FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why are your entrance requirements so demanding?

Our application process and entrance criteria might mean that we sell fewer spots in the course, but with a limit of 20 in each class, the course experience is an intimate one. And we want to ensure that the course is a good fit for everyone’s needs and experience levels. If you would like to take this training but are concerned about whether your experience levels meet our requirements, apply anyway. We’ll may also invite you for an interview, and we’ll make a decision taking account of your unique experience and character.

What sort of international accreditation will this certification get me?

Currently this certification is independent and will not get you automatic accreditation with any international coaching or counselling organization. The certification will simply confirm to your clients that you have undertaken this training with us and that we can confirm that you have an acceptable level of understanding and skill to use this knowledge. You will be able to call yourself “Certified in Creative Grief Support” or a “Certified Creative Grief Coach”, but you will not be able to call yourself a “grief counselor” (or any other professional title, such as Social Worker, Psychologist, Doctor, Art Therapist, etc) unless you meet the registration requirements for that professional title within your own country/ state, through other training and licensing you’ve undertaken.

Is your course relevant to other kinds of losses, and not just the death of a loved one?

One of our foundational beliefs is that grieving is unique from person to person and one loss to the next loss, so we teach creative and flexible ways of working that can be adapted to a variety of different kinds of losses. Also, there is opportunity during the live calls, coaching buddy meetups, and online discussions to ask questions and get help with applying the ideas to your specific niche.

Is your course relevant to supporting people with all types of grief or just people grieving the death of a loved one?

As we’ve explained, our course is grounded in a recognition that grieving is a very individual experience, so the tools we teach you are all very flexible and offer lots of space for your clients to share their unique story, perspectives and needs. Only one of the tools that we teach (re-membering conversations) is more suited to working with people who are grieving the death of a loved one. All of the other tools are adaptable to a wide range of different kinds of losses. Class participants who’ve joined us from a variety of different niches and specialties have confirmed that the tools and theory is widely applicable to niches and issues such as adult children, divorce, eating disorders, the death of a pet, job-loss and many other kinds of losses.

What technology do I need in order to be able to participate in this online course?

You will need either a telephone or a computer with Zoom installed and an internet connection so that you can call into our live calls. It’s advisable that you use a headset so that you can have your hands free to write or draw during the call and because a headset improves the quality of the call for everyone by cancelling our background noise. We use a USA number for the live calls, with a few international alternative offered. If you aren’t familiar or comfortable with Skype but want to save on the cost of international calls, then purchase a cheap calling card for making international calls from your country to the USA if your country is not one of the alternative offered.For everything else (the classroom, downloading the manuals, etc), you just need a computer with a decent internet connection (128 Kbit/s minimum). If you want to double-check speed, use this site. You will also need a program that allows you to read PDFs (Adobe Reader is free).

Will I have to buy a bunch of expensive art equipment to participate?

No! We do use art-making at times during the course, but we also teach conversational creativity where no art-making is required. Where we do offer art-making demos, we’ll tell you what supplies we use, but also do our best to give you alternative ideas to encourage you to use whatever you have on hand, to upcycle materials, and to think outside the “art store” box. Also, since it’s about the process of creativity rather than the product, the supplies matter less than just the process of playing and exploring with whatever supplies you have.

Is there a book list I must purchase in order to participate?

We have one book we ask you to purchase for the course and that is Dr. Lorraine Hedtke’s “The Crafting of Grief” book. It is available in print and as an eBook, but not as an audio book. We have heard from low vision / blind participants that they’ve had luck finding it via BookShare.org when needed. All other readings for the class are licensed excerpts provided as PDFs for you to read on screen or print out, and/or links to read online are provided. We do offer full citations in the manual, of course, so that if you decide you want to purchase the full publications after reading what we provide and reference, then of course you may do so. But that is not required by the course at all!

How do I pay?

This course is by application only. If you’re accepted into the course, we’ll ask you:

• • to pay via credit card or PayPal account a non-refundable deposit of $500 (USD) to secure spot (this goes towards balance of course fee due),
  • and which payment plan you choose, and then we’ll send you an invoice(s) which you can pay online, using your credit card or PayPal account to pay balance of tuition due.

What happens if I fail the certification assessment?

During our last live call, we’ll prepare you for your certification submissions and share with you our detailed criteria of what we’re looking for you to demonstrate in your assessment submissions. In addition, we will also take account of your interactions in the live calls and forums – we expect our students to uphold the course values and handle discussions of difference with respect. If we feel that your assessment submissions aren’t demonstrating enough of the skills and values we’re looking for, then we’ll give you detailed feedback on the areas that were lacking and you may submit additional skills demonstration in response at no extra cost. If you are unable to fulfill the skills demonstration and we have to ask you for an entire new submission of a new tool *and/or* new Remembering Conversation, you will incur a $975 USD fee for each subsequent certification submission. We will always tell you upfront and clearly if there will be an additional fee. We will do our very best to work with you to do the additional skills demonstration instead of having to re-do a whole new submission. Our aim is for you to pass. We are not trying to fail anyone. We want you to be successful.

Grief stories I will share are really personal and make me feel quite vulnerable.
How can I be sure that what I say or write won’t be shared?

One of the guiding principles of our program is to maintain confidentiality so our participants have a safe space to learn and grow their skills. This is reflective of the values and ethics that you will need to observe as a practitioner when you interact with clients as well so, as with other practices in our certification program, we teach through demonstration. To that end, all of our students and teachers are required to sign and adhere to a Program Agreement before entering the classroom space. It outlines clear expectations for maintaining confidentiality within and outside of the classroom. Through that Program Agreement, all students and teachers acknowledge that their professional responsibilities continue beyond the termination of the course and any coaching relationship. If you would like to see a copy of the Program Agreement in advance, please let us know.

What’s your money-back policy?

We’re really proud of the course we’ve put together and we know you won’t be disappointed with the quality or delivery of the content. We’ve also worked really hard to convey the values of this course so that anyone who applies will be a good fit with our course’s core values. (Please see the Certification Introduction page of this section to see our 20 minute video and/or 90 minute MP3 Introduction To Creative Grief Support call to get a full feel for what this course will bring you). For these reasons, after the first live session has taken place, the course and certification fee become non-refundable.