Doula Educational Topics &
Industry News

This week we would like to spotlight one of our lovely International Doula Life Movement graduates, Denise Johnson. If you would like to participate in our Student Spotlight, please reach out to Aurora Nibley through direct message on the Movement. What first brought you to end of life work? On…

At the age of 15, I began volunteering at a local hospital. A simple act of service helped me find my true calling in hospice. This early experience laid the foundation for what would become my life’s work, caring for individuals in their final stages of life, a journey that…

International Doula Life Movement’s Tree of Life Conference is getting closer and closer! We have spent a great deal of time these past few weeks introducing the many experts and speakers who will be joining us for our Tree of Life Conference, but we still have one person left. She…

Clients who reach out to engage the services of an end of life doula all have one thing in common—for one reason or another, death is on their mind. More often than not, their death or the death of someone close to them will be happening fairly soon and they…

Fall is in the air, and the International Doula Life Movement Tree of Life Conference is getting closer and closer! Over the past several weeks we have taken time to spotlight many of the speakers we are looking forward to having with us at the conference, all with their own…

In the 1960s, psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross began a controversial project that would become her life’s work: she conducted a series of interviews with people who had been diagnosed with terminal illnesses, to ask them about their thoughts and feelings regarding their impending death. Many people—including doctors—were unsupportive, and even resistant…

When people learn you work in end of life care, they say things like, “That’s so interesting,” or “I could never do that.” Sometimes the reaction is positive and sometimes it’s negative, but in both cases there is often an unspoken question—why on earth would you want to do THAT?…

This past week I was speaking to an acquaintance, someone I have known for a while but don’t know well. Somehow it came up that I work in end of life care and death planning. The woman’s eyes lit up. “Like Swedish Death Cleaning?” she asked. To be honest, I…

If you are a part of the IDLM community, you’re probably the type of person who is interested in conversations about death. So you have learned by now, as so many of us have learned, that once you start talking about death, it can be difficult to stop! There is…

It’s still hot out, but autumn is right around the corner, and that means back to school time. The tradition of school terms starting in the fall goes back at least a hundred and fifty years in the United States. Schools took summer off because so many of the students…

Every human life is filled with rituals, even if we don’t always think of them that way. Small daily rituals like brushing our teeth, weekly rituals of going to church or getting together with friends, annual rituals of celebrating birthdays and holidays. All these rituals, big and small, give shape…

Of all the services we provide as end of life doulas, the most fundamental way we serve our clients is through education. In a world where death is unfamiliar to most people, many of the families we work with have no idea what to expect. Helping them understand what is…