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Certification Training
You will never again have to wonder what more you could have done for someone suffering from a significant emotional loss
The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training encompasses the principles and actions developed over the past 30 years by John W. James and Russell Friedman, the founders of The Grief Recovery Institute®, and co-authors of The Grief Recovery Handbook, When Children Grieve, and Moving On. The training is designed specifically to assist all who wish to help those with broken hearts end their pain and reclaim their lives.
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Grief is not an intellectual experience
The uniqueness of the program lies in the essential idea that grief is a normal and natural emotional reaction to loss. Although that is an accurate statement, the majority of guidance for grieving people tends to move them toward their intellects to deal with their pain. We believe that: “Grievers don’t wind up at our door with broken heads, they arrive with broken hearts.”
Help people in your community immediately after the training!
The Certification Training is an intensive 4-day program. The mixture of personal completion actions combined with the fundamental principles of The Grief Recovery Method will give you the language, tools, and specific materials to hit the ground running. The sooner you start your Support Group after completing training, the better. It is advisable to put what you learn into use quickly while it is fresh in your mind.
Work with grievers one-on-one or in a group setting
After you become a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®you have the option to work with people in a one-on-one setting and/or facilitate the Grief Recovery Method Support Group. We provide you with detailed formats for both options. It’s completely up to you in choosing how you would like to help people. In addition, there is a 6-week program for guiding adults/caretakers in helping the children in their care who have experienced a loss.
The Grief Recovery Method Support Groups are not like traditional groups, nor are they self-help groups. They are facilitated groups which use the time-tested Grief Recovery Method and The Grief Recovery Handbook as the basic text, along with a step-by-step format written by John and Russell.
In addition to the text and formats, you will have direct access to the Institute for guidance and direction. This is especially important in the first few months of implementing the program. We will support you for however long it takes to get your Grief Recovery Method Support Groups up and running.
We will refer grievers to you
The Grief Recovery Institute® is home base for our ever expanding international programs, with Certified Grief Recovery Specialists® in all corners of the globe. We receive inquires for Certified personnel from every community in America, and increasingly, throughout the world. Once you have begun running the program, you automatically qualify to be included in our Referral Network.
You don’t need a special degree to help grieving people
Anyone with a genuine desire to help grieving people is a candidate for Certification. Since this educational program is directed at the emotions caused by loss, it does not require special degrees or academic credentials. Here are some examples of people who use The Grief Recovery Method.
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 therapists believe that The Grief Recovery Method is the missing link for completing the discoveries that have surfaced during their work with clients, as well as a major adjunct to effective ongoing therapy.
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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 or an issue of loss. 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 they tell us that most calls are about marital struggles, trouble with the children, or a breach of faith in God. All of those are clearly loss issues, which are addressed with the principles and actions of The Grief Recovery Method.
Funeral & Cemetery Professionals: In addition to the clergy, this is the primary group that is literally there at the time of loss. The bottom-line reality is that a grieving family is sitting in a funeral director’s office in the days 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.
People 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. However noble the intentions, that desire must be matched by effective information and a workable program.
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The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training provides significant career expansion and opportunities for both mental health professionals and non-professionals alike.
Build a solid platform with The Grief Recovery Method
The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training and the accompanying Grief Recovery Method Support Groups and format materials provide the foundation upon which professionals and others can follow their own impulse and desire to help others. The program provides education, training, and practical application of The Grief Recovery Method counseling skills and techniques.
Why is The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training unique?
There are organizations that offer certificate programs in the general field of grief and loss, and some even use the words grief and recovery. A question we hear often is, “What exactly is it that distinguishes your program from the others?”
It is a very fair question and deserves an answer. Earlier we referred briefly to the idea that noble intentions need to be coupled with effective information. The essential impediment to completion of the pain caused by loss is the misinformation which permeates our society and is passed from generation to generation without examination of the validity of the information.
You will learn that unresolved grief is the presenting issue…
Grief and more importantly, recovery from the ravages of loss, is often a stepchild topic in many professional arenas. That is to say, that it is an adjunct element of other concerns, and gets shunted to the back burner of topics that are taught in many of the mental health disciplines.
In all the classroom hours spent in professional schools, very few are actually focused on the specific topic of recovery from significant emotional loss. Time is spent on the history of death and funerary objects and rituals, and on the study of the potential sequence of emotions involved in the process of dying. Little if any time is devoted to the actions of recovery.
Identifying grief is only half of the equation
It is one thing to identify a problem, it is yet another to provide a practical solution to the problem. Yet, at last report from all of our contacts from all disciplines, there is still very little focus in most training schools on the major concern–people’s reaction to loss and what to do about it!
Loss is our only topic
The element that most distinguishes our program from others is the singular focus on helping people deal with the conflicting emotions caused by the change or end in anything familiar. The list of losses that produce grief includes more than 40 life events, so dealing with loss is a full time task for us.
What is especially heartwarming for us and for the people we’ve trained is the enhanced value of therapy, spiritual programs, and improvements in other life areas after completing The Grief Recovery Method Support Groups or working one-on-one with one of our Certified Grief Recovery Specialists®.
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Here’s what you’ll get after you complete The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training
- Copies of our three books: The Grief Recovery Handbook, When Children Grieve and Moving On
- The Grief Recovery Manual with our program formats and study materials
- Unlimited support over the phone and online. We will mentor you every step of the way as you apply The Grief Recovery Method
- Access to our online membership area with exclusive content only available to Certified Grief Recovery Specialists®
- You will be added to our Referral Network. We put thousands of grievers in touch with our Certified Grief Recovery Specialists® every year
- Access to our marketing materials and logo. You will receive everything needed to start implementing your Support Groups in your community
- Community Education Program & Attraction: Materials to develop speeches and in-services to assist you in bringing the concepts of The Grief Recovery Method to organizations or groups within your community
Training Agenda
- Programs begin at 8:30am on Friday morning with an Introduction and Orientation Session.
- Participants reconvene each morning at 8:30am and conclude each evening at 5:30pm.
- Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday sessions deal with The Grief Recovery Method Principles, Concepts of Recovery, How Incomplete Loss Occurs, Identifying Incomplete Losses, Grief Recovery Counseling Skills, Teaching Role Sets, and Development of Completion Exercises, and Practical Application Training.
- There will be homework assignments Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
- Times may vary slightly based on number of participants and program location. A program Itinerary will be forwarded with your confirmation. Check your Confirmation carefully for any time variances.
Tuition Cost: $1995.00
Early Registration Discount – Sign up sixty days in advance and receive a $200 discount
Payment plans available! You can pay in full or choose one of our payment plan options. Take advantage of any of these options during the checkout process.
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Continuing Education Credits Available!
- NBCC. The Grief Recovery Institute is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. The ACEP solely is responsible for all aspects of the program.
- California Board of Behavioral Sciences authorized to provide 30 Contact Hours for MFTs, MSWs, & LCSWs (PCE2076).
- NASW approved provider of 30 Contact Hours (#886505405).
- National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) approved to provide 30 Contact Hours (#531).
- California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) approved to provide 30 CEHs (#2N-105-818-0313).
- This program may be used for continuing education credit for members of the Association of Professional Chaplains.
- The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training is now approved for Veteran’s Education Benefits. Click here for more information
Frequently Asked Questions
As in all other things, what you practice is what you get good at. It would be unreasonable to say that we can make you an expert in four days. But, we’ll lay down a very solid foundation that will allow you to become proficient very quickly.
You are certified by the Grief Recovery Institute®, a non-profit educational provider. This means that as a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®, you are affiliated with our 30 plus years of experience, our reputation, and our intellectual properties. You will be given all the tools and materials to run a 12-week Support Group and/or a 7 session one-on-one program. You will also receive a program called Helping Children Deal with Loss. This is for the parents and care takers of children who have suffered a loss.
Isolation is one of the primary problems for most grievers. In general, The Grief Recovery Method works best in a group format. However, some grievers will not or cannot participate in a group setting. We’ll teach you the Grief Recoveryskills to help in both, a one-on-one and/or group setting.
No. Since grief is the normal and natural reaction to loss, and since The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training is educational rather than therapeutic, all that is required is a loving heart and a genuine desire to help grieving people. While many of our Certified personnel are licensed mental health professionals, many come from other areas, such as the funeral and cemetery industries and the clergy. Those who are not in the mental health arena often create a referral list of mental health professionals in their community for situations that are outside the range of The Grief Recovery Method. Many therapists throughout the country refer clients to our Certified Grief Recovery Specialists® who are not mental health professionals. These therapists observe wonderful changes in their clients’ ability to move forward in therapy after completing the Grief Recovery Method Support Group.
Expect your certificate approximately a week to ten days following the conclusion of your training.
Yes. A long term license and service agreement allows you to affiliate with the Institute and use the intellectual properties protected by copyright law.
The fees you charge for any of the programs are at your discretion and are generally based on what is typical in your community for a parallel service. We have nothing to do with your fees but we are here to advise you if you need guidance.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and most other valid sources allude to the underlying causes that affect and limit attempts at sobriety. Underlying causes can invariably be classified as grief and loss issues. We do believe that the presenting issue must be dealt with first, but as soon as possible thereafter The Grief Recovery Method can be introduced.
You have access to almost unlimited support from the Institute. During the training, we’ll instruct you in the best methods of responding to your griever’s questions. When you’re not sure of the answer, please call us for assistance. With more than 30 years of cumulative experience, there is almost no set of circumstances that we have not dealt with. There is no fee for this continuing service.
No, you will receive a copy of all 3 of our books as part of your training materials.
The most beneficial outcome of The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training is that I can pretty much guarantee my clients a life after grief because of The Grief Recovery Method….I am a Marriage and Family Therapist. I use The Grief Recovery Training and materials every day in my work with clients. The most significant emotional experience I have in my therapeutic tools is The Grief Recovery Method….I am respected in my community as someone to turn to when grievers need help. I have been certified for almost 20 years and whether I am working with someone grieving or someone needing to work through other issues, I have a heightened sensitivity to clients that I can trace back to The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training.
Newhall, CA
MFT - Marriage and Family Therapist
There isn’t anyone in life who hasn’t experienced some kind of loss. It’s comforting to know that we are not alone in our sadness and that practical, easy-to-read, thoughtful help is available by way of Russell Friedman, John James, and Leslie Landon Matthews’s gentle insights on the pages of When Children Grieve. Thank you, Neighbors, for your obvious care.
Producer/Host of "Mister Roger's Neighborhood" and honorary chairman of the Caring Place
The Grief Recovery Method has given me fantastic tools to help grievers work through their issues in a step by step manner. I have seen HUGE changes in people during the 12 week program. I know I am facilitating a process which greatly HELPS people….As the Bereavement Coordinator at Crossroads Hospice in Cincinnati, I use The Grief Recovery Method Outreach Program to help families of our patients deal with grief and loss. Our company also allows us to open up the groups to anyone in the community with a grief issue. I hold a regular group at our Crossroads Hospice office; one at The Wellness Community, which is a cancer support community; and one at a church about 50 miles outside of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati, OH
The Grief Recovery Method is the most comprehensive and effective process I have seen in my 20 years as a therapist for dealing with grief and unresolved issues from the past….I use The Grief Recovery Method in my counseling practice, in training sessions, speaking engagements, at my church, and in Outreach Programs I conduct….The Grief Recovery Method Certification Training has provided me with a specialized area of focus for my private practice along with better tools to help grievers, and those clients who are unaware that unresolved issues from the past are currently impacting them and their relationships
Tucson, AZ
M.A.
Licensed Professional Counselor
I thoroughly enjoy doing my One on One client work and I will continue to do so as long as I have my Holistic Health Practice. Why? IT WORKS….My clients have had liberating results after going through The Grief Recovery Method with me. Many have made the same comment; I had tried so many other things and nothing worked, but this did!….Even though there are other options for the support of grievers, none of them really move grievers past the pain of loss like the program formulated by John and Russell.
Wheat Ridge, CO
The Grief Recovery Handbook is required reading for all my classes. The more I use this book, the more I believe that unresolved grief is the major underlying issue in most people’s lives. It is the only work of its kind that I know of that outlines the problem and provides the solution.
Professor of Sociology, Chapman University
have seen the mighty effects The Grief Recovery Method has had on multiple people including combat vets (myself included). I had personally been on a search for quite some time for something that worked and this is the action program that I found most beneficial for all people
Frankfort, KY
Some people think about changing, some people talk about changing, and there are those who actually take actions that lead to better results. If you’re in the last category, Moving On spells out the actions that will help you change.
Author of Persusion: The Art of Getting What You Want and The Power of an Hour: Business and Life Mastery in One Hour a Week
Once in a generation, a book comes along that alters the way society views a topic. We teach our children to read, write, and do math so their lives will be successful. While gains are important, loss in unavoidable. Sadly, we do not always teach our children useful skills to deal with the feelings caused by losses, large and small-mainly because we do not know how. When Children Grieve is an essential primer for parents and others who interact with children on a regular basis.
Professor of Sociology, Chapman University and UC Irvine
The Grief Recovery Handbook and these men have helped thousands of people heal wounds I never thought could be healed. They put a stop to the adage “time heals” by reminding us that time just passes and it’s our action that heals. There is a way to get rid of the PAIN of a loss. I’m living proof.
Friedman and James are in the life-changing business. Are you ready for your life to be changed? Take this book home and read it.
Author of People Stories: Inside the Outside and The Wizard of Ads trilogy
When visiting hospital/hospice patients and families, I encounter many grieving people and I am able to counter many of the myths and comments they have heard, and convince them they can complete the unfinished business they are carrying….As a hospital chaplain, I am offering The Grief Recovery Method to the staff and community.
Rolla, MO
Hospital Chaplain, Phelps County Regional Medical Center
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