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Grief and Bereavement CounsellingDiploma Course

Learn how to offer compassionate, non-clinical support to those experiencing grief, with empathy, understanding, and insight.

Grief is a universal human experience, but navigating the pain of loss can be profoundly personal and complex. Whether sudden or expected, bereavement can impact individuals in many ways. The Grief and Bereavement Support Diploma Course explores how to understand the grieving process, respond with empathy, and apply supportive communication skills in personal or professional settings.

You’ll gain foundational knowledge and learn practical, non-clinical approaches that may be helpful when offering emotional support in caregiving, coaching, pastoral, or community roles.

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Course overview:

Certified

Accredited

11 Modules

Study Group Access

Earn reward points

What Will You Learn?

What You’ll Learn:

The differences between grief and bereavement and how they may be experienced across individuals
The stages of grief, common emotional responses, and behavioural patterns
Core listening and communication skills for supporting people at different stages of loss
How grief may present differently across the lifespan—from infants to older adults
Considerations when supporting individuals navigating bereavement alongside mental health challenges (for awareness, not treatment)

Support Across Different Bereavement Experiences:

Understanding sudden or traumatic loss, including suicide-related grief
Awareness of the emotional impacts of terminal illness on family members
Emotional and practical preparation in end-of-life support situations
Insight into miscarriage, stillbirth, and parental grief
Age-appropriate approaches to understanding and supporting children's grief
Exploring the impact of sibling, partner/spouse, and pet bereavement

Supporting Yourself in a Supportive Role:

How to recognise vicarious grief and emotional fatigue
The importance of self-care and boundaries in support roles
An introduction to holistic and alternative approaches that may complement grief education

Please note: This course is for educational and continuing professional development (CPD) purposes only. It does not provide a counselling qualification or permit learners to practise as professional counsellors or therapists.

For qualified counsellors, coaches, or therapists, this course may offer an opportunity to deepen your understanding of bereavement-related topics and enhance your existing skillset when supporting clients who have experienced loss. It provides theoretical insight into the grieving process and introduces non-clinical support strategies from an educational perspective.

You may also find this course beneficial if you or someone close to you has experienced bereavement and you're looking to understand the emotional impact of grief and how to care for wellbeing during this time. It also includes information on recognising when professional support may be helpful.

If you're considering moving into this field professionally, this course provides an introductory foundation in grief and bereavement awareness. However, it does not qualify you to practise as a bereavement counsellor. We recommend gaining further accredited qualifications and practical experience if you wish to pursue a career in counselling or therapy.

Please note: This course is intended for educational and continuing professional development (CPD) purposes only. It does not provide a counselling qualification or licence to practise as a professional counsellor or therapist.

Introduction
Part 1: Grief
Part 2: Gender Differences
Part 3: Bereavement
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 1 Assessment

Part 1: What is Counselling?
Part 2: Psychological Approaches
Part 3: Counselling for Loss
Part 4: Counselling Tools
Part 5: Ending Therapy
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 2 Assessment

Part 1: What is Sudden Bereavement?
Part 2: Supporting Suicide Bereavement
Part 3: Supporting Violent Bereavement
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 3 Assessment

Part 1: What is Terminal Illness?
Part : Supporting Those Caring for a Terminally Ill Loved One
Part 3: Supporting Terminal Illness Bereavement
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 4 Assessment

Part 1: Childhood Bereavement
Part 2: Supporting Children by Age Group
Part 3: Childhood Stages
Part 4: Teenagers
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 5 Assessment

Part 1: Counselling a Parent Through the Death of Their Child
Part 2: Miscarriage
Part 3: Stillbirth
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 6 Assessment

Part 1: Pet Bereavement and Euthanasia
Part 2: Children and Pet Bereavement
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 7 Assessment

Losing a Sibling
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 8 Assessment

Part 1: Losing a Partner
Part 2: Ways to Help
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 9 Assessment

Part 1: Self-Care
Part 2: Counsellor Burnout
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Module 10 Assessment

Part 1: Therapies Part I
Part 2: Therapies Part II
Part 3: Therapies Part III
Part Therapies Part IV
Part 5: Therapies Part V
Test Your Knowledge
Key Learning Points Exercise
Conclusion
Module 11 Assessment

The Grief and Bereavement Counselling Diploma Course will take you up to 150 hours to complete, working from home. There is no time limit for completing this course, it can be studied in your own time at your own pace. This is a Level 3 course and will give you 150 CPD (Continued Professional Development) points.

Upon completion of your course assessments, you receive 2 certificates. A certificate from the Centre of Excellence and a CPD certificate displaying the number of CPD points earned from the course.

Many Centre of Excellence courses are Fully Accredited by the world’s leading professional membership association for natural medicine – The Complementary Medical Association (The CMA).

You can apply to join The CMA as a Student Member while you are still studying, and if you do so, you will be eligible to use the post-nominal letters CMA after your name.

Upon graduation from a qualifying course, you will be eligible to apply for CMA Membership, and this will give you numerous professional benefits, including being able to use the letters MCMA after your name – Member of The Complementary Medical Association. This will demonstrate your commitment to excellence and professionalism in the natural healthcare field.

Register with The CMA as a Student or fully qualified Practitioner via the CMA website. You will be asked to submit your certificate of graduation and proof of insurance.

The CMA’s recommended insurers are Westminster global.

This course is endorsed by the Quality Licence Scheme. Therefore, upon successful completion of this course, learners can also receive a certificate of achievement from Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary, which lists the details of all the units the learner has completed as part of the course. (This certificate is optional and costs an additional £25).

The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, a charitable organisation that unites education and skills-orientated organisations that share similar values and objectives. With more than 100 years of collective experience, the Skills and Education Group’s strategic partnerships create opportunities to inform, influence and represent the wider education and skills sector.

The Skills and Education Group also includes two nationally recognised awarding organisations; Skills and Education Group Awards and Skills and Education Group Access. Through their awarding organisations they have developed a reputation for providing high-quality qualifications and assessments for the education and skills sector. They are committed to helping employers, organisations and learners cultivate the relevant skills for learning, skills for employment, and skills for life.

Their knowledge and experience of working within the awarding sector enables them to work with training providers, through the Quality Licence Scheme, to help them develop high-quality courses and/or training programmes for the non-regulated market.

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FAQs

There is no time limit for completing your course it can be studied in your own time at your own pace.

All of our courses vary in length but most of our courses will take you between 50 - 250 hours to complete. The length of this course can be found in the Accreditations section above.

Once purchased your course is located in your Learning Centre on our website. Please log in using the same email address that you used when you purchased your course.

You can purchase a printed copy of your course materials at the checkout or from within your Learning Centre at any time after purchasing your course.

In this course you will learn how to support people who are grieving the loss of a loved one or experiencing other types of grief. The course covers various aspects of grief and offers practical techniques so you can help clients to cope with their emotions and find a path towards healing.

Yes! The Grief and Bereavement Counselling Diploma is an accredited Level 3 course and will give you 150 CPD (Continued Professional Development) points. Upon completion of your course assessments, you’ll receive 2 certificates: a certificate from the Centre of Excellence and a CPD certificate displaying the number of CPD points earned from the course. It is fully accredited by the Complementary Medical Association (CMA): the world's leading professional membership for natural medicine.

Unfortunately, we do not offer an audio-only version of this course.

We offer a selection of Counselling courses ranging from Pet Bereavement to Spiritual Counselling.

A bereavement counsellor is a trained professional who provides emotional support and guidance to individuals who are experiencing grief and loss. They help their clients to navigate the complex emotions and challenges that are associated with bereavement, and provide practical tools and strategies for coping and healing.

To become a bereavement counsellor in the UK, you typically need to complete a recognised counselling qualification: either a diploma or at degree level. You may also need to gain experience in grief and bereavement counselling through volunteer work or a via trainee position.