Grieflandia™ Card Deck

A Character-Based Deck for Understanding Grief and Processing Loss

Grief can be difficult to understand, especially when emotions shift quickly or do not seem to make sense. Many people find themselves wondering whether what they are feeling is normal or how to describe their experience after a loss.

Many grief resources are found in books or require searching for the right words. The Grieflandia Deck offers a more immediate and accessible way to recognize what you are experiencing as it happens.

Through Griefies, Helpies, and Certainties, the deck offers a visual way to recognize experiences that may arise in grief, consider practices that may feel supportive, and reflect on enduring truths that remain even when everything else feels uncertain.

The card deck is 78 full-color, 4×6 inch cards, including:

  • 51 Griefies

  • 24 Helpies

  • 3 Certainties

  • Each card has a character, explanation, and reflection question

What & Who the card deck is for:

  • Individual reflection

  • Supportive conversations

  • Journaling

  • Support groups, counselors, therapists, hospices

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How the Grieflandia Card Deck Helps

  • Understand Grief Through Recognizable Experiences:

    The Grieflandia Deck helps you make sense of the thoughts, feelings, and reactions that can appear after the loss of a loved one, offering a clear and approachable way to understand grief as it unfolds.

  • Meet the Experiences of Grief Through Characters:

    Connect with Snooize (fatigue), Dreary Dearie (sadness), B. Wilderd (confusion), N-Vee (envy), & Joysie (unexpected moments of lightness)—each representing experiences that can appear in grief.

  • Flexible for Personal Reflection or Guided Support:

    Use the deck on your own, as a journaling tool, or in therapy, counseling, and grief support groups. There is no set order and no “right way” to use it.

  • A Gentle Way to Process Grief and Loss:

    Designed for moments when words are hard to find, these grief support cards help you reflect, process emotions, and better understand what you’re feeling without pressure or a prescribed path.

  • Supports Understanding, Not Fixing:

    This deck does not offer a solution to grief or replace professional care. It offers a way to recognize and explore grief experiences—because understanding what you’re feeling can make it easier to navigate.

Some people draw a single card and take a quiet moment to reflect. Others use the prompts for journaling or bring the cards into conversations in therapy or group settings. It can be used alone or with others, depending on what feels right.

Over time, many people begin to notice patterns in what shows up and how their experiences shift. This deck supports awareness without suggesting a timeline or a “right way” to grieve.

Created by Jennifer A. O’Brien from her own lived experience with loss and caregiving, the Grieflandia Deck reflects a simple truth: grief is not one feeling, but many—and those experiences can change from moment to moment.

The deck is designed to be flexible.

Your Questions, Answered

  • No. The Grieflandia Deck is not a game. It is a set of character-based grief cards designed to help people recognize and understand the many thoughts, feelings, and experiences that can appear after the loss of a loved one.

  • No. This deck does not replace therapy, grief counseling, or professional support. It can be used alongside those resources or on its own as a way to reflect and better understand your experience of grief.

  • No. There is no set order or “right way” to use the Grieflandia Deck. You can draw a card, look through the deck to find what matches how you feel, or use it in conversation, as a journaling prompt or for reflection.

  • The cards reflect Griefies, Helpies and the three Certainties. The Griefies represent a wide range of experiences that may appear in grief, including emotional, mental, and physical responses. Some may feel familiar, while others may feel unexpected or even contradictory. Grief is not one feeling—it is many experiences that can shift. The Helpies offer actions, tasks and practices that may help soothe someone who is grieving. The three Certainties represent time, change and death.

  • Yes. Many people experience a wide range of emotions in grief, including ones they don’t expect or don’t immediately understand. Experiences like relief, frustration, envy, numbness, or even moments of peace can all be part of grief. These reactions may be singular or clustered and can change from moment to moment.

  • Grief is not linear. Different thoughts, emotions, and physical responses can appear at different times, sometimes without warning. This deck is designed to help you recognize those shifts as they happen.

  • Each card reflects a specific experience that can appear in grief. Seeing these experiences represented as cute, colorful characters can make it easier to identify what’s happening and find language for it, especially when it feels difficult to explain.

  • The Grieflandia Deck is designed for people who are grieving, people supporting someone through loss, and professionals such as therapists, counselors, and grief group facilitators. It is suitable for pre-teens, teens, and adults.

  • There is no “right time” to use the deck. It can be used soon after a loss, months later, or years into grief. It is designed to meet people wherever they are in their experience.

  • Many grief resources are found in books or require searching for the right words. The Grieflandia Deck offers a more immediate way to recognize what you’re feeling as it happens, helping you understand grief through direct experience rather than explanation alone.

  • Yes. Many people give the deck as a thoughtful, supportive resource for someone who has experienced a loss. It offers a gentle way to acknowledge and explore grief without telling someone how they should feel.