Realistic timelines

How long each milestone actually takes

We publish ranges, never single figures, and we always separate the part you control from the part the IRS controls. Nothing here is shortened to look attractive.

Placement clocks can run in parallel with effort clocks. We sequence practice-building skills during your final modules so community connections run alongside your study, not after it. Our value is sequencing, not speed.

Two clocks, never blended

Your effort and the federal queue

Effort clock

Study hours, module completion, reflective practice, peer-circle facilitation

Controlled by

You — your study pace and instalment schedule

Placement clock

Cohort intake windows, community partner availability, supervised-practice openings

Controlled by

The partner organisation or cohort schedule — nobody at Everlight

Milestone by milestone

Every stage, with its real range

Entry & foundation

Same intake – 2 weeks

Your effort

New students usually complete their foundation module within the first two weeks of a cohort. We help you settle into the companioning posture and reflective-listening basics so nothing blocks your progress.

Foundation module — companioning posture1 – 2 weeks

Completed at your own pace within the cohort.

Reflective listening practiceSame intake

Begins alongside the foundation module.

Core → reflective practice curriculum (not currently operating)

Stage-anchored — no calendar figure

Your effort

Supervised practice is not currently operating. If later offered, it would be released by stage after foundation completion, not by date. How quickly you would reach that stage would depend on your own study pace.

Core modulesAt your own pace

Stage release, not a calendar promise.

Supervised practice (not currently operating)If later offered: stage release

If later offered, foundation would be complete before supervised companioning. It is not currently operating.

Companion Guide credential

About 3 – 6 months, foundation complete to credential

Effort + IRS queue

Most students studying part-time should plan for three to six months to complete all five modules of their path and pass the competency review. Cohort intake windows and community-partner availability affect when modules can be sat.

Study each module, part-time at 6–8 hours a week2 – 4 weeks per module

The Transform and Certify levels are consistently the most reflective.

All five modules3 – 6 months

Sustainable study alongside life and work. No accelerated track is offered.

Cohort intake windowPer cohort schedule

Modules open with the cohort; competency reviews follow each module.

Competency review after the Certify moduleAbout 1 – 2 weeks

Submitted within the cohort. Includes a reflective-practice assessment. No credential is issued until it is passed.

Grief Circle Facilitator — peer circles

About 2 – 4 months from eligibility

Effort + IRS queue

Becoming a grief circle facilitator is a practice-launch milestone. Once eligible, plan for roughly two to four months: peer-circle design, facilitation practice, and a community-partner review that runs about two weeks.

Facilitation practice and circle designAbout 2 – 3 weeks

Peer-circle structure and the facilitator posture.

Supervised co-facilitation2 – 4 weeks

Co-facilitating with an experienced companion.

Community-partner reviewAbout 1 – 2 weeks

Reflective assessment of facilitation readiness.

Specialist paths

Five modules — most students, 3 – 6 months part-time

Your effort

Each companioning path is five modules completed at your own pace alongside reflective practice. Most students complete a path in three to six months part-time.

Path modulesFive modules at your own pace

No placement queue applies — this clock is entirely yours.

Grief practice launch

Community setup from about 1 – 3 months

Effort + IRS queue

Launching a grief practice involves building community connections with their own clocks — a hospice or funeral-home partnership typically takes one to three months, and a membership circle several weeks to settle. We sequence these during your final level so the building runs in parallel with your last modules, not after them.

Community-partner conversationsAbout 1 – 3 months

Hospice, funeral-home, or faith-group partnerships.

Membership circle, if offering ongoing companioning2 – 4 weeks

See the Grief Circle Facilitator milestone.

Offering and pricing sequenceVaries by community

Follows the ethical practice-building sequence — no single figure applies.

End to end

An illustrative journey for a part-time international student

Entry, foundation module, reflective-listening practice begun0 – 2

First reflective practice exercisesDuring foundation, as stages are released

Core modules — holding space, companioning posture1 – 3

Transform module — kintsugi mindset, ritual, or story3 – 4

Community module — grief at work or peer circles4 – 5

Certify module and competency review5 – 6

Companion Guide credentialAbout 5 – 6

Specialist path — five modules4 – 7

Practice launch — community partnerships run parallel to your final level6 – 9

Practice openAbout 9 – 12 months

Most part-time students: nine months to a year from enrolment to grief practice launch.

Illustrative only — individual timing varies with study pace, payment schedule, cohort intake, and community setting.

IRS-dependent figures on this page were reviewed September 2026. Re-verified every six months and before any new public page ships. Exam windows, application fees and IRS processing goals are set by the IRS and change without notice.