Becoming a Grief Therapist in California
There is no California license called "grief therapist" or "grief counselor." You become a grief therapist by earning a mental health license, such as the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), and then building training and supervised experience with people who are grieving. The terms describe a focus of practice within the licensed professions.
The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) offers two professional certifications in the field: the Certified in Thanatology (CT) and the more demanding Fellow in Thanatology (FT). Both are voluntary, and ADEC states that the CT does not constitute licensure, so it can add to a license but cannot replace one.
What Does a Grief Therapist Do?
A grief therapist helps people cope with the death of someone close to them and treats grief that has become a lasting mental health problem. Grief itself is not a disorder: the National Cancer Institute notes that most people experience normal or common grief and, with time, adjust to the loss.
For some people, grief persists. Prolonged grief disorder is included in the text revision of the DSM-5 (DSM-5-TR), released in March 2022, and the American Psychiatric Association reports that treatments using elements of cognitive behavioral therapy have been found to be effective in reducing symptoms. A grief therapist's work therefore includes assessment as well as support.
Grief work also takes place in hospice care. Under Medicare's conditions of participation, a hospice must have an organized program for bereavement services, supervised by a qualified professional with "experience or education in grief or loss counseling," and must make bereavement services available to the family for up to one year after the patient's death (42 CFR 418.64).
Is "Grief Therapist" a Separate License in California?
No. California has no separate grief therapist or grief counselor license. The Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) licenses four professions: marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors and educational psychologists. The Board of Psychology licenses psychologists. Neither board issues a separate credential for grief work.
Treating grief as a clinical problem is part of licensed practice. The marriage and family therapy law, for example, says that a person "shall not engage in the practice of marriage and family therapy" without a license (Business and Professions Code section 4980(b)), and it defines that practice to include assessing and treating "relational issues, emotional disorders, behavioral problems, mental illness" (section 4980.02(a)). The law has limited exemptions, including clergy who counsel as part of their pastoral or professional duties and certain unlicensed employees and volunteers of government agencies, schools, colleges, universities and nonprofit charitable institutions who work under the organization's oversight and give clients a written notice (section 4980.01). ADEC's certification sits outside this system: ADEC says the CT "does not make a statement as to the holder's clinical competency nor does it constitute licensure." The general difference between a license and a certification is covered in license vs. certification vs. registration for California therapists.
What Underlying License Do You Need?
To work as a grief therapist, you need a California mental health license or, while you earn one, registration as an associate working under supervision. The LMFT path shows what that involves: a qualifying master's degree, registration as an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT), at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience gained over at least 104 weeks, and passing the California Law and Ethics Exam and the clinical exam. The BBS also licenses clinical social workers and professional clinical counselors, each with its own degree, experience and exam requirements. Psychologists follow a separate path through the Board of Psychology that requires a doctorate, 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience and two exams.
During the associate years, grief work happens under supervision, because the BBS treats independent practice before licensure, including opening one's own office, as unlicensed practice. Once licensed, a therapist with enough thanatology experience can apply for the CT under its track for professional licensees, which asks for the same 1,760 hours as the track for bachelor's degree holders.
What Is the Certified in Thanatology (CT) Credential?
The CT is a professional certification that ADEC awards to people who can verify prior experience and education in the field of death, dying and bereavement and who pass its certification exam. Applicants qualify through one of four tracks.
| Track | Education or license | Thanatology experience |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bachelor's degree or higher in social, behavioral or health science, human services, education or a related field | 1,760 hours, at least 880 in the past 10 years |
| 2 | Current professional license in social, behavioral or health science, human services or a related field, regulated by a governing body | 1,760 hours, at least 880 in the past 10 years |
| 3 | Associate degree or post-secondary diploma (at least two years of study) in a related field | 3,520 hours, at least 1,760 in the past 10 years |
| 4 | Post-secondary education outside these fields, or a high school diploma or equivalency | 5,280 hours, at least 2,640 in the past 10 years |
Every track also requires 90 contact hours or CEUs of thanatology education, at least 22.5 of them earned in the past three years, and a passing score on ADEC's certification exam. Experience can come from paid professional work, supervised volunteer roles or internships. The application fee is $380 for ADEC members and $599 for non-members and covers the exam and the first three-year cycle. The CT is valid for three years, and renewal requires 45 contact hours of recertification activities. Applications for new credentials typically open mid-May through mid-August, with the exam on one Friday in October.
What Is the Fellow in Thanatology (FT)?
The FT is ADEC's credential for people who hold a graduate degree and have long experience in the field. It requires a master's degree or higher in social, behavioral or health science, education, human services or a related field, and 8,880 hours in a thanatology role, at least 4,440 of them in the past 10 years. Applicants also need 90 hours of thanatology education (22.5 in the past three years), a professional portfolio of 12 units representing past achievements, recommendations and a passing exam score. The application fee is $520 for ADEC members and $739 for non-members, and ADEC also describes a separate route from the CT to the FT.
For a new therapist, the CT is the nearer goal. Its experience requirement is 1,760 hours for applicants with a bachelor's degree or higher or a professional license, against 8,880 hours for the FT, so the FT usually comes after years of work in the field.
Is Grief Certification Required to Practice in California?
No. California's licensing requirements for therapists do not include a grief certification, and ADEC says its CT does not constitute licensure. What the rules do require is competence. The marriage and family therapy law defines unprofessional conduct to include performing, or holding oneself out as being able to perform, mental health services "beyond the scope of one's competence, as established by one's education, training, or experience" (Business and Professions Code section 4982(s)). Supervisors may not let a trainee or associate perform mental health services beyond the supervisee's level of education, training or experience (section 4982(t)). Holding the CT does not change these obligations, because the certification sits outside the licensing system, and a licensed therapist without the CT practices under exactly the same rules.
The federal hospice rule points the same way. It asks for a supervising professional "with experience or education in grief or loss counseling" and names no certification. A certification is one way to document that experience and education.
Why Clinical Skill Rehearsal Matters for This Work
Grief work asks a therapist to stay with a client's loss while also judging whether the grief has become a disorder that needs treatment, and both are clinical skills. Rousmaniere and Vaz (2025) describe how knowledge about therapy "does not automatically translate into competent clinical performance when a therapist faces a real client." ADEC's description of the CT reflects the same distinction: the credential documents experience, education and an exam score, and ADEC says it "does not make a statement as to the holder's clinical competency."
Skill rehearsal builds that kind of competence directly. In deliberate practice, trainees rehearse specific therapeutic responses, such as responding to a client's description of a death, and receive feedback before using those responses with clients. Video review of real sessions continues the process once a trainee is seeing clients, because a supervisor can see what actually happened in the session and coach the next one.
A Closer Look at One Program: The Sentio MFT Program
Programs differ in how much supervised clinical work students complete before graduating, and that work is where a future grief therapist first practices assessment and treatment. Every student in the Sentio MFT program has a guaranteed practicum at the Sentio Counseling Center, an online counseling center that serves diverse, low-income clients. Students begin seeing clients in their second semester and complete more than 400 supervised clinical hours before graduating, and supervisors review video of their sessions.
The program is a 20-month, 60-credit Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy, based in Los Angeles and open to students across California, with weekly live online classes and a short in-person residency in Los Angeles at the start of each semester. Students train in deliberate practice every week, rehearsing specific therapeutic skills with feedback. In the Class of 2026, the program's first graduating class, 100% of graduates were registered as Associate Marriage and Family Therapists within six weeks of graduation.
Making Your Decision
If grief work is your goal, the first question is whether you want to provide psychotherapy. If you do, plan on a mental health license, with the degree and the supervised hours toward it coming first. ADEC's CT can follow once you have the thanatology experience and education its tracks require, and the FT is a later step that calls for a master's degree and 8,880 hours in a thanatology role. When you compare degree programs, look at how much supervised clinical work each one includes, because that is where assessment and treatment skills begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I become a grief counselor in California?
Earn a California mental health license, such as the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), and build training and supervised experience with grieving clients. California has no separate grief counselor or grief therapist license. The LMFT path requires a qualifying master's degree, at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience gained over at least 104 weeks, and two exams. The Certified in Thanatology (CT) from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) is an optional credential that recognizes experience and education in death, dying and bereavement.
Is there a grief counseling certification in California?
California's licensing boards do not issue a grief counseling license or certification; the Board of Behavioral Sciences and the Board of Psychology license therapists. One professional certification in the field is the Certified in Thanatology (CT) from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), which therapists in California can earn. It requires documented experience in thanatology, 90 contact hours of thanatology education and a passing score on ADEC's annual exam. ADEC states that the CT does not constitute licensure and does not make a statement about clinical competency.
What does "Certified in Thanatology" mean?
Certified in Thanatology (CT) is a professional certification from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). ADEC awards it to people who can verify prior experience and education in the field of death, dying and bereavement and who pass its certification exam. ADEC states that the CT does not make a statement about the holder's clinical competency and does not constitute licensure. The credential is valid for three years and is renewed with 45 contact hours of recertification activities.
Can you get a grief certification without a license?
Yes. ADEC's Certified in Thanatology has four eligibility tracks, and only one is based on a professional license. Applicants with a bachelor's degree in a related field need 1,760 hours of thanatology experience, applicants with an associate degree or two-year diploma in a related field need 3,520 hours, and applicants with other post-secondary education or a high school diploma need 5,280 hours. The certification does not authorize practice. Outside limited exemptions, practicing marriage and family therapy, which includes treating emotional disorders and relational issues, requires a California license or registration as an associate working under supervision.
When can you apply for ADEC's grief certification?
ADEC accepts applications for new credentials once a year. Applications typically open mid-May through mid-August, and the exam takes place on one Friday in October. The CT application fee is $380 for ADEC members and $599 for non-members and covers the exam and the first three-year certification cycle. The Fellow in Thanatology (FT) fee is $520 for members and $739 for non-members. ADEC membership is optional and lowers the fee.
Do you need a master's degree to be a grief therapist?
For the LMFT, yes: California requires a qualifying master's or doctoral degree, and psychologist licensure requires a doctorate. ADEC's Certified in Thanatology does not require a graduate degree, since its tracks accept a bachelor's degree, an associate degree or a high school diploma, with more experience hours required as formal education decreases. ADEC's Fellow in Thanatology (FT) does require a master's degree or higher in a related field, along with 8,880 hours in a thanatology role.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2025). Prolonged grief disorder. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/prolonged-grief-disorder
Association for Death Education and Counseling. (n.d.-a). CT: Certified in thanatology. https://www.adec.org/page/CT-Certified-In-Thanatology
Association for Death Education and Counseling. (n.d.-b). FT: Fellow in thanatology. https://www.adec.org/page/FT-Fellow-In-Thanatology
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2025). Important answers to frequently asked questions for associate marriage and family therapists and MFT trainees. https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/mft_faq.pdf
Board of Behavioral Sciences. (2026). Statutes and regulations relating to the practice of professional clinical counseling, marriage and family therapy, educational psychology, clinical social work. https://www.bbs.ca.gov/pdf/publications/lawsregs.pdf
Board of Psychology. (n.d.). Psychologist licensure FAQs. https://www.psychology.ca.gov/licensees/faq.html
California Legislature. (2025). Business and Professions Code section 4982. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=4982
Code of Federal Regulations. (2026). Condition of participation: Core services, 42 C.F.R. section 418.64. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-B/part-418/subpart-C/section-418.64
National Cancer Institute. (2024). Grief, bereavement, and coping with loss (PDQ): Health professional version. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/advanced-cancer/caregivers/planning/bereavement-hp-pdq
Rousmaniere, T., and Vaz, A. (2025). Sentio's clinic-to-classroom method: Bridging deliberate practice and clinical training. Psychotherapy Bulletin, 60(2), 79-84. https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/sentios-clinic-to-classroom-methodbridging-deliberate-practice-and-clinical-training/
