI effective is something humans can do better, with the added benefit of genuine empathy, shared experience, and authentic, in-person care.

Graphic titled "How to Respond to Condolences" showing a speech bubble that says "Sorry for your loss." and an empty reply bubble

Grief Support2 min read

Three ways to respond to condolences after a death

Many articles tell people what to say when a person dies, but as the grieving person, how do you respond? Try these three tips from Help Texts founder and CEO, Emma Payne.

Hospice nurse looking through photos with older woman

Hospice3 min read

How Oceanside Hospice delivers grief support across remote communities

When Oceanside Hospice Society needed to reach bereaved families scattered across Vancouver Island's remote communities, they found their small part-time team couldn't deliver consistent grief support manually. Since launching Help Texts in July 2025, they've seen month-over-month enrollment growth and a 94.6% active rate, with 100% of surveyed families finding the content helpful.

Loss of a Parent5 min read

Grief on Father's Day: How do you honor your loved one?

Father's Day after loss doesn't end when the day does. Learn how to honor your person, prepare for the grief hangover, and carry your love forward.

Bereavement4 min read

Honoring Lives, Not Just Losses: Supporting Overdose Grief

When someone dies of an overdose, grief is often met with silence or stigma. On Overdose Awareness Day, let us remember that addiction is a disease, not an identity, and every life lost deserves compassion.

Graphic with a line-drawn skull icon and the word Thanatology, defining it as the study of death, dying, and bereavement

Bereavement2 min read

What is Thanatology

Among the million things I (embarrassingly) didn't know in 2016 when I started working on Help Texts (we were called Grief Coach back then), is that there's an incredible field of study called Thanatology, and that the world is full of (IMO undervalued) Thanatologists who make the end of life experience better. Much better.

A woman resting comfortably on a couch in a cozy sweater, quietly reading a supportive text message on her phone, representing accessible, low-energy grief support at home.

Bereavement4 min read

The Overlooked Reason People Decline Grief Support

Wanting support and having the capacity to receive it are not the same thing." Why traditional support groups and counseling can feel impossible for exhausted grievers, and how to design care that actually meets them where they are.

5 min read

How to help a friend after a stillbirth

We’re taught what to do in all kinds of emergencies (think airplane crashes and earthquakes), but no-one teaches us what to do when the inevitable happens. No one teaches us what to do when someone we love, loses someone they love. October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, which means we all have a good opportunity to learn.

Process

Our clinical review process

Written by experts

Our writers are advocates or experts in the grief space.

Reviewed for clinical accuracy

Every article goes through clinical review before it publishes.

Updated regularly

Our articles are constantly updated as research changes.

Our editorial team

Writers, editors, and clinicians dedicated to thoughtful mental health and grief content