Coaching Grief and Loss (CGL) is a professional development class designed to help both accredited coaches and coaches in training, to expand their capacity to work with their clients experience with grief and loss; whether that relates to the death of someone; a relationship; an opportunity; access to resources; or a sense of identity. Part of this process, of course, is dependent on your capacity as a coach to be present with your own experience of grief and loss, because if you are not comfortable with your own grief and loss, you are more likely to avoid helping your client explore it. Therefore all participants in CGL are invited to explore their own experience of grief and loss during the program.

No. It doesn’t matter where you are in your grief journey. Everyone is welcome. We have had participants who are taking their first look through to those further on in their journey. Moreover, we believe it’s important for everyone to find their own pace. All that is required is that you are willing to be present to exploring grief and loss both professionally, and, as you feel comfortable, personally.

While we honour and appreciate the efforts of anyone and any model that seeks to bring comfort to people experiencing grief and loss, we feel approaches which suggest an ideal timeline or limit on, or which propose a set of linear, prescriptive steps, can often be disempowering. Our approach invites the individual, once they have decided of their own volition to explore their experience of grief and loss, to consider it as a journey without a determinant end.  However, we also know that when skilfully deployed the framework we offer ensures that that journey doesn’t have to be one of suffering and pain for ever. The possibility to process that pain is both real and accessible.

Each session follows a similar pattern. Following time to arrive and share current experiences as a group, there is a 15-20 min presentation on one of the four approaches to coaching grief and loss that we offer, then there is a coaching demonstration and opportunity for participants to practice in pairs, and finally time to share what we have experienced and learned from the day’s session. As mentioned on the main webpage the four approaches are: Addressing Marginalisation; Coaching the story of the loss event; Coaching the relationship to what has been lost; Closure, Letting Go, Meaningful acts.

Only the presentation is videoed in the class – not the coaching or the practice or the discussion which remain confidential. Links to the recording and a pdf session handout summarising the learning, are provided by email following the session. However, reviewing these materials do not substitute for attending the class which is required to acquire your ICF CCEs, so if you just want to study Grief and Loss via materials you can read and view, we can make recommendations.

While we hope you can attend all four sessions, we ask, that in advance, that you know that you can attend at least 3 out of the 4 sessions including the first. This is optimal to ensure a good group experience and also so you can secure your ICF CCEs – see next question.  However, if in any circumstances something happens that forces you to miss a call, we will provide a link to a recording of only the 15-20 min presentation part of the call, plus a pdf summary of the learning. 

To receive the 7 ICF Core Competency CCEs its necessary to attend 3 out of 4 sessions, inc the first, and, to review the video and pdf of the class you miss – if you do.  If you miss more that one class, we will not be able to issue a certificate of course completion to present to the ICF as proof of having acquired the CCEs.  However, if this happens we are open to talking with you about how you might repeat the course or classes, in a future edition of the course.