FOR LICENSED CLINICIANS
Grief Coach Certification for Licensed Clinicians
You are a therapist, counselor, or other licensed clinician drawn to grief coaching.
Board certification in grief care, which is non-clinical grief support, documents the non-clinical work a licensed clinician does alongside clinical practice. Your license authorizes clinical practice. It does not describe the non-clinical grief support you may also provide, and that is exactly what a referral partner needs to understand. Here is the distinction, and how the credential adds a layer without touching your license.
The distinction
How is non-clinical grief support different from clinical care?
Your license authorizes you to diagnose and treat. Non-clinical grief support, including grief coaching, is forward-focused support delivered within a defined scope, for people who want structure rather than treatment. Board certification in grief care verifies competence in that non-clinical work. It does not certify clinical practice.
Many people who are grieving are not looking for therapy. They are functioning, they are grieving, and they want structure rather than treatment. That is a real service, and it is a different service from the one your license governs.
When you provide non-clinical grief support, you are working in a separate frame. Board certification shows clients and referring professionals that you understand where non-clinical support ends and clinical care begins.
For a licensed clinician, that scope clarity is a strength. It shows you know the difference.
The honest question
Is this a step backward from a license?
No, because it is a different kind of thing. A license is state-granted permission to practice a regulated clinical profession. Board certification in grief care is voluntary verification against a published standard for non-clinical grief support. Neither substitutes for the other. The credential is an additional layer of demonstrated grief-specific competency, not a requirement to practice.
This is the objection worth stating plainly, because a board credential for non-clinical work can look like a downgrade from a license you spent years earning.
The comparison does not hold. Your license is complete for what it governs, which is clinical practice. It does not describe non-clinical grief support you provide alongside it, so a client or referring professional has no independent way to evaluate that part of your work. Board certification documents it without touching your clinical standing.
Clinical practice. Legal authority to diagnose and treat, granted by a state, governed by a licensing board.
Non-clinical grief support. Competence against a published standard, verified by an independent board, maintained through renewal. It does not certify clinical practice.
The difference it makes
What board certification adds
A distinct, verifiable record of your non-clinical work, a credential a referring professional can check, and published scope language that states where non-clinical support ends and clinical care begins.
A distinct, verifiable record
Your license verifies your clinical practice. The BCGC verifies your non-clinical grief support, so each service is backed by its own published standard.
A credential others can check
A referring professional considering non-clinical support for someone can confirm your standing in the registry, separately from your license.
Clear positioning
You can offer non-clinical grief support openly, with a credential that makes the non-clinical frame explicit for you and for the person you are supporting.
A published scope you can point to
The Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice state in writing where non-clinical support ends and clinical care begins, so you are not defining that boundary yourself each time.
Verification is the mechanism underneath all four. Every certificant is issued a credential number, and anyone you give it to can confirm your name and your standing in the INBGC registry, at no cost and without involving you.
Resources and coverage
Public Resource Center. The board's Public Resource Center is free to everyone, certificants included. It covers how referrals work and who makes them, how to explain scope and referral thresholds in a conversation, and how to be findable and independently verifiable. The resources exist so practitioners are prepared to serve grieving people well. They are not business training, and they make no claim about what a practice will earn. An optional Advanced Resource Center is available for $99 per month, month to month, and is not included in certification or renewal. See the resource centers.
Professional liability coverage. Active certificants qualify for group rates on professional liability coverage through INBGC's insurance partners. If you rely on your existing policy instead, ask your carrier whether it addresses non-clinical grief support before you begin. Only your carrier can answer that.
For the full case, see why get board certified in grief care. For the settings where grief roles exist beyond private practice, see where grief support practitioners work.
Scope
Does non-clinical grief support conflict with your clinical work?
No, provided the two are kept distinct. The credential is designed to make the non-clinical boundary explicit, which supports both practices. Be clear with each person about which kind of support you are providing.
The INBGC Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice sets out the non-clinical scope and the referral thresholds, and the Board Examination tests scope and referral as one of its six topic areas. A licensed clinician providing non-clinical grief support is the case where that boundary matters most.
Certification does not restrict your clinical practice in any way. It describes what you are doing when you are not practicing clinically.
Eligibility
Does your clinical training qualify?
It can. Certification requires documented grief-specific education across the six topic areas and 50 verified practice hours of non-clinical grief support. Graduate coursework and clinical training in grief and bereavement both count toward the education requirement. Clinical treatment hours do not count toward practice hours.
What INBGC reviews is grief-specific preparation, not general clinical training. A counseling degree does not qualify on its own. Coursework, clinical training, or continuing education specifically in grief and bereavement does, and education from more than one source may be combined.
- Documented grief-specific education covering the six published topic areas, from any qualified provider
- 50 verified practice hours of non-clinical grief support provided to grieving people, documented through your signed attestation plus one supporting record. Group sessions count when they can be verified. Clinical treatment hours do not count. No client session is ever recorded or reviewed, and no client participates at any point
- Attestation to the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice
- A passing result on the Board Examination, at 80 percent across six equally weighted topic areas
- A government-issued photo ID and a computer that can run the proctoring platform. A desktop or laptop with webcam and microphone. Tablets and phones are not supported
The Certification Path is the single route to the Board Certified in Grief Care (BCGC) credential. For a clinician who already holds grief-specific education, it reviews that education and takes you to the Board Examination without repeating coursework. The path contains no foundational grief support training. See the full eligibility requirements.
Not sure whether your coursework counts? Write to [email protected] before you apply. Program Administration will review your background with you at no cost.
Fees
What does it cost?
The certification fee is $1,295, or three payments of $450 on the payment plan. Annual renewal is $125. All fees are non-refundable, with a limited exception for withdrawal before review begins.
Covers 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, and your first year of certification.
The payment plan is three payments of $450, totaling $1,350, billed directly by INBGC. You may complete every step, including the Board Examination, while the plan is running, and the credential is issued once the balance is paid in full.
The fee does not cover grief-specific education, which INBGC does not provide. If you have a professional development or credentialing budget, ask whether it applies. Full fee schedule and funding options.
Cost a barrier? The INBGC Access Award reduces the certification fee at three tiers. The award reduces the fee and never the standard.
Common questions
Next step
Document your non-clinical work
Creating your account takes about a minute and does not enroll or charge you. You choose how you pay in the next step.
Part of how to become a grief coach. See also grief coach vs. therapist for the scope distinction, and the path for practitioners trained elsewhere.