Product review: Sitting With Sadness deck

I'm always on the lookout for resources that can help folks navigate the complex and often overwhelming emotions that accompany loss. The Sitting With Sadness deck, created in collaboration with Madeline Park and Marcella Biven of ______ LESS journal, is a unique tool that offers individuals a gentle way to process grief at their own pace. It’s a thoughtful collection of prompts, wishes, and rituals designed to hold space for grief’s messier thoughts and feelings—an approach I find both compassionate and deeply resonant.

The deck contains 45 prompts and 7 wishes, each one carefully crafted to help users explore their emotions and memories in a way that feels safe and manageable. This deck has good flexibility in some ways in that it doesn’t prescribe a specific way to grieve or a timeline for healing. Instead, it invites users to engage with their grief in whatever way feels right for them. Whether you choose to pull a card each day or spread them out like a tarot deck, the Sitting With Sadness deck allows for a personalized experience that honors the individual nature of grief.

The design and presentation of the deck are both beautiful and practical. Each card is a manageable 3.5 x 5 inches, making them easy to hold and engage with. The prompts themselves are clear and concise, offering just enough guidance to get you started without feeling overwhelming. The inclusion of wishes and rituals alongside the journaling prompts adds an extra layer of support, encouraging users to not only reflect on their grief but also to take actionable steps towards healing.

One of the standout aspects of this deck is its ability to create space for all the messy, complicated feelings that often accompany loss. The holidays, in particular, can be a challenging time for those grieving, as they bring a mix of joy and sorrow to the surface. The Sitting With Sadness deck recognizes this duality and offers prompts that acknowledge both the pain of missing someone and the love that remains. It's a tool that doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff but instead encourages users to sit with their sadness and explore it fully.

As the creators themselves acknowledge, the deck is meant to be a supplement — a way to support the grief journey between therapy sessions / group, or during moments when professional support isn’t readily available. For those who are already in therapy, the Sitting With Sadness deck could be a valuable companion, offering more insight and reflection that can be brought into the therapeutic process.

The drawbacks as I see them are that the prompts and language are very much aligned with death-related or non-ambiguous losses. They’re not as expansive as some of the other decks I’ve utilized. I’ve also found that I don’t reach for these as often — I tend to be more open-ended and these cards are very concrete. For example:

What memory do you wish you could relive with ______?

Many of the questions assume the reader had a GOOD relationship with the person in question, and that the grief is about a person. That’s going to be great for some people, but limited for others. Keep that in mind as you’re making your decision!

At $20, the Sitting With Sadness deck is an affordable and accessible tool for anyone navigating grief. Its thoughtful design, compassionate prompts, and flexibility make it a solid resource for both grievers and therapists alike. This deck offers a gentle yet powerful way to engage with grief.