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 […]
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 […]
Making Personal Connections

If you work as a doula, you have probably been through the experience of helping someone put together an advance care plan—or at the very least, you have taken time to put some thought into a plan for yourself. Which means you know how challenging that project can be. One of the first, and biggest, […]
Let’s Talk About It

When it comes to working with people as an end of life doula, the first and most important thing to do issimply to start the conversation. Once people feel like they are safe to talk about death and dying, theyoften open up quickly to share stories about their loved ones who have died or their […]
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, […]
Lisa Pahl and Death Deck

When it comes to helping clients and families through the end of life process, whether you’re just planning or assisting someone who is in active transition, the most difficult part of the process can often be just opening the conversation. Getting people to talk about death and dying isn’t always easy, especially when it’s a […]
Birthday Bash 2025

The beginning of a new year is always a great time for personal assessment. Even though we know it’s possible to evaluate, plan, and make changes in our lives at any time, there’s just something about that new number on the calendar that makes New Year’s feel like the right time to quit that bad […]
IDLM Partner Spotlight: Doulado

We all know how much hard work goes into being a doula. Lots of multi-tasking, quick thinking, problem solving, patience, and even physical labor sometimes! To be a doula, you have to be somebody who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. But for a lot of us, all that hard work and those difficult […]
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 […]