INBGC STANDARDS
Certification Standards
INBGC certifies grief coaches against a published standard covering a minimum of 30 hours of grief-specific education, six Board Examination topic areas, a minimum of 25 verified practice hours, agreement to the Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice, and annual renewal with continuing education.
Governance
How are INBGC standards developed?
Authority over the standard rests with the INBGC Advisory Board, composed of experienced professionals across grief-related disciplines. The board that sets the standard is separate from the curriculum INBGC offers, and has no financial interest in which training program a candidate attended.
INBGC standards are not set by a single founder, teacher, or training program. The Advisory Board includes licensed therapists, hospice and palliative care professionals, healthcare providers, clergy, and experienced grief coaches. Advisory Board members are named publicly.
This structure is intentional. A credential is only as credible as the process behind it, and that independence is what makes the credential meaningful.
The Advisory Board
One board of experienced professionals across grief-related disciplines. It holds authority over the standards INBGC certifies against and does not review individual applications.
Program Administration
Handles the day-to-day administration of the credential: application intake, eligibility review, exam administration, credentialing, renewals, and records.
Published Policies
All standards, eligibility requirements, and exam topic areas are published and accessible to candidates and the public.
Independent of Training
The board that sets the standard is separate from any training program, including INBGC's own curriculum. That separation keeps the credential independent.
The examination
What does the Board Examination cover?
The Board Examination tests competence across six topic areas: foundations of grief and loss, grief coaching practice, ethics and scope of practice, cultural competence and diverse grief experiences, risk recognition and referral, and professional practice. The six areas are weighted equally. Every candidate is evaluated against the same published standards, regardless of training program or pathway.
The six topic areas are weighted equally. Each contributes the same number of items, so no area counts for more than another. Both certification pathways are examined against these same topic areas.
Requirement
What education is required?
Documented grief-specific education covering the six topic areas, completed through any qualified provider. INBGC maintains no list of approved programs and endorses no provider.
Topic Areas of Grief-Specific Education
INBGC sets no minimum hours. Education must cover all six topic areas, and it establishes that a candidate has studied grief and loss in particular rather than coaching in general. See the full requirements.
How education is reviewed
INBGC reviews the education a candidate brings against the six published topic areas. Education from more than one provider may be combined, and what is assessed is coverage rather than accumulated hours.
Live, cohort-based, and self-paced programs, graduate coursework, clinical training in grief and bereavement, and continuing education from associations and universities
Certificates of completion, transcripts, official course records, or letters of completion on provider letterhead
Education from every qualified provider is reviewed on the same terms, which is what keeps the credential independent of any training program, including INBGC's own curriculum.
INBGC does not set a minimum number of instructional hours. Hours measure time spent, not competence, and two candidates with identical hours can be very differently prepared. What INBGC reviews is whether your education covers the six topic areas. Competence itself is demonstrated on the proctored Board Examination, which every candidate sits regardless of where or how long they trained.
Requirement
How are practice hours verified?
A minimum of 25 verified practice hours with clients, documented through scheduling records or a signed professional attestation. INBGC does not require candidates to submit client session recordings, and no client participates in the process at any point.
Verified Practice Hours
Practice hours demonstrate that a candidate has applied grief coaching skills in real client relationships, not only completed coursework.
Calendar exports, booking reports, or invoicing records that demonstrate grief coaching sessions with clients
A signed statement from a licensed clinician, supervisor, mentor, or colleague who has direct knowledge of the candidate's grief coaching work
Client confidentiality is protected throughout the verification process. No client participation is required.
Maintaining the credential
What is required to keep the credential active?
Certification renews annually at $495, with an ethics attestation confirming continued compliance. Continuing education is completed on a three-year cycle, 30 hours in total, and may be completed through any qualified provider.
Earning the BCGC designation is the beginning of a professional commitment, not the end of one. Certification must be maintained through annual renewal and ongoing compliance with INBGC's published standards.
Ethics obligations
All BCGC coaches operate under the INBGC Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice. Agreement is a condition of certification. Annual renewal includes an ethics attestation confirming continued compliance. Coaches whose conduct raises a concern may be reviewed under INBGC's published ethics and enforcement process.
Renewal and continuing education
Certification renews annually at $495 per year. Continuing education is completed on a three-year cycle: 30 hours in total, including a minimum of 6 hours in ethics, scope of practice, and risk and referral, and a minimum of 4 hours in grief across diverse and disenfranchised populations. It may be completed through any qualified provider.
The standard
What score is required to pass?
A candidate must answer at least 80 percent of Board Examination items correctly to pass. The standard is applied identically to every candidate, on both pathways.
The passing standard is criterion-referenced. It reflects competence measured against the published standard, not performance relative to other candidates. A candidate is not competing for a limited number of credentials.
The passing standard is set by the INBGC Advisory Board and reviewed periodically to ensure it reflects current professional expectations.
Verification
How is a credential verified?
Certification status is verifiable directly with INBGC. Clients, referral partners, employers, and institutions may confirm that a coach holds an active credential in good standing, at no cost to the requesting party. The registry is searchable by credential number. If you have a coach's name but not their number, Program Administration will confirm their standing on request.
Credential status
Active means the coach has met all eligibility, examination, and renewal requirements, and the designation may be used.
Expired means the certification has lapsed and the designation may not be used until it is reinstated.
Revoked means the certification was withdrawn following an ethics review and the designation may not be used at all.
Requesting verification
Write to [email protected] with a coach's name or credential number. INBGC provides formal written verification for institutional credentialing files on request.
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 the issuing board is what a referral relationship actually depends on.
For candidates
Meet the standard
These are the standards every Board Certified Grief Coach is held to. If you are considering certification, the next step is confirming you meet the published eligibility requirements.
Review eligibility requirementsSee the certification process
Frequently asked questions
Next step
Get board certified
Applications are open and reviewed on a rolling basis. Creating your account takes about a minute and does not enroll or charge you. You choose your pathway in the next step.