How To Become A Bereavement Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bereavement counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Meredith Bertrand

The average bereavement counselor salary is $64,298. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an psychology major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a bereavement counselor. Bereavement counselors with a Pastoral Counseling Certification certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a bereavement counselor?

Dr. Meredith Bertrand

Chair of Education; Associate Professor of Education, Elms College

History is ever-changing, and teachers must clarify how current events are just as much a part of the study of history as any other socio-political period or event. If you are not comparing the civil rights movement of today to the ongoing civil rights movements of the past, and if you are not supporting the campaign against oppression and institutional racism upon which our nation was built, then you are doing continuous harm to those who need you to act and disrupt the cycle. History teachers better be ready to be activists, not just teachers, or else you are perpetuating the status quo.

ScoreBereavement CounselorUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $64,298

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.4

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.38%

Asian 3.23%

Black or African American 11.28%

Hispanic or Latino 12.21%

Unknown 5.91%

White 67.00%

Gender

female 74.68%

male 25.32%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

8.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bereavement counselor

Explore bereavement counselor education requirements

Most common bereavement counselor degrees

Bachelor's

53.2 %

Master's

36.7 %

Associate

5.3 %

Start to develop specific bereavement counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	34.23%
Patients	23.86%
Mental Health	4.77%
Community Resources	4.26%
Medicare	3.17%

Complete relevant bereavement counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bereavement counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bereavement counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bereavement counselor resumes.

Research bereavement counselor duties and responsibilities

Manage a caseload of individuals in programs design to provide vocational rehabilitation and other services to the developmentally disable.
Provide individual/family/group counseling and psycho-educational programs for a diverse population of hospice patients, families and couples.
Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals to provide counseling support for terminally ill patients and their families.
Provide individual assessments, treatment planning and psychotherapy services to culturally diverse adult female population in need of rehabilitation services.

Prepare your bereavement counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your bereavement counselor resume.

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