Self Care When There’s No Time For Self Care
Autumn is just around the corner. Vacations are winding down and kids are getting ready to go back to school. Classes are even starting up again at IDLM! It’s a good time for a lot of people to take on new projects and new responsibilities, before the holidays come around again and everybody gets really […]
The Gift of Trust
A commonly held view among those who work in hospice, or with end of life patients in general, is that most people who need to go on hospice wait too long to do it. Instead of opting for hospice care when they receive their terminal diagnosis, they decide to do one more round of chemo, […]
Death Book Roundup 3
It’s time for another book round up! Who doesn’t love a little summer reading? Previous book recommendations on this blog have focused on non-fiction books and memoirs by death care professionals. This time we want to tell you about some books that really get inside the grief experience in a more personal way. Most of […]
My Love Affair With Forest Lawn
Forest Lawn is a company with several cemetery properties; by coincidence I happened to grow up just a few miles away from their main site in Glendale, California. It was a lovely place to meditate on life, death, or in my case, Poli Sci homework.
Music for End of Life
A couple weeks back, I was having a pretty rough day. One of those days where nothing seems to go right, and nothing seems to help, and the only thing you can do is give up, lie in a dark room, and listen to Simon and Garfunkel on repeat. You might have a different preference […]
Death Book Roundup 1
One of the things we all figure out pretty early on in our end of life care journey is that there is always more to know! At IDLM we make continuing education a priority for exactly that reason, to help our students and graduates add to their knowledge and keep track of new developments in […]
Whatever You Do… Don’t Panic!
There is a classic science fiction novel you may have heard of, called The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The book itself is not a guide to the galaxy. Instead, it is about the guide, which is an electronic device, a bit like a smart phone except the idea was thirty years before smart phones, […]
We Gain Personal Strength From One Another
Well, January sure has been a doozy this year! Fires in the west, blizzards in the east, sickness everywhere… and don’t even get me started on politics. Times like these are when it becomes vital for us to support one another, but it seems like even this is tough to do in our modern world, […]
No Matter How You Celebrate, Make Sure to Remember Self Care
It’s no secret that the end of the year is a tough time for a lot of people. The holiday season is stressful! It can be stressful to worry about putting together a special enough celebration. It can be stressful to be a person who doesn’t celebrate. Some people deal with difficult memories during the […]
Building Confidence and Habits as an End-of-Life Doula
The journey of an end-of-life doula is a unique one, marked by profound emotional experiences, compassionate service, and the privilege of supporting individuals and their loved ones during life’s final chapter. Whether you’re just starting out or have been practicing for years, building confidence and developing sustainable habits is essential to providing the best care […]
