Anyone with a genuine desire to help grieving people is a candidate for Certification. Since the program is directed to the emotions caused by loss, it does not require special degrees or academic achievement. There are four obvious groups that are constantly dealing with grieving people - Mental Health Professionals, Clergy, Funeral & Cemetery Professionals, and Citizens Whose Lives Have Been Altered by Loss. After Certification, organizations and individuals from all four of those areas report tremendous benefits for their clients from the specialized techniques presented in the GriefRecovery® Certification training program.
Mental Health Professionals: It is logical that mental health professionals who have observed the level and degree to which their clients have been affected by loss, would want to acquire the most effective skills possible for guiding those clients. Many professionals discover that even when their clients achieve an intellectual "understanding" of their grief, or even emotional "acceptance" of their losses, they are not necessarily equipped to re-enter the mainstream of their lives. The GriefRecovery® Certification training program adds completion methods to the discoveries unearthed by clients with the aid of their therapists. Many therapists believe that GriefRecovery® is the missing link for completing those discoveries, as well as a major adjunct to effective ongoing therapy.
Clergy: More than any other professional group, the clergy are most likely to be involved when a family has experienced the death of a loved one. And, in today's world, with a divorce rate exceeding 50%, there is more and more demand that the pastor, rabbi, or minister be able to address the painful emotions attached to divorce and other losses. We often ask our friends in the clergy how often they get this call: "Hi, Pastor Bob, I'm just calling to say that everything is great with my family and at work, and my faith in the Lord is comforting." This is always greeted with a laugh and this reply, "Most calls are about marital struggles, trouble with the children, or a breech of faith in God." All of those, including the breech of faith, are clearly "loss" issues, which can benefit from the principles and actions of GriefRecovery®.
Funeral & Cemetery Professionals: In addition to the clergy, this is the primary group that is literally there at the time of loss. While the health and medical aspects of funerals and embalming are essential to that trade, the bottom line reality is that a grieving family is sitting in a funeral director's office the day after the death of a loved one. It behooves all who interact with the bereaved to have the most effective tools for dealing with the emotions caused by death.
Citizens Whose Lives Have Been Altered by Loss: Grief, and the life altering emotions attached to it, tends to create a heightened awareness of the value of life. Many people who have experienced major devastating losses, feel compelled to help others. Generally that desire is borne out of the often lengthy duration of their own suffering in the aftermath of the loss, and the desire to help others reduce the amount of time in which the pain is dominant in their lives. However noble the intentions, that desire must be matched by effective information and a workable program.
The GriefRecovery® Certification Training and the accompanying Outreach Program and format provide the platform upon which professionals and others can follow their own impulse and desire to help others.
GriefRecovery® is a registered trademark of The GriefRecovery Institute®.
Our Certified personnel use this distinctive mark to announce their association with
The GriefRecovery Institute® and to distinguish themselves from others who help grievers.
While the words grief and recovery may be generic, the phrase GriefRecovery® is unique
to the principles and actions outlined in The Grief Recovery Handbook and all other literature
and programs affiliated with The GriefRecovery Institute®. Look for GriefRecovery® - it is
your assurance of the highest level of training in the area of helping grievers complete the pain
caused by significant emotional losses.