“Not to make loss beautiful,
But to make loss the place
Where beauty starts.
Where the heart understands
For the first time
The nature of its journey.”
Death Doula Services
Offering personal and practical support for facing the last chapter of life
Home Funeral Education
Guiding families and communities in tending to their loved one’s body after death
Grief Support
Providing space, time, and care for all that comes along with loss and grief
Death Doula Services
What is a Doula?
The word ‘doula’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘one who serves’, and usually refers to a person who offers personal support through the profound transitions of birth and death. A death doula provides non-medical support for the person who is dying, and also supports those who love them.
Sometimes it’s as simple as listening deeply, and witnessing your experience.
Other times there are practical tasks to address or information to process together.
You’re in charge – I’m here to support you in the ways that work for you.
As a Death Doula, I offer compassionate support and guidance to you and your family through the changes, questions, challenges, and opportunities at end-of-life.
Possibilities for what we might do together, if desired:
Explore thoughts, feelings, desires, and fears about end-of-life and death
Engage in end-of-life processing and planning:
Reviewing life experiences, values, and identity
Clarifying wishes for final days/hours
Planning memorial/obituary/body care
Completing legacy projects (documenting your life story, writing cards to loved ones, creating gifts to be given out after your death, etc)
Provide Family Support:
Exploring end-of-life questions and feelings
Education about after-death body care
Support with grief
Compassionate presence during and after active dying process
Home Funeral Education
Tending to the bodies of our dead loved ones is a powerful act of love and care. It is legal and safe, and can be powerfully healing for the people involved.
As a Home Funeral Guide, I educate and empower families by providing information about their rights and local resources for after-death body care.
In Virginia, no one is required to purchase the services of a funeral director or funeral home. Families may conduct any or all tasks commonly performed by a funeral home (except embalming, which is not required by Virginia law).
There are many possibilities for families and friends who want to participate in the after-death care of their loved one, which can happen instead of going to a funeral home, or before going to a funeral home, or even at some funeral homes.
“Home funerals empower families and friends to begin the beautiful journey of mending the tear in the fabric of their community that is caused when someone they love dies. ”
Sometimes called "family-led after-death care" or "home funerals," this may include:
washing and dressing the body of their loved one
keeping the body home until burial or cremation
honoring the deceased (memorial service, wake, vigil, or viewing)
making arrangements for burial or cremation
transporting the body as needed
Contact me for family consultation around specific situations, or to provide community education for groups and events.
Grief Support
Grief changes everything.
When the shape of the world suddenly shifts through a death or loss, everything changes. And we change along with it, whether we want to or not. As someone who has walked a personal path of sudden loss and also journeyed alongside others in grief, I provide a compassionate space for being present with the changes and the questions, anger, curiosity, regrets, memories, and possibilities that arise.
There’s no “fixing” grief, just being present with it and letting it teach us.
I often work with people during the span of the first year after a death, and beyond. Some people come to untangle grief that’s been held for many years. I also serve people who are preparing for the death of a loved one or family member, navigating the complicated feelings that are part of anticipatory grief.
Let’s light a candle and share a pot of tea, and witness together what arises.
