Frequently Asked Questions

INBGC is an independent credentialing board. It publishes the professional standard for non-clinical grief support, independently certifies the people who provide it through documented education, verified practice hours, and a proctored Board Examination, and holds certificants accountable through annual renewal and continuing education. It provides no foundational grief support training, which is what allows it to review education from any provider without a stake in the outcome.

A credentialing board. Training programs teach skills and issue a certificate confirming the course was completed. INBGC publishes the standard the field is measured against and tests whether an individual meets it. A person who holds the BCGC has been through eligibility review, education review, verified practice, an ethics attestation, and a proctored examination.

The Advisory Board. It owns the standard, the six topic areas the Board Examination is built on, the scope of practice, the Code of Ethics, the continuing education requirements, and the passing threshold. It does not review individual candidate files. Program Administration applies the standard to each candidate and does not author the rules it enforces, so standard-setting stays separate from individual certification decisions. The seated members are published on the Advisory Board roster.

No. INBGC is independent of any training program, school, method, or franchise, and it sells no foundational grief support training of its own. The body that administers the Board Examination has no financial interest in where a candidate studied.

Because there is no license for grief coaching, the word accredited can mean very different things from one program to the next. INBGC is not accredited by an outside body and does not pursue outside accreditation. It publishes the standard in full instead. Read the six topic areas, the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, and the passing threshold, and judge the credential against them directly. See what accredited really means.

The term can describe two different things. A coach with a certificate completed a training course, and the program that issued the certificate defines what it means. A person board certified in grief care has met the INBGC standard for grief-specific education, verified practice hours, ethics, and scope of practice, and passed the proctored Board Examination. Board certification in grief care is certification of non-clinical grief support, of which grief coaching is one form. The designation is maintained through annual renewal and continued compliance with the published standard.

A certificate is typically issued by the training program itself and confirms that you completed the course. Board certification is issued by a body that did not provide the training, and verifies your education, your practice, and your knowledge against a published standard. A certificate is a one-time record. Board certification is maintained every year. See training program vs. certifying board.

All significant loss, not only death. That includes divorce and relationship endings, job loss and forced retirement, serious illness, estrangement, anticipatory grief, ambiguous loss, identity change, and major life transitions that carry an element of loss. Defining grief as bereavement alone leaves out much of what people grieve.

Yes, by design. The credential renews every year on the anniversary of its issue date, and 30 hours of continuing education are completed across a rolling three-year cycle. A credential that never has to be renewed says only what was true on the day it was issued. An Active BCGC describes a practitioner's standing today. See renewal and continuing education.

No. There is no license for grief coaching in the United States, no training is required, and no state board reviews who uses the title. Anyone may call themselves a grief coach tomorrow with no preparation at all. Board certification is the point at which someone independent has verified the education, the practice, and the knowledge behind the work.

Anyone whose work regularly meets people in grief, in a non-clinical frame, who meets the published requirements. That includes grief coaches, licensed clinicians, healthcare professionals, clergy and chaplains, social workers, funeral professionals, human resources and employee assistance staff, and people entering grief work from another career. Eligibility rests on documented grief-specific education, verified practice, and the non-clinical frame of the work, not on licensure or title. Review the full eligibility requirements.

No. There is no degree requirement and no licensure requirement for board certification. It certifies non-clinical grief support, whatever title the person providing it uses. Licensed clinicians may also certify, for the non-clinical grief support they provide, and treatment hours do not count toward verified practice hours. If you want to diagnose and treat, that is the licensed path; see how to become a grief counselor.

INBGC sets no minimum number of instructional hours. What is reviewed is whether your grief-specific education covers the six published topic areas, and education from more than one qualified provider may be combined. Competence is demonstrated on the proctored Board Examination.

Yes, and the process is built for it. Program Administration reviews the education you already hold against the six topic areas and the published eligibility requirements. Training from any qualified provider may qualify. If you are unsure whether yours does, write to support@inbgc.org before applying.

No. INBGC does not provide foundational grief support training at all, at any price. Every candidate brings grief-specific education obtained elsewhere and sits the Board Examination on that preparation.

There is one route to the BCGC, the Certification Path. You bring grief-specific education from any provider, document your verified practice hours, and sit the Board Examination. The path is a sequence of review, attestation, and examination. It contains no teaching, and it is not a course.

It includes application and eligibility review, education review, one Practice Exam attempt, the proctored Board Examination, verified practice hours review, and your first year of certification. The certification fee is $1,295, or three payments of $450 totaling $1,350. The Access Award reduces the fee at three tiers. See how certification works.

Complete grief-specific education with any qualified provider, then confirm you meet the eligibility requirements and apply. You document your education and your verified practice hours, attest to the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, take the included Practice Exam, and sit the proctored Board Examination. Candidates who pass are board certified in grief care and use the BCGC post-nominal. Once credentialed, you maintain Active certification through annual renewal and continuing education.

Most of the timeline is within your control. There is no cohort schedule and no enrollment window, so a candidate moves as quickly as they assemble their documentation and sit their Board Examination.

Gathering practice hour documentation and closing a gap in one of the six topic areas can add time.

Applied judgment, not memorized definitions. The Board Examination presents standardized scenario-based items that ask you to reason through real practice situations: scope judgment, referral decisions, recognizing warning signs of acute risk, ethical reasoning, and applied grief knowledge across the six topic areas. Board certification independently verifies that a practitioner has met published standards for grief-specific education, applied knowledge, verified practice hours, ethics, scope, and professional judgment.

80 percent, across six equally weighted topic areas, so no area counts for more than another. The passing standard is criterion-referenced, which means it measures competence against the published standard rather than performance relative to other candidates. No candidate is competing for a limited number of credentials.

A desktop or laptop computer with a working webcam and microphone, permission to run the proctoring software on that device, a stable internet connection, a private space for the full duration, and a valid government-issued photo ID. Tablets and phones are not supported by the proctoring platform.

Employer-managed and institution-issued computers may block software installation. If your only computer is a work machine, confirm this before you register.

With your signed attestation plus one supporting record. That record may be scheduling documentation such as calendar exports, booking reports, or invoicing records, or a signed confirmation from an employer, mentor, or colleague with direct knowledge of your grief support work. A practice hour is non-clinical grief support provided to a grieving person or family. A minimum of 50 verified practice hours is required, group sessions count when they can be verified, and clinical treatment hours do not count.

Through documentation and professional attestation. No client session is ever recorded, submitted, or reviewed, and no client is contacted or asked to participate at any point. Confidentiality holds throughout, and the standard remains verifiable because the record comes from scheduling systems and named professionals rather than from clients.

Every attempt returns a topic-area score report showing exactly where to focus. You may retake the Board Examination after a minimum 30-day waiting period for $295 per attempt, up to three attempts in any 12-month period. After three unsuccessful attempts, you reapply.

An unsuccessful attempt is not a refund event. The examination has been administered and the attempt is complete. The score report is designed to make the next attempt a stronger one.

The certification fee is $1,295, or three payments of $450 totaling $1,350 on the payment plan, and it includes your first year of certification. The Access Award reduces the fee at three tiers for candidates serving communities with limited access to grief support, and employers may fund it directly.

Board Examination retakes are $295 per attempt. Additional Practice Exam attempts are $125. Annual credential renewal is $125. Reinstating an Expired credential within 90 days is the $125 renewal plus a $75 reinstatement fee. Full details are on the fees and policies page.

Application and eligibility review, education review against the six topic areas, one Practice Exam attempt with a topic-area breakdown, the proctored Board Examination, verified practice hours review, credential issuance, registry listing, and your first year of certification.

The fee does not include foundational grief support training, which INBGC does not provide, or the Advanced Resource Center, an optional subscription at $99 per month, month to month. The Public Resource Center is free to everyone.

All fees paid to INBGC are non-refundable, with a limited exception for withdrawal before review begins. This applies to the certification fee, additional Practice Exam attempts, Board Examination retakes, annual renewal, and reinstatement, including amounts paid under a payment plan and fees paid by an employer.

Every requirement and every fee is published in advance. Review the eligibility requirements and the fees and policies page in full before you submit payment, and write to Program Administration with any question beforehand.

The fee pays for a process rather than an outcome. Eligibility review, education review, examination administration, and credentialing are carried out when a candidate engages them, and that work is complete whether or not the credential is awarded.

Your candidacy continues and the fee you have already paid stands. Program Administration identifies exactly what is outstanding, and you may complete it through any qualified provider. There is no deadline and no penalty.

If you are unsure whether your education and practice hours meet the published requirements, write to support@inbgc.org before you apply.

Yes, billed directly by INBGC with no third-party financing and no credit application. The plan is three payments of $450, totaling $1,350. You may complete every step, including the Board Examination, while the plan is running. The credential is issued once the balance is paid in full.

Employers may also fund the fee directly or through reimbursement. INBGC invoices employers directly and accepts purchase orders. Review the funding options.

The INBGC Access Award reduces the certification fee for candidates serving communities with limited access to grief support, at three tiers. Five awards are issued each month. Applications are open on an ongoing basis, with a cutoff on the 15th and decisions on the first of the following month, and an applicant not selected may reapply.

The award reduces the fee and never the standard. Recipients complete the same eligibility review, the same verified practice requirement, and the same Board Examination at the same passing threshold as every other candidate.

Yes. Published seat rates are $1,095 per seat for 5 to 9 seats and $895 per seat for 10 to 24 seats, under one organizational agreement and one invoice. For 25 or more, contact Program Administration. The rates are never negotiated, and buying seats has no effect on any review or examination result. See how employers work with INBGC.

The credential renews every year on the anniversary of its issue date. Renewal requires the $125 annual fee, an ethics attestation confirming continued compliance with the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, and an attestation that you are in compliance with continuing education requirements and keep complete records. Continuing education is reviewed with the year-three renewal. See renewal and continuing education.

$125 per year. Your first year of certification is included in the certification fee, so your first renewal is due on the first anniversary of your credential issue date.

30 hours across a rolling three-year cycle. At least 6 hours in ethics, scope of practice, and risk and referral. At least 4 hours in diverse and disenfranchised grief. The remaining 20 hours in any grief-related topic area. The first cycle begins on your credential issue date, and annual renewals do not restart it. See the full requirements.

You attest to compliance at each renewal and keep your own records for at least four years after the end of the cycle they apply to. Program Administration conducts random and targeted audits, and a certificant selected for audit submits records by the deadline provided. Hours that cannot be documented do not count.

No. Continuing education may be completed through any qualified provider, including professional associations, universities, hospice and palliative care organizations, and grief training programs. INBGC does not approve its own continuing education, so training in the Advanced Resource Center does not count toward continuing education hours.

There is no grace period. A credential not renewed by its renewal date shows as Expired the following day, and the BCGC designation may not be used until it is reinstated.

By reinstatement request to Program Administration at support@inbgc.org. Within 1 to 90 days of the renewal date, reinstatement requires the $125 renewal fee, a $75 reinstatement fee, and your attestations. After 90 days, you also complete any outstanding attestations and show that your continuing education is in compliance. Missed years are not back-billed.

If the credential has been Expired for more than 24 months, you reapply, complete an eligibility review, and pass the Board Examination again. See the reinstatement requirements.

Ask the practitioner for their credential number and enter it in the INBGC registry. It confirms the name on the credential and whether its status is Active, Expired, or Revoked. The registry confirms standing only.

Organizations that maintain credentialing files can request formal written verification from Program Administration at verify@inbgc.org. Both routes are free and neither involves the practitioner. For the full walkthrough, see how to verify a grief coach's credentials.

Active means the certificant has met all renewal and ethics attestation requirements, and the BCGC designation is in good standing and may be used. Expired means the credential was not renewed by its renewal date and the designation may not be used until it is reinstated. Revoked means the credential was withdrawn following an ethics review and the designation may not be used at all.

A certificate image or a claim on a website confirms nothing about current standing. A credential can lapse and it can be revoked. Confirming with the issuing board establishes that the certification is Active today, which is what a resource list depends on.

There is no license for grief coaching, so anyone may use the title regardless of training. Verifying with the board is how a hospice, a clinician, or an employer tells the difference.

Grief coaching is one form of non-clinical grief support. A person board certified in grief care does not diagnose, treat, prescribe, provide psychotherapy, assess clinical risk, or serve as crisis intervention. Under the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, a certificant is required to recognize warning signs of suicide, self-harm, and other acute risk and to connect the person to clinical or emergency support without delay, and to refer to licensed care for features consistent with Prolonged Grief Disorder, acute psychiatric symptoms, substance use requiring licensed care, and trauma requiring clinical treatment.

The published referral criteria cover the scope boundaries, the referral indicators, and the verification process in one place.

Yes, at no cost. The standard is published in full and free to read, cite, or reference. Any hospice, health system, funeral home, chaplaincy network, employee assistance program, or therapist practice may build it into their own referral or vetting criteria without permission and without payment. Sample policy language is published in the published referral criteria.

Organizations that reference the standard are never charged, and they never set the standard they reference.

No. No one who references the standard or verifies a credential is ever charged. Verification is free to the requesting party, the standard is free to read and cite, and INBGC does not sell placement, preference, or visibility to certificants. No practitioner can pay to be positioned ahead of another.