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Everlight Certification Programs

Become an
Everlight Guide.

Three certification pathways — Kintsugi, Spiritual, and Legacy — each a five-level ladder from first presence to certified guide. Non-clinical, practice-rooted, and built around the Everlight ecosystem of remembrance and companioning.

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The Ladder

Five levels to every path

Every credential follows the same stages — Entry, Core, Transform, Community, Certify — so your training builds in a predictable rhythm, no matter which path you choose.

5 Levels · 16 hrs

Kintsugi Path

“You are not ruined by what broke you.”

The foundational companioning path — presence, reflective listening, and the kintsugi mindset. Learn to sit beside grief without fixing it, sustain yourself, and hold space with trauma-aware care.

Entry · Level 1 2 weeks

Companion Skills Foundations

The shared language of companioning. Learn what grief is across cultures and kinds of loss, and the posture of a non-clinical companion.

  • The landscape of grief
  • The companion's posture
  • Ethical scope
Core · Level 2 3 weeks

Holding Space — Listening Without Fixing

The core discipline of companioning: reflective listening, holding silence, and refusing the urge to rescue.

  • Reflective listening
  • The gift of silence
  • Witnessing, not rescuing
Transform · Level 3 3 weeks

Kintsugi Mindset for Guides

Mending with gold. Learn the kintsugi mindset — honouring the seam, finding meaning without forcing it — and carry it as a guide.

  • The break is not hidden
  • Meaning without forcing it
  • Carrying, not closing
Community · Level 4 2 weeks

Burnout & Secondary Trauma for Helpers

Sustain the companion so the practice endures. Recognise burnout and secondary trauma, and build a self-care rhythm that holds.

  • The cost of presence
  • Sustainable self-care
  • When to step back
Certify · Level 5 2 weeks

Trauma-Informed Presence for Helpers

The certifying capstone. Hold space with trauma-aware presence, and complete your competency review to earn the Kintsugi Guide credential.

  • Trauma-aware scope
  • The practicum
  • Passing the review

Completing Level 5 earns the Everlight Kintsugi Guide credential.

An internal Everlight certification — not clinical licensure or ordination. Retakes are supported.

5 Levels · 15 hrs

Spiritual Path

“The light shines in the darkness (John 1:5).”

For those who companion grief through faith in Christ. Learn biblically-rooted companioning — the God who draws near in sorrow, the psalms of lament, and how to hold the question without supplying easy answers — meeting the mourner in the hope of Scripture without proselytising the grieving.

Entry · Level 1 2 weeks

Scripture & the Landscape of Biblical Grief

Begin where the Bible begins — with a God who draws near to the brokenhearted. Learn the scriptural ground of grief companioning.

  • The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
  • Psalms of lament
  • Meeting the mourner in their church
Core · Level 2 3 weeks

The God of All Comfort

Sit beside someone in the night without demanding dawn. Learn the companion's place in the dark season, comforted to comfort.

  • Comforted to comfort
  • Waiting in hope
  • Holding doubt and lament as faith
Transform · Level 3 2 weeks

Biblical Remembrance & Meaning-Making

Lead simple, meaningful rituals grounded in Scripture. Learn to shape remembrance rites that hold the whole person before God.

  • Why rite in Scripture
  • Designing with, not for
  • Meaning that holds in Christ
Community · Level 4 2 weeks

Bearing One Another's Burdens at Work

Carry Biblical companioning into the workplace. Support grieving employees and shape bereavement-aware practice that carries Christ's care.

  • Bearing burdens
  • Bereavement leave
  • Holding the team
Certify · Level 5 2 weeks

Walking Through the Valley — Anticipatory Grief & Caregiving

The certifying capstone. Walk beside someone before and during a loss through the valley, and complete your competency review to earn the Biblical Companion Guide credential.

  • Even though I walk through the valley
  • The practicum
  • Passing the review

Completing Level 5 earns the Everlight Biblical Companion Guide credential.

An internal Everlight certification — not clinical licensure or ordination. Retakes are supported.

5 Levels · 16 hrs

Legacy Path

“What deserves to be remembered?”

The remembrance path. Learn story-gathering, ceremony design, peer circles, and digital legacy — helping the bereaved tell, keep, and carry a loved one's story forward.

Entry · Level 1 2 weeks

Legacy Story Harvesting

Gather a loved one's story with care and consent. Learn the legacy interview and the small true details that hold a life.

  • Whose story
  • The legacy interview
  • The true detail
Core · Level 2 3 weeks

Remembrance Ceremony Design

Shape a memorial that holds the whole person. Learn to design gatherings that invite the room to remember together.

  • Beyond the order of service
  • Co-creating with the family
  • When memory divides
Transform · Level 3 3 weeks

Facilitating Peer Grief Circles

Hold a circle of mourners. Learn the simple structure and facilitator posture that keeps a grief circle safe.

  • Why a circle
  • Witnessing, not fixing
  • Closing well
Community · Level 4 2 weeks

Digital Memorial & Story Vault Practices

Keep memory where it will last. Learn ethical digital memorial practice and the story vault — with consent, privacy, and stewardship.

  • The digital memorial
  • The story vault
  • Consent and privacy
Certify · Level 5 2 weeks

Compassionate Leadership for Teams

The certifying capstone. Carry remembrance into leadership and community, and complete your competency review to earn the Story Guide credential.

  • Leading with remembrance
  • The practicum
  • Passing the review

Completing Level 5 earns the Everlight Story Guide credential.

An internal Everlight certification — not clinical licensure or ordination. Retakes are supported.

5 Levels · 14 hrs

Grief Business

“A practice you can carry — built ethically.”

How to run a grief practice ethically. Learn to start, package, market, partner, and build membership circles — without exploitation. For companions ready to carry their practice into the world.

Entry · Level 1 2 weeks

Starting a Grief Practice Ethically

Begin a grief practice on an ethical foundation — scope, consent, boundaries, and the difference between a practice and a promise.

  • Scope before services
  • Consent and agreements
  • The ethics of charging
Core · Level 2 2 weeks

Packaging Offerings (1:1, groups, workshops)

Shape what you offer. Learn to package 1:1 companioning, grief circles, and workshops into clear, sustainable offerings.

  • 1:1 companioning
  • Groups and circles
  • Workshops and series
Transform · Level 3 2 weeks

Marketing Without Exploitation

Reach the people who need you without trading on their pain. Learn grief-aware, honest marketing.

  • Honest language
  • Finding your people
  • The referral line
Community · Level 4 2 weeks

Partnering with Hospice, Funeral Homes & Community

Build the relationships that sustain a practice. Learn to partner with hospice, funeral homes, and community organisations — with respect and clear scope.

  • Hospice partnership
  • Funeral homes
  • Community organisations
Certify · Level 5 2 weeks

Building Membership Circles

The certifying capstone. Build ongoing membership circles that sustain a practice and a community — and complete your review to earn the Grief Practice Builder credential.

  • The membership circle
  • Sustaining the keeper
  • Passing the review

Completing Level 5 earns the Everlight Grief Practice Builder credential.

An internal Everlight certification — not clinical licensure or ordination. Retakes are supported.

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EverlightAcademy

Education and practice in grief support, remembrance, and companion-guide certification. Everlight — light still exists, even in sorrow.

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© 2026 Everlight Academy. All rights reserved.

Light still exists, even in sorrow.

Disclaimer: Everlight Academy provides education and training in grief companioning and remembrance practice. Nothing on this site constitutes therapy, medical, mental-health, legal, or financial advice. The Everlight guide credentials are internal certifications issued by Everlight Academy — they are not clinical licensure, ordination, or externally accredited qualifications. Individual outcomes vary based on path, effort, community, and setting. Companioning is a practice of presence; it is not a substitute for licensed professional care.