Frequently Asked Questions

INBGC is an independent certification body for grief coaches. Its role is to set published standards, verify competence through examination and verified practice hours, and hold credentialed coaches accountable through annual renewal. INBGC does not train grief coaches. It certifies them. The board offers an optional curriculum to help candidates prepare, but that curriculum is kept entirely separate from the credentialing decision.

INBGC is a certification board. Its primary role is to set standards and verify that coaches meet them, not to teach skills. A grief coach who earns the BCGC designation has demonstrated a defined standard through eligibility review, examination, verified practice hours, and ethics commitment, not simply completed a course.

Authority over INBGC's standards rests with the INBGC Advisory Board. The Advisory Board owns the standard and the topic areas the Board Examination is built on. Application review and day-to-day administration are handled separately by INBGC's Program Administration, so standard-setting stays independent of individual candidate decisions.

No. INBGC is independent of any training program, school, method, or franchise. The organization that administers the Board Examination has no financial interest in which training program a candidate attended. That independence is what makes the credential meaningful.

A Board Certified Grief Coach is a professional who has met INBGC's requirements for education, verified practice hours, ethics and scope of practice, and a passing score on the Board Examination, all verified through INBGC's independent certification process. The designation is maintained through annual renewal and ongoing compliance with INBGC's published standards.

A grief coach certificate is issued by a training program and confirms that a course was completed. Board certification is issued by an independent credentialing body and verifies competence against published standards through education, verified practice, ethics agreement, and examination. Board certification is maintained through annual renewal. A certificate is one-time. See training program vs. certifying board.

Grief coaching is not limited to death and bereavement. The BCGC credential covers all forms of significant loss, including divorce, job loss, serious illness, estrangement, identity changes, anticipatory grief, ambiguous loss, and any major life transition that carries an element of loss.

INBGC is an independent credentialing body and is not accredited by a third-party accreditor. Certification status is verifiable directly with INBGC, which is how hospice organizations, funeral homes, therapists, and healthcare providers confirm a coach's standing. Recognition by other certifying bodies is not required for the credential to carry professional weight. What matters is whether your referral sources and clients trust the standard behind it.

INBGC board certification is open to qualified professionals from many backgrounds, including coaches, licensed clinicians, healthcare professionals, clergy, social workers, funeral directors, and career changers with documented grief-specific education and practice. Eligibility is based on documented training and professional background, not licensure. Review the full eligibility requirements.

No. INBGC board certification is not limited to licensed mental health professionals. It is designed for coaches and helping professionals who support grieving clients in a non-clinical capacity. Therapists and clinicians are welcome to pursue certification, but licensure is not a requirement.

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

Yes. Candidates with existing grief coaching training may apply through the Equivalency Path. INBGC confirms the training meets published eligibility requirements. Training from any qualified provider may qualify, and INBGC maintains no list of approved programs and endorses no provider. If you are unsure whether your training qualifies, contact INBGC at [email protected] before applying.

No. The INBGC curriculum is optional. Candidates who already have qualifying grief coaching training may apply directly for the credential. The curriculum is available as structured exam preparation for those who want it, and completing it confers no advantage on the Board Examination.

Both pathways lead to the same credential. The Equivalency Path at $3,750 is for coaches who have already completed qualifying grief coaching training elsewhere. The Curriculum Path at $5,000 is the same process with the INBGC curriculum added, for coaches who want structured, exam-aligned preparation before testing. Both include the same application review, proctored Board Examination, verified practice hours submission, and first year of credentialing. Compare the two pathways.

Confirm you meet the eligibility requirements, apply to INBGC, document your grief coaching education and verified practice hours, agree to the INBGC Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, and pass the Board Examination. Once credentialed, 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 on the Equivalency Path can move as quickly as they assemble their documentation and schedule their Board Examination. The Curriculum Path includes coursework, so it takes longer by design. The two factors that most often slow a candidate down are gathering practice hour documentation and scheduling the proctored examination.

At least 80 percent of items correct. The six topic areas are weighted equally, so no area counts for more than another. The standard is criterion-referenced, which means it measures competence against the published standard rather than performance relative to other candidates. A candidate is not 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 often block software installation. If your only computer is a work machine, confirm this before you enroll.

INBGC accepts two forms of verification. You may submit scheduling documentation such as calendar exports, booking reports, or invoicing records, demonstrating grief coaching sessions with clients. Or you may provide a signed professional attestation from a licensed clinician, supervisor, mentor, or colleague with direct knowledge of your grief coaching work. A minimum of 25 verified practice hours is required.

INBGC relies on scheduling documentation and professional attestation rather than session recordings. This approach protects client confidentiality while still holding coaches accountable to a documented, verifiable standard. No client participation is required at any point in the process.

Candidates who do not pass receive a topic area score report identifying where to focus. They may retake the examination after a minimum 30-day waiting period for a fee of $375 per attempt. A maximum of three attempts is permitted within any 12-month period. Candidates who do not pass within three attempts must reapply to begin the process again.

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

Up to three times within any 12-month period. After three unsuccessful attempts, a candidate must reapply to begin the certification process again.

The certification fee is $3,750 for all candidates on both pathways. The optional INBGC curriculum is an additional $1,250, bringing the total for the Curriculum Path to $5,000. Exam retakes are $375 per attempt. Annual renewal is $495 per year. Full details are on the Fees and Policies page.

The certification fee includes application and eligibility review, one practice exam attempt, the proctored Board Examination, verified practice hours submission review, the first year of credentialing and registry listing, and the Practice Building Curriculum, released once your designation is awarded. It does not include the optional INBGC curriculum.

All fees paid to INBGC are non-refundable. This applies to the certification fee on both pathways, the INBGC curriculum, additional practice exam attempts, Board Examination retakes, and annual renewal.

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 contact Program Administration with any question beforehand.

The certification fee pays for a process, not an outcome. Eligibility 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.

This is standard across credentialing bodies, and it is part of what keeps a credential meaningful. A board that refunded candidates who did not meet its standard would be under pressure to lower that standard.

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

No candidate who has paid is left without a path to the credential. If you are unsure whether your training and practice hours meet the published requirements, contact [email protected] before you apply.

Yes. INBGC offers a payment plan billed directly, with no third-party financing and no credit application. Employers may also fund the certification fee directly or through reimbursement, and INBGC provides itemized invoices and documentation for a finance office. Review the funding options.

Active BCGC certification renews annually. Renewal requires payment of the $495 annual fee, submission of the annual ethics attestation, and completion of continuing education on a three-year cycle.

$495 per year. The first year of credentialing is included in the certification fee, so your first renewal falls more than twelve months after you are certified.

Board Certified Grief Coaches must complete 30 hours of continuing education every three years. A minimum of 6 hours must be in ethics, scope of practice, and risk and referral. A minimum of 4 hours must be in grief across diverse and disenfranchised populations. The remaining 20 hours may be in any grief-related topic area.

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 require certificants to purchase continuing education from the board.

A certification that is not renewed by the renewal deadline becomes inactive. An inactive coach may not use the BCGC designation until the credential is reinstated. Contact [email protected] for reinstatement requirements.

INBGC verifies certification status directly. Contact [email protected] with a coach's name or credential number to confirm active status and good standing. The registry is searchable by credential number. INBGC provides formal written verification for institutional credentialing files on request, at no cost to the requesting organization.

Active means the coach has met all renewal and ethics attestation requirements. The BCGC designation is in good standing and may be used. Expired means the certification has lapsed due to non-renewal and the designation may not be used until reinstated. Revoked means the certification was withdrawn following an ethics review and the designation may not be used.

A certificate image or a claim on a website confirms nothing about current standing. A credential can lapse, and it can be revoked. Verification directly with INBGC confirms that the certification is active today, which is what a referral relationship actually depends on.

The grief coach title is unprotected, which means anyone may use it regardless of training. Verifying with the issuing board is how a referral partner tells the difference.

Grief coaching is non-clinical. A Board Certified Grief Coach does not diagnose, treat, or provide mental health care, and is bound by INBGC's Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, which requires referral to licensed care at published indicators including suicidal ideation, complicated or prolonged grief disorder, acute psychiatric symptoms, active substance use related to grief, and trauma requiring clinical intervention.

The referral partners page covers the full scope boundaries, referral indicators, and verification process in one place.