ACCC Grief Curriculum for Chaplains is now available.
This curriculum is highly chaplain-focused and covers the emotions of grief, a more complete understanding of grief stages, types of grief and action plans for each, trauma, grief presentations and avoidance, exercises and therapies for individuals and groups, cultural impacts of grief, case studies and more. This complete curriculum will be provided to each chaplain to be adapted for their individual context. This curriculum is a mixture of highly relational therapies to help the chaplain understand the true ramifications of grief within the salutogenic model of care to help grievers move from brokenness to restoration.
This Grief Specialty is reserved for board-certified chaplains with ACCC. If you are a board-certified member of ACCC, please login at the bottom of the page to join the next class which is now enrolling.
What are they saying about this class? See below for several testimonials from other chaplains.
100% of surveyed respondents said they would recommend this training to a colleague
100% said they found the training to be valuable.
“I want to thank you for the training last weekend. It was so practical and I really appreciated the interactive nature of it. I am so glad you worked so hard to create this specialty as it is a much better offering than the GRM specialty. That information was good, but the scope was not feasible for my setting. This training is adaptable to multiple settings, and as such has the capacity to reach and equip more people in the managing of grief. I am so glad I decided to walk through this training despite having already done GRM. It was worth the time and money, and I have no regrets. Also, thank you for sharing so much of your own journey with us and for setting the tone for a rich and vibrant time of sharing. May the Lord continue to bring healing and wholeness to you even as you lead others to His healing and wholeness.” – Hospice Chaplain
“This Letter of Appreciation is written to thank you for such an excellent training in Grief. After previously completing the certification process with Mr. John James and Mr. Russell Friedman of the Grief Recovery Institute, in person, I was hesitant to try a different process. You provided reassurance that this was specifically for Chaplains and therefore had an added value. With skepticism in hand and sacrificing my sacred family time I came. You were right, the training being specifically geared toward Chaplains made the subject more applicable. Our cohort was fantastic. The diverse religious backgrounds, gender and race inclusive cohort served to make our conversations rich. Since grief knows no ethnicity or other boundaries, we were all at the same level of knowing. Those who did not feel they had trauma or grief when they started were aware of how grief has impacted their lives when they left.” – VA Chaplain
“My experience was Awesome! Meeting and having fellowship with other Chaplains provided connection, sharing of resources, and being vulnerable about their personal grief experiences.” – VA Chaplain
“I enjoyed every minute of this class.” – VA Chaplain
“Grateful and thankful for the course. Thank you for the opportunity and for facilitating the group, sharing your lessons learned and vulnerability.” – VA Chaplain
The class will be conducted over Microsoft Teams
We are not offering any refunds. If you are unable to attend the class at the agreed upon time, you will be held over for the next offered class.
Current or former members of the U.S. military receive a $200 discount. Each individual receiving the discount must provide their DD214 before class begins.
The Grief Recovery Specialty is still in effect so long as your membership dues are up-to-date and you pay your annual fee to GRI. We are not doing away with the specialty, we have only discontinued enrollment in future classes.
It is up to you. The content is significantly different and is geared towards chaplains, however it will not qualify you for an additional pay grade if you are a VA chaplain AND YOU ALREADY HAVE THE GRIEF RECOVERY CERTIFICATION through us. A double certification will not qualify you for higher than GS12. However, we have worked hard to make sure the content is wholly different than our previous specialty which is geared towards the general public rather than chaplains specifically. Our specialty comes from a Christian world view which is something the GRI specialty deliberately avoids.
We understand that true emergencies can happen. We strongly encourage full attendance but, in the event a true emergency must be tended to, the chaplain will be enrolled in the next class when it is offered. Refunds will not be provided.
All class times will be conducted during Central Standard Time (CST, GMT-6)
Richard DeFord, MDiv., board-certified chaplain with mental health specialty, board-certified pastoral counselor, Grief Recovery Specialist will teach this class. DeFord is the manager of Spiritual Care at Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, MO. and has been the administrator of ACCC since 2018. DeFord has provided grief support groups in two communities since receiving his Grief certification and provides weekly grief sessions in his hospital’s behavioral health unit. DeFord has been in ministry since 1989 and is endorsed as a chaplain by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He serves as the associate pastor of Katy Park Baptist Church in Sedalia, MO. and also serves as a law enforcement chaplain with the Sedalia Police Department.
This class is only offered for board-certified chaplains with ACCC. If you are board-certified by a body that is recognized by the VA, you can apply for recognition of your board certification and we will extend our board certification to you so that you can attend the class. In order for the specialty to remain, you must maintain your membership in ACCC. Visit this page to learn more about recognition of your board certification? https://certifiedchaplains.org/board-certification-reciprocity/#!form/BoardCertificationReciprocity
No. The only individuals who can have the Grief Recovery specialty applied to their ACCC Certification are those who went through ACCC for the class. Individual chaplains who attended our previous GRI program were able to attend the program with other board-certified chaplains. There is something special about chaplains getting together to support one another and learn. We have carried that same mindset to this new specialty as well, giving chaplains a chance to meet others from all over the country who share in this commonality of calling and care.
No. You must be present the entire program to receive the specialty. No exceptions.
No. This program is only for those who are board certified chaplains with ACCC. The grief work we will do together as part of the program will be conducted with chaplain partners in small groups. No “non-chaplains” may participate in this program.
Some VAs utilize an internal form for approval of education that will be paid by the VA. Please utilize the following information to complete your form.
B-1a. Name and Mailing Address of Training Vendor (No., Street, City, State, Zip Code)
Association of Certified Christian Chaplains, 1600 E 14th St., Sedalia, MO. 65301
B-2a Course Title
Special Competency in Grief for Board Certified Chaplains
B-3a Training Start Date
(This field is not answerable due to date of the class being selected by the participants via poll once the class is full. You will need to put something in, we recommend 1/1/2025 or suitable year)
B-3b Training Start Date
(This field is not answerable due to date of the class being selected by the participants via poll once the class is full. You will need to put something in, we recommend 1/3/2025 or suitable year)