How does one become a grief counselor?

[June Scarlet]

CW: Grief (not my own)

I work at a hospital delivering trays of food to patient rooms, among other tasks. Sometimes we have to deliver what are called "Comfort Trays." These are meant for the families of patients who are dying. It's some snacks and drinks, a little something for the family while they sit with the patient.

Towards the end of my shift today, there was a comfort tray to be delivered. I volunteered to deliver it, saying, "I don't really mind comfort trays."

And my coworker replied, "I think you're the only person I know who doesn't mind comfort trays."

And for some reason, that really got me thinking. Why don't I mind comfort trays? Why am I okay with it, when some of my other coworkers are not? (I fact-checked that later with someone else who delivers trays, and they don't mind them either, so at least I'm not the only one.)

It's probably because I've experienced grief myself, but also, like, I grew up with death just being treated as another part of life, you know?

Anyway, it got me thinking, because I hadn't exactly realized that being okay with delivering comfort trays was anything less than just doing my job. But I do enjoy delivering food to patients, and while I can't say that joy is the feeling you get from delivering food to a grieving family, it does have its satisfaction in knowing you helped, even a little bit.

And all that thinking got me curious, in the end: How does one become a grief counselor anyway?

Not saying that I want to suddenly change careers and become one myself. But like, what sort of career path does that look like? What sort of degree do you get? How do you get experience helping others through grief? Who hires you?

I sort of imagine there's a lot of different ways to get there as well, it's not just one career path, but more like an entire park of paths, branching and looping back to each other.

But yes, right now I'm super curious about this topic.

[Celestial]

So I had a quick Google and came up with this page: www.psychologyschoolguide.net/counseling-careers/becoming-a-grief-counselor/

Basically, it looks like you need to have a degree in a social science (counselling, psychology, social work) and perhaps a masters in that. You then need a licence. You can practice without a license, but apparently what you can do without it is limited. For that license, you will need a lot of experience. A lot. The American Academy of Grief Counseling can provide some certification and training too, but I dunno if this is an alternative route or an addition to everything else.

So, yes, it is not an easy thing to get into by far. xD I guess it's one of those things that is a lot more challenging than it looks from the outside. You have to build up resilience and coping techniques to prevent secondhand trauma and empathy burnout, for one thing. You also have to make sure you're not accidentally giving bad advice and making things worse without meaning to.

[Geo 🇺🇦 🌻]

I know friends who got their LMSW degrees (Licensed Master’s in Social Work) when I was at my university. They are not in grief counseling though but other forms of counseling. They did have to complete a lot of coursework as well as work practicums as a part their certification and the degree was a lot of work for them.

I also have a friend who was not licensed as a grief counselor but her degree is in Music Therapy and she’s board certified. She mostly works with kids, but she also plays music for people in hospice and their families. I don’t think she really used many words to counsel folks; she would simply learn and play music that they liked. I think there are many different ways to help families going through likely the most difficult time in their lives. Whether it’s through actual counseling, dropping off food, or art and music. My friend plays the trombone and piano mostly along with guitar. If the place she’s at has a piano, she will use that. Otherwise it would be a trombone or guitar. She would sing too.

[June Scarlet]

Thanks for the information. I had a look earlier, and it's very interesting. You have to admire those who go into counseling. A lot of education, and a lot of work once you're there.

Maybe I'll look into taking a class sometime. Not enough to become a full fledged counselor or anything, but so that I can be more helpful when the people around me go through hard times. Might be interesting, at least. There's probably books as well.