The Empty Chair: A Workbook for Grieving the Loss of a Colleague

For the loss that doesn't fit a sympathy card.

For grief that has to sit next to deadlines.

When a coworker dies, the world rarely knows how to hold your grief. You may not have been family. You may not have been close friends. But you sat near them. You shared coffee, inside jokes, a thousand ordinary Tuesdays. And now there is an empty chair, and no clear place to put what you feel.

Created by Nahlienne Rafael of Atalanta Healing, The Empty Chair is a gentle, validating companion for the under-acknowledged grief of losing a colleague. It honors the unique weight of grieving someone you knew across a desk, a shift, or a Zoom screen and the strange pressure to keep showing up while your heart is quietly breaking.

Through four compassionate sections, you will:

🤍 Name the Grief Nobody Names at Work: Validate the loss, honor the many losses inside this one, and process the day you found out.

🤍 Carry the Weight: Acknowledge the exhaustion, guilt, loneliness, and anger that rarely get permission to exist in a workplace.

🤍 Remember Them: Hold on to who they actually were—beyond the org chart, beyond the job title.

🤍 Move Forward, Together: Honor the empty chair, write a letter to your colleague, and write a letter to yourself.

There is no correct order, and no deadline for any of it. You are allowed to move forward at the pace that is actually true for you.

Perfect for: Anyone navigating the quiet, complicated grief of losing a coworker and anyone who needs permission to feel it fully.