Peering Beyond the Veil
Here’s something you might not know: Arthur Conan Doyle, the author who created the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, was a big fan of going to seances. He was not only a follower but a spokesperson for a movement that began in the 1890s called Spiritualism, which reached its height in the late 1910s and […]
Finding the Answers
There are many reasons why people considering their end of life plans might call in a death doula, but what most of those reasons boil down to is that these people have a lot of questions, and they want to connect with someone who has the answers. Well, here’s the big secret: You, the doula, […]
Welcome to the IDLM Family!!
New classes are beginning at IDLM and as always we are all so excited to welcome new members to the IDLM family. Whether our incoming students are totally new to the idea of end of life care, formalizing knowledge they have already gained through life experience, or just brushing up on expertise they already carry, […]
The Importance of Showing Up
A couple of weeks ago I was woken up by a call at around 6:30 in the morning. A friend of mine needed to get to the airport and the person that had agreed to take them had canceled at the very last minute. It wasn’t a huge emergency, as emergencies go; everybody got where […]
Summer Summit Spotlight – Emma Acker
Everybody dies. We all know this; as death care professionals we face this reality every single day. One of the challenges of death care work is the fact that even though everyone dies, not everyone has the resources to pay for good care at the end of their life, and unfortunately this happens to be […]
Is It Time to Revisit Your Advance Care Plan?
I’m getting ready to take a big trip in the fall, and as I was working on preparations today it occurred to me that it’s been a while since this blog said anything about advance care planning. When it comes to making an advance care plan, a lot of people think it’s something you do […]
Spotlight on Summer Summit Guest, Dr. Cynthia Pan
This week on the blog we are highlighting an upcoming Summer Summit guest who puts the International in International Doula Life Movement. Dr. Cynthia Pan is a hospice and palliative care expert with decades of experience.
Get Ready for Summer Summit 2025!
The days are long and the weather is getting warmer. Summer is just about here, and that means the International Doula Life Movement Summer Summit is right around the corner.
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 […]
The Words We Say
If you’re reading this, you already know how important it is to talk about death. One of the things you’ll hear over and over again in your IDLM classes, in workshops and CE classes, in Death Cafes and here on this blog, is how important it is to find ways to simply have conversations about […]
