If you feel a pull to help others navigate grief and loss, it might be time to become a grief coach. 

Grief coaching is a profession that requires empathy and understanding. In this guide, you’ll learn everything there is to know about becoming a grief coach, including:

• What a grief coach is
• How a grief coach is different from a grief counselor
• Examples of grief coaches
• How to become a grief coach
• How much a grief coach can make
• Grief coaching certifications 

What is a Grief Coach?

A grief coach provides practical strategies and guidance to individuals who are struggling with grief as a result of a significant loss. This includes death, divorce, career loss, or any negative life change. 

Grief coaches help clients focus on the present and future by providing emotional support to cope, heal, and rebuild. Like a transformational coach, a grief coach specializes in helping people achieve personal growth and transformation despite their losses.

Grief Coach vs. Grief Counselor

Before discussing how to become a grief coach, it’s important to clear up the difference between grief coaching and grief counseling. 

Grief counselors are licensed mental health professionals. They help individuals suffering from losses heal by diagnosing and treating their conditions. Their mental health certifications and psychological skills allow them to explore their clients’ pasts to work on deep healing.

Contrarily, grief coaches don’t diagnose or treat mental health conditions. They may do so if they are licensed (a grief counselor turned coach). However, you can become a grief coach based on experience and training. Grief coaches provide practical strategies and emotional support to help clients manage their grief and move forward. They are more focused on the present and future than a client’s past. 

For example, if a person is struggling with the death of a spouse, a grief counselor will explore their childhood trauma and the incidents that occurred before their loss to help them heal. On the other hand, a grief coach will help them figure out how to heal, manage daily life, and set new personal goals toward their transformation.

Examples of Grief Coaches

While grief coaching is relatively new, several professionals have established themselves online. Here are five examples of coaches to inspire you on your grief coaching journey.

Shelby Forsythia

As a grief coach, Shelby helps people who feel lost and overwhelmed by loss find joy and purpose to live life to the fullest. She supports them by providing practical tools and compassionate guidance as they navigate this challenging phase to find peace.

Krista St-Germain

Krista is a grief coach who uses a proven coaching process to help grieving individuals build a life they love after a traumatic experience. Using manageable steps and techniques that worked during her grief journey, she now helps others move forward in life.

Amar Atma

In Amar’s experience, time does not heal if there are no intentional practices to stop the pain and find joy. After dealing with grief for about 20 years, he is now a certified grief coach, helping others identify grief, accept their reality, and eventually, let it go. 

Whitney Allen

As someone who has felt grief and was able to thrive after experiencing a loss, Whitney now helps women who are grieving reclaim their identity. She is an author and certified grief educator who provides practical advice, resources, and coaching support. 

Charlene Lam

Charlene is a certified grief coach and the founder of The Grief Gallery. After guiding herself through a loved one’s death, she began to help others navigate the emotional trauma of losing their loved ones through a creative approach—curating grief items. 

How to Become a Grief Coach

Now that you know what a grief coach is, let’s talk about the steps to becoming an effective one:

1. Self- & Skill-Assessment

Grief coaching is not for everyone, so you should evaluate your motivation to understand why you want to become a grief coach. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is it because of a personal experience with loss? 
• Is it a desire to help others find total healing on their grief journey? 

You should also assess and improve your skills and qualities that can benefit your new path. These coaching skills include: 

• Active Listening: This skill involves showing genuine interest in a client’s experience and encouraging them to express their feelings while you listen without judgment. 
• Compassionate Communication: You can show empathy through verbal and non-verbal cues. As a grief coach, it’s essential to use gentle language and a soothing tone to help clients feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. 
• Emotional Support: Offer emotional support by helping clients navigate their feelings without judgment during the grieving process. Do this by providing encouragement, comfort, and solace to help their physical and emotional well-being.
• Patience: Healing from loss and grief is a progressive journey that will vary for different individuals. As a grief expert, you should be patient and allow them to progress at their own pace. Be supportive, even when progress seems slow or setbacks occur.

2. Education and Experience

While not mandatory, having a background in psychology, coaching, social work, or a related field can be beneficial. 

If you have no education on managing grief and loss, you can enroll in coaching programs that offer comprehensive training on the subject (more on this further down in the article). Another option is reading books and attending grief therapy and coaching workshops.

But theory and training aren’t enough without real-life experience. You can help clients achieve evident and lasting changes by gaining practical knowledge. Some things you can do to gain hands-on experience include volunteer work at local support groups, internships with established grief coaches, and mentorship.

3. Build a Business Plan

Before launching your grief coaching business, map out your plans and goals. For this, you will need a business plan. It will serve as a roadmap, highlighting your business name, core brand mission, vision, ideal client avatar, and financial plans.

Your business plan doesn’t have to be complicated or comprehensive. It can be simple, but most importantly, it should contain the key details that will inform your business decisions, content, and growth.

4. Create a Coaching Package & System

Define the grief coaching services you will offer—whether private coaching, one-on-one intensives, group coaching, or workshops—and create packages accordingly. 

You will need systems to deliver your packages seamlessly and manage payments. 

For this, you’ll find Paperbell quite efficient. It’s an all-in-one coaching solution designed to sort out your onboarding, payment, scheduling, communication, and client management needs in one place.

5. Promote Your Business

Great packages still need promotion to sell. Invest in your marketing efforts to attract more coaching clients to your business. 

You can do the following:

• Create a brand website
• Start a blog to share your insights on grief
• Use social media to promote yourself
• Network to build brand awareness

Ultimately, you must find effective marketing strategies to promote your coaching practice if you want leads and sales. 

Grief Coach Salary

Starting a grief coaching business can be fulfilling emotionally and even financially. 

Salaries vary based on experience, coaching package, location, and timeline. On average, grief coaches can earn between $100 and $150 per hour. 

Some coaches may also offer other packages in the form of monthly retainers to allow them to get more consistent income. 

As you gain more experience and build credibility in the grief coaching space, your earning potential can increase significantly.

Grief Coaching Certifications (Free and Paid)

There are several grief coach certification programs. However, we’ve made a list of credible free and paid options approved by authority bodies, such as the International Coaching Federation (ICF), to make you a certified grief coach.

Healing Through Grief & Loss by The Happy Healing Shop

This 8-week self-paced course is a free holistic program hosted on Udemy. It provides a holistic structure that uses psychology and metaphysical principles to achieve healing and transformation from grief & loss. You will learn the tools and practices needed to offer your clients a safe, healing haven.

Grief Coaching Course by The Institute for Life Coach Training

The course will help you understand foundational principles like the types of grief and its effects, as well as techniques to help individuals express their feelings comfortably. It also teaches you how to help clients heal and move forward. This program is ICF-approved and costs $600. The duration of this program is 20 hours, and it requires a prerequisite of 20 hours of training in a foundational course. You may also proceed to take their Advanced Grief Coaching Certification.

Grief Coaching Certification Program by Global Grief Institute

With this certification program, you will learn about the stages of grief, its side effects, and how to manage emotions when grieving. This course also teaches about how to heal and find purpose again. It’s a self-paced course that costs $799.50. They also have similar programs, like the Grief Coach Business Certification Program and Grief Coach Master Blueprint.

Advanced Certification In Grief & Post Traumatic Growth Coaching by Krista St-Germain

This guided course is a 12-week grief coach training that teaches how to become a confident grief and trauma coaching expert. You’ll learn the methods and skills needed to be effective and comfortable coaching the scary stuff about loss and grief. It costs $6,000, and you’ll receive a certificate of completion at the end of the program.

Grief Coaching & Certification by Dr. Marita Kinney

This self-paced course, hosted on Udemy, teaches grievers and those who want to become grief coaches practical strategies for overcoming their pain through the Accept, Release, and Embrace method. It costs $19.99, and the course length is 5 hours.

The Confident Grief Coach School by the International Academy for Grief

This coaching program seeks to teach individuals using the BREATHE Model for Grief. You get access to various tools, a knowledge base, and support systems to learn how to coach people dealing with loss and grief in a transformative way.

 Start Your Grief Coaching Business

Becoming a grief coach is a heart-centered practice that makes you a guiding light for those lost in the darkness of grief. 

By following the steps highlighted above, you can become a successful grief coach. 

If you want to make your coaching delivery seamless and profitable, you’ll love Paperbell. This is a one-stop solution for all your needs, from package creation to payment, scheduling, onboarding, and client management. Get started with a free account today.