20-Year Prospect
As the saying goes, the two constants in life are death and taxes; both of these can cause a significant amount of grief. When people experience such catastrophic loss, they need a good shoulder to cry on, and that's not going to change any time soon.
More so than any time in history, humanity understands that coping with feelings, including grief, is a positive, necessary part of the human condition. That's why health care programs such as the Affordable Care Act expand benefits for the mental health care of millions of Americans.
More people will be able to seek counseling for their grief. For that reason, more counselors will be needed to speak with and more money will be available for payment. That may be why the profession is expected to grow by a whopping twenty-nine percent (almost 50,000 new jobs) through 2022 (source).