As a Bereavement Counsellor, you will need to master following:

• accept own accountability
• apply quality standards in social services
• assess social service users' situation
• behavioural therapy
• build helping relationship with social service users
• client-centred counselling
• cognitive behavioural therapy
• cooperate at inter-professional level
• deliver social services in diverse cultural communities
• demonstrate leadership in social service cases
• encourage counselled clients to examine themselves
• follow health and safety precautions in social care practices
• have emotional intelligence
• help clients cope with grief
• human psychological development
• maintain a non-emotional involvement
• maintain records of work with service users
• organise relapse prevention
• perform therapy sessions
• promote inclusion
• refer social service users
• reflexion
• respond to individuals' extreme emotions
• stages of bereavement

More generally, a bereavement counsellor is also versed in:

• apply socially just working principles
• communicate professionally with colleagues in other fields
• communicate with social service users
• counselling methods
• help clients make decisions during counselling sessions
• legal requirements in the social sector
• listen actively
• maintain the trust of service users
• manage social crisis
• manage stress in organisation
• promote human rights
• promote social change
• provide social counselling
• psychological theories
• psychology
• relate empathetically
• report on social development
• social justice
• social sciences
• supervision of persons
• undertake continuous professional development in social work

It also helps to know the following:

• support traumatised children