The Grief Educator and Guide Certificate Program provides training and mentorship for End of Life Doulas, hospice bereavement staff, palliative care professionals, therapists, health-care practitioners, social workers, and spiritual care professionals who are interested in acquiring competencies that would allow them to support their clients through the experiences of grief and bereavement, through an engaged, contemplative approach.
The Program was developed to equip End of Life Doulas, and other professionals in end of life care and grief and bereavement support, with effective, compassionate, culturally safe, and trauma-informed skills and practices to support our grieving community members. We are committed to our role as a leader in a revolutionary development of human awareness that is transforming how we live, die and grieve.
Through 18+ video modules scheduled over a 4 month period, plus 3 live virtual sessions held once a month, you will learn how to support and guide those who are grieving and bereaved. These sessions allow for additional discussion/integration encouraging questions and reflections, and allowing you to delve into the material more thoroughly, through skill enhancing exercises and practices.
Modules consist of pre-recorded lessons, reading materials, experiential and self-reflection assignments. You will be introduced to a number of strategies and practices which will allow you to provide guidance and education to individuals and groups who are grieving. The focus is on grief from death, though much of the training can be applied to grief in general - from relationship endings, loss of job, etc.
We all grieve. And until we embark on the grief journey, we may not know what to expect, or what support we will need along the way. This program is designed to provide End of Life Doulas, Healthcare professionals, Therapists, those in the Funeral/End of Life Care sectors, with the the knowledge, skills and techniques to offer compassionate guidance and support for the grieving and bereaved.
Schedule
The 2026 Certificate Program begins September 15, 2026 and consists of 4 months of online and in-person virtual sessions
2026 Live
zoom sessions
October 24th - 12-3pm
November 14th - 12-3pm
December 5th - 12-3pm
Curriculum
The program guides students on an exploration of various theories, practices, techniques and compassionate approaches to education and supportive care of individuals and groups experiencing grief and bereavement.
The following topics will be reviewed in the program
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Nature of Grief
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Impact of Loss
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Types of Grief
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Emotions of Grief
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Listening & Communication Skills for Grief Support
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Types of Forgiveness
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Taking Care of Basic Needs
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Impact of Culture on Grief
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Leaning into Grief
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Loneliness & Connection
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Continuing the Bond & Legacy
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Community Centred Grief
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Spirituality & Existential Questions
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Working with Difficult Emotions - Regret, Anger, Guilt
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Rebuilding Identity
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Rediscovering Purpose & Meaning
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Moving Ahead
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Meaningful Endings & Rituals
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Referrals & Evidence Based Resources
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Offering Individual & Group Programs
Benefits
Whether you are interested in expanding your services as an End of Life Doula; supporting grieving clients as a Therapist; gaining essential communication skills as healthcare provider; or seeking to facilitate grief groups in a hospice or funeral home, this program will provide you with numerous learning opportunities to develop both professionally and personally.
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Develop the skills and practical strategies to support the grieving and bereaved
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Build confidence as an Educator/Grief Group Facilitator
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Expand your scope of practice/services
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Receive mentorship and guidance via question and answer sessions
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Deepen your understanding of Grief & Loss
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Learn to apply skills and approaches to Non-Death losses
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Learn to apply a contemplative approach to your support services
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Develop Active Listening & Communication Skills
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Deepen your capacity to witness and hold suffering with presence and compassion
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Learn ways to utilize rituals and journalling
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Learn to apply a contemplative, psychosocial approach to supporting the grieving
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Expand your abilities to create community centred grief experiences
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Learn to apply trauma-informed grief care
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Gain skills in mindfulness, meditation, guided imagery and visualization
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Have access to evidence-based resources
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Leave the training with a complete Grief Support Program Outline
About the Instructor
Henry Fersko-Weiss, LCSW has been at the forefront of the contemporary end-of-life doula movement for over 20 years. He created the first fully developed end-of-life doula program at a hospice in the U.S. in 2003. In 2014 he co-founded and then led until his semi-retirement the International End-of-Life Doula Association (INELDA), a non-profit organization that has greatly expanded the use of doulas in end-of-life care.
He has served hundreds of dying people and their loved ones; created death doula programs at hospices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities, and taught thousands of people to serve at the bedside of the dying. His book, Finding Peace at the End of Life, A Death Doula’s Guide for Families and Caregivers, first published in 2017 under the title Caring for the Dying, was named one of the best health and medicine books that year by the Library Journal. Henry continues to do doula work, train and mentor doulas, and see a limited number of people in his private therapy practice.
Henry’s Zen practice goes back to the early 1970s, when he started sitting with the Zen Studies Society (ZSS) in New York City. The head teacher, Eido Shimano Roshi, invited Henry to live and practice at Dai Bosatsu Monastery in Livingston Manor NY, where Henry spent two years. On leaving the monastery Henry lived for nearly a year in Eido Rosh’s home in NYC so he could continue serving as a senior student in the ZSS sangha.
Later Henry continued his Zen studies with Roshis Bernie Glassman and Sandra Jishu Holmes, founders of the Zen Peacemakers Order, with whom he took formal Zen vows, called Jukai. He also studied with Joan Hogetsu Hoeberichts Roshi, followed by years of koan study with Ray Ruzan Cicetti Roshi of Empty Bowl Zendo in Morristown, New Jersey. Henry received Inka, the seal of approval to teach Zen, from Cicetti Roshi in 2024 and was given the dharma name Myoshin. Henry continues to serve as a Sensei (teacher) at Empty Bowl and is part of the White Plum Asanga lineage that goes back to Taizan Maezumi Roshi, who came from Japan in the mid-1950s to introduce Zen practice to Americans.
