Education providers
Have your program reviewed against the standard
Programs that meet the qualifying training criteria set by the Advisory Board are recognized, which means faster education review for every graduate who certifies. The criteria are published in full below.
Training providers may have a program reviewed against the qualifying training criteria set by the INBGC Advisory Board. Programs that meet the criteria are listed as INBGC Recognized Education Providers.
The program
What recognition is
Program Administration reviews a program's curriculum against published criteria and confirms whether it covers what a Board Certified Grief Coach is expected to know. Programs that meet the criteria are listed publicly, and their graduates move through education review faster.
Every candidate for the BCGC credential brings grief-specific education from an outside provider, and Program Administration reviews it against the six topic areas. When a program has already been reviewed, that step is faster for every graduate who applies.
That is the whole benefit, and it is worth being precise about the limits of it.
A candidate whose education came from a recognized program has already had that curriculum assessed, so their review moves faster. Nothing else about their file is treated differently, and they sit the same Board Examination at the same passing standard as everyone else.
A candidate whose program never applied still certifies on the merits, with their education reviewed individually against the same six topic areas. If recognition ever became a requirement, the fee would be a toll on candidate access rather than payment for review work.
INBGC provides no foundational grief coach training at any price, which is what allows the board to review any provider on the same terms. The board is not a competitor for your students, and recognized programs are not ranked, ordered, or promoted against one another.
The standard
The criteria your program is reviewed against
The Advisory Board sets the qualifying training criteria. They are the same six topic areas every certificant is measured against, plus four structural requirements that make coverage verifiable.
Six topic areas. A recognized program covers all six. Depth may vary with the program's length and purpose, and a program that treats one area as a passing mention does not meet the criterion for that area.
- Foundations of grief and loss. Models and theory across the full range of loss, including death and non-death losses such as divorce, illness, job loss, estrangement, and major life transitions.
- The non-clinical grief coaching frame. What grief coaching is and is not, and the coaching relationship, presence, and witnessing within a non-clinical scope.
- Grief coaching skills and techniques. Practical, non-clinical methods for working with clients in grief.
- Scope of practice and referral. The boundary between coaching and clinical care, recognizing risk, and when and how to refer to licensed support.
- Ethics and professional conduct. Professional ethics applied to real practice situations.
- Diverse and disenfranchised grief. Working across cultures and with losses that are marginalized, unacknowledged, or disenfranchised.
Four structural requirements. These apply regardless of format, length, or price.
Learner competence is assessed
The program checks whether learners understood the material, through examination, written work, observed practice, or another documented method. Attendance alone is not assessment.
Instructors are qualified
Those delivering the program hold relevant education, credentials, or documented professional experience in grief, bereavement, or a directly related field.
Content is current
The curriculum reflects present understanding of grief. A program teaching stage theory as the settled account of how grief works does not meet this requirement.
The program represents itself honestly
Marketing describes accurately what the program is, what it confers, and what it does not. A course certificate is not described as a professional credential or as certification by any body other than the provider.
INBGC sets no minimum number of instructional hours. A program is reviewed on whether it covers the six topic areas with sufficient depth and assesses whether learners absorbed the material, which a fixed hour count measures poorly in either direction. Programs of very different lengths have been built to serve different purposes, and the criteria judge substance rather than duration.
Before you pay
Check your program against the criteria first
The fee purchases the review, not the outcome, and it is not refunded if a program does not meet the criteria. So the honest thing to do is help you work out the answer before you spend anything.
Go through these against your own curriculum. If you cannot answer yes to all ten, strengthen the program first. Nothing is lost by waiting, and a stronger program is worth more to your students than a faster determination.
- Your curriculum covers all six topic areas, and you can point to where each one is taught.
- Your treatment of grief beyond death is substantive rather than a mention. Divorce, illness, job loss, estrangement, and identity change are taught, not listed.
- You teach scope of practice and referral as its own subject, including specific indicators at which a coach must involve licensed care. This is the requirement most easily underestimated, because it is easy to mention and hard to teach properly.
- You teach ethics applied to practice situations, rather than presenting a code of conduct to read.
- You address diverse and disenfranchised grief as a distinct area rather than folding it into general content.
- You assess whether learners understood the material, through examination, written work, observed practice, or another documented method.
- Everyone who delivers the program is qualified to, and you can document how.
- Your content reflects current understanding of grief, and stage theory is taught as history rather than as how grief works.
- Your marketing describes the program accurately, and your completion certificate is not presented as a professional credential or as certification by any body other than your own.
- You can produce a syllabus, learning objectives, and a sample of instructional material without building them from scratch.
Unsure about one of these? Write to [email protected] before you register. A question costs nothing, and Program Administration would rather answer it than take a fee for a review that was never going to succeed.
Your submission
What you provide
Everything is submitted inside the Provider Review Path, one step at a time, so nothing has to be assembled into a single package before you begin. Recognition applies to a specific program rather than to an organization, and a provider offering more than one qualifying program registers for each separately.
- Program name, delivery format, and total instructional hours. Live, recorded, cohort-based, self-paced, or blended.
- Full curriculum outline or syllabus, module by module.
- Learning objectives for each module or unit.
- How learner competence is assessed, including any examination, assignment, or observed practice, and the standard for completion.
- Instructor qualifications for everyone who delivers the program.
- A sample of instructional material from at least one module. Slides, a recording, a workbook section, or a lesson. This is what allows the review to assess depth rather than an outline.
- Confirmation of ownership and delivery, naming who owns the program and who teaches it.
Submitted material is used for the review and is not published, shared, or used for any other purpose.
The process
How the review works
Three possible outcomes.
Recognized
The program meets the criteria across all six topic areas and all four structural requirements. It is listed, and recognition runs one year from the determination date.
Recognized with conditions
The program meets the criteria with one area requiring strengthening within a stated window. The program is listed, and continued recognition depends on submitting the revision by the date given.
Not yet recognized
One or more requirements are not met. The determination names exactly which, and what would satisfy each. You have six months to revise and resubmit once, at no additional fee.
The right of appeal. Separately from resubmission, you may appeal a determination once within 30 days on the grounds that the review misread the submitted materials. There is no fee. An appeal is a re-read of what was submitted rather than a chance to submit new material.
A determination of not yet recognized is a description of what is missing rather than a verdict on the program. You have six months from the determination date to revise the curriculum and resubmit once, inside the same Path and at no additional cost. The resubmission is reviewed on the same 30-day timeline against the same criteria.
If the resubmission does not meet the criteria, or if six months pass without one, the Path closes. A provider who later revises the program further is welcome to register again with a new fee.
Payment purchases the review, never the outcome. Programs that do not meet the published criteria are not recognized, and no fee varies with how many graduates a provider sends toward certification, in either direction. The money never touches whether an individual candidate passes.
Fees
What it costs
Covers the completeness check, the curriculum review against the six topic areas and four structural requirements, the written determination, one resubmission within six months where required, and, where recognized, listing and the first year of recognition.
Maintains recognition and the public listing for a further year, on attestation that the curriculum has not materially changed. Invoiced annually, beginning one year after the determination date.
A substantive change to a recognized curriculum during the term triggers re-review at the Path rate. All fees are non-refundable.
The criteria in effect are those published on this page.
Terms of use
Using the recognition
A recognized provider may state that a specific program has been reviewed and recognized. Precision matters here, because the value of recognition to a prospective student depends entirely on it meaning one specific thing.
INBGC Recognized Education Provider. This program has been reviewed and recognized by the Independent National Board for Grief Coaching. Graduates of this program may apply for the Board Certified Grief Coach credential.
Any statement that graduates are certified, board certified, or hold the BCGC on completion. Any suggestion that recognition is required to certify, or that unrecognized education disqualifies a candidate. Any accreditation language. Any claim of recognition covering programs that were not reviewed.
Recognition covers the reviewed program only. A provider offering additional programs may not extend the claim to them.
Over time
Maintaining recognition
Recognition runs one year from the determination date and renews annually. At renewal you attest that the curriculum has not materially changed and pay the renewal fee. No re-review is required unless something has changed.
Recognition is revocable. A recognized program may be reviewed again, and recognition withdrawn, where the curriculum has materially changed without notice, where the permitted usage terms are breached, or where a candidate reports that the training delivered did not match what was reviewed. That reporting route is published, and it exists because recognition is a statement to the public about a program that people pay for.
A withdrawn recognition is removed from the public listing and may no longer be claimed in any materials.
Next step
Begin the Provider Review Path
One program, $1,500, reviewed against the published criteria within 30 days of a complete submission. Includes one resubmission within six months if a requirement is not met, and the first year of recognition if the program meets the criteria.
The fee purchases the review work and is not refunded, including where a program is not recognized. Work through the self-check above before you register, and write to [email protected] if any of it is unclear.
Common questions
Next step
Have your program reviewed
Recognition means a prospective student can see that someone independent assessed what your program teaches. Work through the self-check, then register.