Mindfulness & Grief Coach Certification
Learn a structured approach for individual grief support and groups, practice the tools yourself, and build confidence using them with real people.
Explore Certification
Mindfulness & Grief Training for Helping Professionals
You know grief isn’t something to be fixed. It’s something to be tended to.
But theory and caring aren’t always enough when someone is sitting in front of you and you’re wondering what would actually help. Get practical guidance for your work, along with support for your own well-being, based on what you need most right now.
Build My Grief Support Toolkit
2025 Clinical Practice Award
Association for Death Education and Counseling
Master’s in Thanatology
Graduate study in grief, death, dying, and bereavement
Mindfulness & Grief Creator
A flexible framework for real-world grief support
Author, Educator & Speaker
More than two decades studying, practicing, and teaching this work
What Shapes the Work
Grief Support Is About More Than Knowing Grief
Knowledge matters. So do the framework you use, what you notice, how you respond, and what you bring into the room with you.
Structure Without Stages
People need direction without being told how grief should look, how long it should last, or what they should feel next. A framework should give you somewhere to begin and something to return to without becoming a formula.
Care for the Helper Matters
Your own grief, stress, boundaries, attachment patterns, and desire to help come into the room with you. Learning to notice what is happening in yourself is part of supporting someone else without taking responsibility for fixing their pain.
Writing Can Open Another Door
Talking is not the only way people process grief. Journaling and reflective writing can help someone notice patterns, explore meaning, stay connected to what matters, and work with experiences that are difficult to put into conversation.
Grief Is Relational
Loss changes the way people relate to themselves and others. Attachment, caregiving, boundaries, support-seeking, trust, and connection all shape the experience of grief and the way we show up to support it.
The Body Is Part of Grief
Grief can show up in sleep, breath, tension, concentration, energy, and the body. Mindfulness, movement, and embodied practices give you ways to work with what may not be reached through words alone.
Books by Heather Stang
See the Work in Practice
My books bring the same ideas I teach helping professionals into real life through mindfulness, journaling, reflection, self-care, and practical ways of working with grief and unwanted change.
Living With Grief
Mindfulness and practical self-care for the ordinary places grief shows up.
Navigating Loss
Practical support for death, divorce, identity changes, caregiving, and other life-changing losses.
From Grief to Peace
Structured journaling and reflection based on the Mindfulness & Grief System.
Professional Recognition
2025 Association for Death Education and Counseling Clinical Practice Award
Heather received the award for her contribution to innovative grief support in clinical practice.
The recognition reflects the professional work behind the Mindfulness & Grief System and Heather’s contribution to grief education, mindfulness, and practical support for people living with loss.
Read About the Award
Recognized by Leaders in the Field
Respected Voices in Grief, Mindfulness, and Loss
Heather Stang offers those who are grieving a wise and practical guide. The stories, teachings and meditations in this book will help you find your own inner strength and awakening heart in the midst of great loss.
Tara Brach, PhD
Author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge
Heather Stang’s Navigating Loss is a valued compass for navigating a wide range of life’s losses. Grieving individuals will find it both informative and full of activities and exercises to assist in coping with grief. It is a wonderful resource for the bereaved.
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD
Senior Vice-President, The Hospice Foundation of America
When we are more firmly grounded in our bodies, as Heather Stang demonstrates, we are better able literally and metaphorically to find a new footing in the world, and to restore a life of meaning and coherence.
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD
Director, Portland Institute for Loss and Transition
About Heather Stang
Learn From Someone Who Has Lived and Taught the Work
I’ve spent more than two decades studying grief, teaching mindfulness, working with grieving people, and helping professionals translate what they know into what they actually do.
My background in thanatology, yoga therapy, mindfulness, and grief education shaped the Mindfulness & Grief System, but so did years of sitting with people when there was no perfect thing to say or do.
That is why I teach more than theory. I want helping professionals to understand the framework, practice the tools themselves, and learn how to make thoughtful choices with the person in front of them.
The goal is not to become the person with all the answers. It is to become more confident, present, and discerning in the moments when grief does not follow a script.
Learn More About HeatherBring More Structure to Your Grief Work
Know What to Do When Grief Is in the Room
You do not need another collection of disconnected techniques. Learn a practical framework, experience the practices yourself, and build the confidence to decide what fits the person in front of you.
Looking for support with your own grief? Find your starting point here.
Important: This page and the practices shared here are for educational and supportive purposes only. They are not a substitute for mental health care, medical care, or crisis support.
If you are concerned about your safety, struggling to function, or experiencing thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, please contact a licensed mental health professional, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
If you are in the U.S. or Canada, you can also call or text 988 for immediate crisis support.
Copyright 2026 Heather Stang, MA, C-IAYT, All rights reserved.