Qualifications
Well, the great thing about grief counseling is, they'll let anyone off the street do it. You don't need an advanced degree or even a high school diploma to become a counselor…oh, sorry, that'd be for a city councilor, not grief counselor.
To become a grief counselor, you need to work for it for a long time. We mean a long time. A bachelor's degree is nice, if you want to live in your parents' basement while counseling patients out of the back of your van. A master's degree is a lot better—hospitals and governmental agencies will at least start returning your phone calls. Earning that doctorate will pretty much open every door that could possibly open for you. Taking some in-school or online certifications can't hurt either.
Perhaps more important than those papers hanging on your wall is who you are as a person. The ability to practice that active listening thing is probably the most important aspect of this whole shindig. So if you're sitting listening to a client talk about their loss, and two minutes in you're thinking about what kind of food you're going to pick up on the way home tonight…this isn't going to work out for anybody.
Even if listening isn't a problem, your expert advice needs to be a little better than "get over it you big baby." These people will be experiencing some of the worst happenings to ever happen, and they don't need you sitting there judging them. What they need is someone who cares.
Speaking of cares, you'll also need to be able to temper all the incredible feelings you'll undoubtedly be feeling. Understanding can take you far, but if you respond to your patient's story by melting into a puddle of tears on the floor, it might be more helpful for you to refer them to someone who can handle the second-hand pain every day.