BOARD CERTIFICATION

Eligibility Requirements

The requirements to apply for the Board Certified in Grief Care (BCGC) credential, published in full so you can confirm you qualify before you pay anything.

Board certification in grief care, which is non-clinical grief support, begins with a documentary review. Program Administration confirms that your education, your practice hours, and your professional attestations meet the published requirements.

Competence itself is assessed by the Board Examination, not by an opinion about where you trained. There is no degree requirement and no license requirement.

Overview

Requirements at a glance

In short

To apply for the Board Certified in Grief Care credential you need documented grief-specific education covering the six topic areas, 50 verified practice hours of non-clinical grief support, attestation to the INBGC Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, and a complete, accurate application. There is no degree requirement and no licensure requirement.

Requirement	What is needed
Grief-specific education	Documented education covering the six topic areas, from any qualified provider.
Verified practice hours	A minimum of 50 verified practice hours of non-clinical grief support, documented by your signed attestation plus one supporting record.
Ethics and scope	Attestation to the INBGC Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice.
Application	Complete, accurate information. 18 years or older.

Meeting these requirements makes you eligible to sit the Board Examination, which is where competence is assessed. The examination is proctored remotely and held to an 80 percent passing standard.

These requirements apply to every candidate in the same way, regardless of title, setting, or where or how you trained.

Education

What education is required?

In short

Grief-specific education covering the six topic areas, completed through any qualified provider. General life coaching, general counseling, and unrelated professional training do not count toward the requirement. Education from more than one provider may be combined.

What Program Administration reviews is preparation specific to grief and loss. A general coaching, counseling, or ministry qualification is valuable professional background, but it does not substitute for grief-specific study, because the credential attests to grief-specific competence in particular.

INBGC does not provide foundational grief support training at any price. Every candidate brings that education from an outside provider and sits the Board Examination on that preparation. This separation is what allows the board to review any provider on the same terms.

Education is reviewed by coverage, not by hours

INBGC does not set a minimum number of instructional hours. What is reviewed is whether your education covers the six topic areas, and competence is demonstrated on the proctored Board Examination, which every candidate sits regardless of where or how long they trained.

A candidate may arrive having trained with a single program, or may combine a primary training with continuing education, graduate coursework, or clinical training. Both routes are accepted, and what is assessed is whether the six topic areas are covered between them.

The standard

What must the education cover?

In short

Your education is reviewed against six topic areas: foundations of grief and loss, the non-clinical grief coaching frame, grief coaching skills and techniques, scope of practice and referral, ethics and professional conduct, and diverse and disenfranchised grief. These are the same six areas the Board Examination covers, weighted equally, and they are set by the Advisory Board.

Foundations of grief and loss

Models and theory of grief across the full range of loss, including death and non-death losses such as divorce, illness, job loss, estrangement, and major life transitions. The distinction between grief as a natural human response and clinical presentations such as Prolonged Grief Disorder.

The non-clinical grief coaching frame

What grief coaching is and what falls outside it. The coaching relationship, presence, and witnessing within a non-clinical scope, and how coaching differs from psychotherapy, counseling, and spiritual care.

Grief coaching skills and techniques

Practical, non-clinical methods and tools for working with clients in grief. Holding space, meaning-making, re-engagement, ritual, and supporting the practical and emotional dimensions of loss. Session structure and documentation.

Scope of practice and referral

The boundary between coaching and clinical care, recognizing risk, and when and how to refer to licensed or emergency support. Indicators including risk of harm to self or others, possible Prolonged Grief Disorder, acute psychiatric symptoms, substance use requiring licensed care, and trauma requiring clinical treatment.

Ethics and professional conduct

The INBGC Code of Ethics applied to real practice situations. Professional boundaries, confidentiality and its limits, informed agreement, conflicts of interest, honest representation of credentials, and accountability to the board.

Diverse and disenfranchised grief

Working across cultures and with losses that are marginalized, unacknowledged, or disenfranchised. Cultural humility, intersectionality, and grief that others fail to recognize as grief.

Your education does not need to have been organized around these six headings. Program Administration reviews whether the content is covered, not how a program labeled it. See the full certification standards for how the Advisory Board defines each area.

Formats

What formats of education are accepted?

In short

Live, cohort-based, and self-paced programs are all accepted, delivered in person or online. Graduate coursework, clinical training, and continuing education from professional associations and universities count as well.

Live, cohort-based, and self-paced programs. Format does not affect eligibility. The Board Examination is what verifies knowledge either way.
In-person and online delivery. Both are accepted on the same terms.
Graduate coursework. In counseling, social work, thanatology, chaplaincy, or a related field, where the content is grief-specific.
Clinical training in grief and bereavement. Counted toward the education requirement for clinicians certifying for the non-clinical grief support they provide.
Continuing education. From professional associations, hospice and palliative care organizations, and universities.
Education combined from several providers. A primary training plus continuing education, graduate coursework, or clinical training, where the six topic areas are covered between them.

Recognition is a shortcut, never a gate

A provider may apply to have its curriculum reviewed against the published criteria and be listed as a Recognized Education Provider. Recognition speeds a candidate's education review, because the curriculum has already been assessed. It is never required. A candidate whose provider never applied is reviewed on the merits, on the same terms, and no fee a provider pays touches whether an individual passes. See INBGC provider review.

Recency

Does older training still qualify?

In short

Yes. Qualifying education does not expire on its own. Education completed more than seven years ago is accepted where it is accompanied by evidence of continued grief-related practice or continuing education in the period since.

Grief practice has developed, and a credential means less if it certifies preparation that has not been used or refreshed. Continued practice satisfies this. So does recent continuing education. A practitioner who trained a decade ago and has supported grieving people throughout meets the requirement on the strength of that practice.

In most cases the verified practice hours you are already submitting will demonstrate this, so no separate documentation is needed.

Documentation

What documentation is required?

In short

Any official record showing the program, the provider, your name, and your completion. Certificates of completion, transcripts, official course records, and letters on provider letterhead are all accepted. Clear scans or photographs are fine.

Certificates of completion. The most common form of documentation.
Transcripts or official course records. For graduate and university coursework.
Letters of completion on provider letterhead. Where a program did not issue a certificate.

Scans and photographs are accepted provided the program name, the provider, and your name are legible.

If you no longer have records for older education, list each program (what it was, the provider, and when) and attest to completing it. You may also send your existing education to support@inbgc.org for a preliminary review before you pursue more.

Practice hours

What are verified practice hours, and how many are required?

In short

A minimum of 50 hours of non-clinical grief support provided to grieving people or families. Hours may be paid or unpaid, in private practice, an organizational setting, or a volunteer capacity, and group sessions count when they can be verified. Clinical treatment hours do not count. You submit your signed attestation plus one supporting record, and no client session is ever recorded, submitted, or reviewed.

The purpose of a practice requirement is to confirm that the credential reflects applied work rather than examination performance alone. Because this work is confidential, verification relies on documentation and attestation rather than observation.

Two things are submitted together: your own signed attestation of your hours, and one record that corroborates it.

Scheduling documentation

Calendar exports, booking reports, or invoicing records showing grief support sessions.

Professional attestation

A signed confirmation from an employer, mentor, or colleague with direct knowledge of your grief support work, or a professional reference letter.

Choose whichever of the two most clearly and honestly reflects your practice. One supporting record is enough, and it accompanies your signed attestation rather than replacing it.

Client confidentiality

No client session is ever recorded, submitted, or reviewed. No client participates in the certification process at any point, no client is contacted, and no client is identified in any submission. Identifying details in a supporting record may be redacted.

Ethics

What do candidates attest to?

In short

Every candidate reviews and attests to the INBGC Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice as a condition of certification, and again at every renewal. The credential certifies non-clinical grief support, and the scope requires referral to licensed care at defined indicators.

A person board certified in grief care does not diagnose, treat, prescribe, provide psychotherapy, or serve as crisis intervention in that role. Licensed clinicians are welcome to certify, for the non-clinical grief support they provide, distinct from their clinical role. The credential does not certify clinical practice, and treatment hours do not count toward verified practice hours.

The code is enforceable. A credential can be revoked for violating it.

Review the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice

Application

What else is required to apply?

In short

You must be 18 or older, provide accurate and complete information, hold a valid government-issued photo ID, and have a computer that can run a remotely proctored examination. Submitting false or misleading information is grounds for denial of an application and for revocation of a credential already awarded.

Identification

Every candidate presents a valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID at the start of the Board Examination. The name on it must match the name on your application.

A driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID
Unexpired, with a clearly legible photograph and name
The name on your ID must match the name on your INBGC application

Technology for the Board Examination

The examination is administered remotely through a live proctoring platform. Check these before you register, because a device that cannot run the platform is a common practical obstacle.

A desktop or laptop computer. Tablets and phones are not supported by the proctoring platform
Permission to run the proctoring software on that device. Employer-managed and institution-issued computers often block installation. If your only computer is a work machine, confirm this before you register
A working webcam and microphone
A stable internet connection
A private, quiet space for the full duration of the examination, with no other people present

General requirements

You are 18 years of age or older
The information in your application is accurate, complete, and current

Submission of false or misleading information is grounds for denial of an application and for revocation of a credential already awarded.

If something is missing

What happens if you do not meet a requirement?

In short

Your candidacy stays open. Program Administration tells you exactly what is outstanding, and you may complete it through any qualified provider. There is no deadline and no penalty, and fees already paid are applied to your continuing candidacy.

Closing a gap

You are not turned away

Where documentation does not meet a published requirement, Program Administration identifies what is outstanding and which topic area needs strengthening. You may complete it through any qualified provider. INBGC sells no foundational grief education, so there is nothing it can point you toward that benefits it.

Once the outstanding requirement is complete, you submit the documentation and your review continues from where it paused.

This applies to practice hours as well as education. A candidate short of 50 hours completes the remaining hours and submits documentation when ready.

Before you apply

Confirm you qualify first

In short

Review these requirements and the published fee schedule before you register. All fees are non-refundable, with a limited exception for withdrawal before review begins. If you are unsure whether your education or practice hours qualify, Program Administration will review your background with you at no cost before you pay.

Every requirement and every fee is published in advance so you can confirm you qualify before committing. Write to support@inbgc.org with any question about eligibility, and you will get a plain answer at no cost. See the full fee schedule for what certification costs, and funding options for the payment plan, employer funding, and the Access Award.

Common questions

No. There is no degree requirement and no licensure requirement, and there is no license for grief coaching itself. Eligibility rests on documented grief-specific education and practice, not on credentials from another field. Licensed clinicians may also certify, for the non-clinical grief support they provide, and treatment hours do not count toward verified practice hours.

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

It may. Program Administration reviews education from any qualified provider against the six published topic areas. Where a provider is a Recognized Education Provider, that review moves faster, but recognition is never required and a candidate whose provider never applied is reviewed on the merits. If you are unsure, write to support@inbgc.org before you apply and you will get an answer at no cost.

Yes. The requirement may be met through a primary training plus continuing education, graduate coursework, or clinical training. What is assessed is whether the six topic areas are covered between them.

No. Paid, unpaid, and volunteer hours all count, provided the work was non-clinical grief support provided to grieving people and can be documented. Hours completed in private practice, an organizational setting, or a volunteer capacity are all accepted, and group sessions count when they can be verified. Clinical treatment hours do not count.

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 work. No client session is ever recorded, submitted, or reviewed, and no client is contacted.

Qualifying education does not expire on its own. Education completed more than seven years ago is accepted where it is accompanied by evidence of continued grief-related practice or continuing education since. In most cases the verified practice hours you are already submitting will demonstrate this.

Your candidacy stays open. Program Administration tells you exactly what is outstanding, and you may complete it through any qualified provider. There is no deadline and no penalty, and your fees are applied to your continuing candidacy.

No. All fees paid to INBGC are non-refundable, with a limited exception for withdrawal before review begins. Every requirement and every fee is published in advance, so review these requirements and the full fee schedule before you register, and write to Program Administration with any question beforehand.

A valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID. The name on it must match the name on your INBGC application.

A desktop or laptop computer with a working webcam, microphone, and stable internet connection. Tablets and phones are not supported by the proctoring platform. You also need permission to run the proctoring software on that device, which employer-managed and institution-issued computers often block. Confirm this before you register.

Next step

Become board certified

If you meet the requirements on this page, the next step is registering. Creating your account takes about a minute and does not enroll or charge you. You choose how you pay in the next step. Every candidate may choose the payment plan, and any candidate who qualifies may apply for the Access Award.

Get certified Ways to pay