Frequently Asked Questions

An End-of-Life (death doula) is a non-medical professional who is trained to care for a person  and their family holistically in the last phase of life. Holistic means  “whole" - death doulas are trained to know what to expect physically, emotionally, and spiritually as someone’s body declines and what interventions to  suggest for optimum comfort. 

Doulas can become involved any time in a person’s life, offering support when people are impacted by a life-changing illness, after a terminal diagnosis, when death is imminent, or even after a death—to help with light grief support. Doulas serve both the person going through the dying process and their loved ones and caregivers.

Doulas normalize deathcare by creating spaces to hold conversations, leading to increased communication with resulting increased spiritual and emotional well being. When individuals plan for death, they have autonomy over their decisions and are able to clearly define their end-of-life wishes with family and loved ones. 

https://inelda.org/about-doulas/what-is-a-doula/

Advance care planning involves discussing and preparing for future decisions about your care if you become seriously ill or are unable to communicate your wishes. These wishes are often documented in advance directives, which include a living will and durable medical power of attorney (also called health-care proxy - names may vary by state). Both of these forms are available on your state's department of health website. However, these forms are often limited in their scope and in their ability to safeguard your wishes. More information regarding these documents can be provided during a free 30-minute consultation - Please leave a message on the homepage to schedule. 

Filling out these forms, however, is not enough! The most important aspect of advance care planning is communicating these wishes to your chosen medical power of attorney and loved ones. Your medical power of attorney and family should not be making decisions for you - They should simply be carrying forward and advocating for your previously stated wishes. Assistance in starting and having these conversations is available. 

Life planning specialists are a professionals specially trained to help clients through all aspects of advanced care planning. This expands beyond completing an advance directive. Specialists assists clients in gathering information that will be helpful for their loved ones if they are unavailable, like due to a medical emergency, or at the time of their death. They also help people make subjective choices for their next chapter - where they want to age, how they want to age, what quality of life is to them, and their advanced directives, including specific wishes, for their end of life care, providing information and resources regarding various aging options and assisting people in creating a "living well" plan and communicating that plan to family and loved ones. At the end of this process, the client will have created a comprehensive guide to assist their loved ones in handling their social, financial, legal, and after-death affairs. 

Conscious Connected Breathing is a breathwork technique designed to engage the sympathetic nervous system, where trauma and emotion can be stored.  By participating in a facilitated breathing session, patients and family members can tap into their grief in order to process and release it.  Breathwork can be used for anticipatory grieving when a family member is dying or after the family member passes to process complex emotions. 

Psilocybin (aka “magic mushrooms”) journeys are being offered to patients at the end of life primarily for their potential to alleviate the existential distress, anxiety, and depression associated with terminal illness. Extensive research suggests that psilocybin can promote profound psychological experiences, leading to increased feelings of peace, acceptance, and connectedness. These experiences can help patients confront their fears about dying and enhance their quality of life during their final days. Additionally, psilocybin has shown promise in fostering emotional breakthroughs and reducing feelings of isolation, which can be especially beneficial for those facing end-of-life issues.

Legacy projects help individuals, families and caregivers review the life of a dying person or elder with the hopes of creating a meaningful project that serves as a living memory after the individual’s death.

The beauty of legacy work is that there is no timeline to when it should or can be implemented. Legacy work can be completed before or after a person dies. It can be as simple as an audio recording of meaningful stories or as complex as creation of an art project. 

Some ideas for legacy projects are listed below: 

- Audio recording/transcription

- Recipe book

- Legacy quilt

- Legacy letters

- Creation of scholarship

- Legacy bench

- Knitwear 

- Garden

End-of-Life doulas can assist with planning, creating, and finalizing these projects.