Many people encounter the dying process for the first time when they are either caring for someone at the end of life or encountering death themselves.
While the death process is natural and universal, it can be a daunting, emotionally fraught, and overwhelming time. In the midst of complex medical decisions and the logistics of caregiving, family members are often holding existential fears, navigating complex relational dynamics, coming to terms with loss, and trying to process anticipatory grief.
The truth is that death requires more than excellent clinical care. Families may be surprised to find that hospice does not offer 24/7 coverage, and that staff is only in the home for a few hours per week. The vast majority of the day-to-day experience of dying unfolds in the space between hospice visits, with family members and caregivers left to tend to the unfamiliar territory of death on their own.
What does an end-of-life doula actually do?
End-of-life doulas are non-medical professionals who provide practical, emotional, and contemplative support for families through the entire arc of illness and death. Just as birth doulas serve the delivery process, death doulas support end of life transitions.
Among our many responsibilities, death doulas can act as patient advocates, trusted confidants, respite care providers, care coordinators, vigil holders, ritualists, and spiritual caregivers, accompanying the dying person and their loved ones at the death threshold.
At The Wild End, I employ a unique advisory model in which I work with only one family at a time. This highly selective approach allows me to provide an unparalleled level of attention, continuity, and personalized care to my clients. I serve as a guide through every medical, emotional, practical, spiritual, and logistical decision that arises in the end-of-life journey, filling gaps, coordinating clinical professionals, crafting advance directives, providing spiritual support, and serving the entire family system.
Who might benefit from working with an end-of-life doula?
You do not have to be actively dying to benefit from working with a doula. In fact, receiving support earlier in the course of a serious or terminal illness can provide patients and their families with more time to come into relationship with mortality, explore spiritual questions, make important decisions, and consider how they want to approach the end of life.
The Wild End’s end-of-life advisory services may be especially helpful for:
People living with a serious, progressive, or terminal illness
Families and caregivers who need guidance through the practical, emotional, and spiritual terrain of dying
Adult children of aging parents who need support with difficult conversations, making plans, and preparing for changes in health status
People who fear death and are struggling to come to terms with their mortality
Those who are drawn to eco-spirituality, including dying closer to nature, bringing nature-based rituals to the bedside. and exploring the elemental and energetic dimensions of death
How do I find an end-of-life doula?
I offer a free connection call to anyone interested in end-of-life advisory services. The call is a time for us to get to know each other and feel into alignment. I welcome any inquiries at victoria@thewildend.com and am happy to answer any questions you may have.
Along with holding a Master of Public Health from Dartmouth College, I received end of life doula training from the University of Vermont Larner School of Medicine. You can learn more about my background here.
I provide in-person services in Durango, Colorado and the surrounding Southwest/Rocky Mountain region. For clients elsewhere in the United States, I offer virtual support with the option of in-person care when travel is requested.