Collective Grief in Uncertain Times: How Community Loss Affects Our Wellbeing
As an Integrative Health and Wellness Coach and grief specialist, I hold space for many kinds of loss in my work—and right now, grief is very present in my home state of Minnesota. Recent immigration enforcement actions have left families separated, communities fearful, and many people holding a deep sense of sorrow, anger, and helplessness. Even those not directly impacted are feeling it—because when members of our community are hurting, something in the collective fabric is torn. This is not just individual pain; it is collective grief.
Collective grief is the shared emotional response to circumstances that shake our sense of safety, justice, and belonging.
It arises not from a single personal loss but from communal hurt: a neighbor taken too soon, a community’s trust fractured, families living with uncertainty and trauma. Collective grief is not abstract; it impacts us physically, emotionally, and spiritually, shaping how we relate to one another and to the world around us.
History offers a clear and recent example. During the COVID pandemic, people across the world grieved far more than lives lost. We grieved missed milestones, disrupted routines, financial instability, isolation, and the sudden loss of trust in a predictable future. Many were expected to “move on” before they had a chance to fully process what had been taken. That unfinished grief continues to ripple through our bodies, relationships, workplaces, and communities today.
Today, collective grief is layered and global.
Many are grieving climate change and the loss of familiar landscapes and ways of life. We are grieving mass migration driven by violence, poverty, and environmental disruption. We are grieving polarization, war, and the erosion of shared meaning. Even when our own lives are relatively stable, our bodies register the pain moving through the wider world.
When collective grief goes unnamed, it can harden into burnout, disconnection, or despair. When it is acknowledged, it can soften us—opening pathways for compassion, courage, and care.
Ways to stay sturdy amid collective grief:
Name the grief you’re carrying; awareness creates space
Regulate your nervous system through rest, breath, movement, and nature
Be intentional with news consumption
Stay connected—grief needs witnesses
Ground yourself in values, faith, service, or creative expression
Collective grief reminds us that we belong to one another. Tending it together is not weakness—it is an act of humanity.
