alan d. wolfelt

What alan d. wolfelt does

The Center for Loss & Life Transition is a Fort Collins, Colorado-based private organization founded in 1985 by Dr. Alan Wolfelt to deliver grief education, bereavement caregiver training, and grief-related publications. Its core intellectual property is the "companioning" philosophy of grief care, codified in frameworks including the Six Needs of Mourning and the Ten Touchstones of Grief, and disseminated through a catalog of more than 60 books, over 40 Helping Series brochures, support group curricula, DVDs, empathy cards, and customizable gift boxes — produced through its wholly-owned publishing subsidiary, Companion Press. The company monetizes this content via a direct-to-consumer e-commerce bookstore (books priced $9.95–$29.95, gift boxes $49.95, brochures from $0.50), bulk-volume sales of Afterwords aftercare packets to hundreds of hospices and funeral homes (volume discounts scaling to $1.00 per packet at 1,000 units), and four-day in-person caregiver training seminars held at Hilton Fort Collins and Hyatt House Scottsdale that lead to certification.

The company serves three primary customer cohorts: grieving individuals seeking self-help resources, bereavement professionals and hospice workers pursuing certification, and funeral professionals purchasing aftercare materials for the families they serve. Marketing is executed through content-led website pages, segmented email lists, a Facebook presence, public speaking engagements, and trade-press articles in outlets such as Director Magazine, Wings, and TAPS Magazine. Go-to-market is hybrid: D2C for individuals, plus direct bulk sales to enterprise buyers (funeral homes, hospices, hospitals) and in-person training for mid-market cohorts. The organization is founder-owned and operated with no disclosed external funding, headcount, or acquisition activity, and operates exclusively within North America.

Name

alan d. wolfelt

Legal name

Center for Loss & Life Transition

Website

https://centerforloss.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Center for Loss & Life Transition, founded in 1985 by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, provides grief education books, support group curricula, caregiver training seminars, and bulk aftercare materials to grieving individuals, bereavement professionals, funeral homes, and hospices across North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grief Counseling & Bereavement Education

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Death Care Services (8122)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Home Health Care Services (8082)

akta.pro primary industry

Bereavement & Grief Support Services (Hospice-Affiliated/Independent) (HLADAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bereavement & Grief Support Services (Family Aftercare) (HSABAFAI), Palliative Care, Hospice & Serious Illness Support (BPAGACAK)

Keywords

• Grief counseling education
• Bereavement caregiver training
• Grief support publications
• Funeral aftercare resources
• Bereavement support group curricula

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Collins

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Sale of grief and loss books, journals, brochures, and gift products through the Center's bookstore. Products include bestselling titles like Understanding Your Grief, 100 Ideas series, and specialty resources for various types of loss.
2. Training Programs: Four-day educational seminars for bereavement caregivers taught by Dr. Wolfelt. Includes certification programs and professional development for grief counselors, funeral professionals, and healthcare workers.
3. Certification Programs: Bereavement caregiver certification through training completion. Also offers support group leader certifications for various grief types.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Center for Loss & Life Transition sells bereavement education, caregiver training, and grief-support publications. Its product lines include self-help books and book series for grieving individuals, mass-distributable brochures and aftercare packets sold to funeral homes and hospices, customizable gift boxes, and four-day professional training and certification seminars grounded in Dr. Alan Wolfelt's Companioning philosophy.

Product overview

The Center for Loss & Life Transition, led by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, offers a comprehensive portfolio of grief counseling and educational resources. The core offerings are Dr. Wolfelt's dozens of books on grief and loss, supplemented by several branded series: The 100 Ideas Series provides practical coping strategies; The Mourner's Book Series offers 30-day devotionals; The Understanding Your Grief Series (including suicide-specific and divorce-specific variants) is built on Dr. Wolfelt's Ten Touchstones philosophy; The Companioning Series teaches the companioning approach to grief care; and The Helping Series provides mass-distributable brochures. Additional offerings include customizable grief gift boxes, educational DVDs, empathy cards, wallet cards, support group start-up packages with leader manuals, funeral planning resources, and four-day training/certification seminars for bereavement caregivers. The organization also operates Companion Press as its publishing arm.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Understanding Your Grief Series
• The Mourner's Book Series
• The 100 Ideas Series
• The Companioning Series
• Understanding Your Suicide Grief Series
• Transcending Divorce Series
• The Helping Series Brochures
• Support Group Start-Up Packages
• Afterwords Aftercare Packets
• Customizable Grief Gift Box
• Training and Certification Programs

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hospices Throughout North AmericacoreOthersHundreds of hospices use the Helping Series brochures and Afterwords aftercare packets for bereavement support to families. Materials designed for mass distribution to grieving families served by hospice programs.
• Funeral Homes Throughout North AmericacoreOthersHundreds of funeral homes distribute the Helping Series and Afterwords materials to families they serve. Provides funeral professionals with quality aftercare resources for client families.
• HospitalsminorOthersHospitals use Afterwords aftercare packets for patient families experiencing loss. Materials provide compassionate support and guidance for the newly bereaved.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dougy Center: The Dougy Center provides peer support groups, training, and educational resources for grieving children, teens, and families — directly competing in the grief education, training, and family support space with overlapping professional training and published curricula.
• What's Your Grief: What's Your Grief is an online grief education platform run by mental health professionals offering articles, courses, and resources for grievers and caregivers — competing in the same grief education/training market with digital delivery rather than books.
• Refuge in Grief (Megan Devine): Refuge in Grief is a grief counseling and education platform built around Megan Devine's books and online courses, targeting both grieving individuals and professional caregivers — directly comparable as a thought-leader-driven grief education brand.
• Hospice Foundation of America: Hospice Foundation of America provides bereavement education programs, caregiver training, and grief resources — directly competing in hospice-affiliated grief education, professional training, and family support materials.
• Ele's Place: Ele's Place is a network of grief support centers for children and families, offering peer support programs and training — comparable as a peer-support and bereavement education organization serving overlapping grievers and professional caregivers.

Broad incumbents

• Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC): ADEC is the leading professional association for death education and grief counseling, offering credentialing, training, and conferences that overlap with the Center's bereavement caregiver certification and training programs at a broader industry-portfolio scale.
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO): NHPCO is the largest U.S. hospice industry association, providing bereavement resources, professional education, and industry standards — overlapping the Center's hospice-channel grief education and caregiver training, but at a national membership scale.

Emerging players

• MISS Foundation: MISS Foundation provides crisis support, peer companionship, and bereavement resources for families after the death of a child — an adjacent niche player with overlap in grief support methodology and family-facing resources.
• Open to Hope: Open to Hope is a grief support media platform featuring articles, podcasts, and community resources for various types of loss — comparable as a digital grief education resource targeting similar grieving-individual and caregiver audiences.

Others

• Compassion Books: Compassion Books is a retailer/distributor curating books and resources on grief, dying, and bereavement — comparable as a channel peer in grief publishing and an indirect competitor for grief book sales.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CenterforLoss

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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