A Problem with Death Doula Training

11 thoughts on “A Problem with Death Doula Training”

  1. As a trained Palliative Social Worker, with many years of experience, I can’t agree with you more. The knowledge that I have obtained with over 10 years of experience cannot be taught in 15 hours. I’ve worked inpatient, outpatient and currently in a large teaching hospital…. I took a course recently, young hipsters wanting “to be with those dying!” My intuition belly says, these are all the wrong reasons, this is about you….

    1. Lol …young hipsters! Yes, JJ, I attended a home funeral providers zoom where all the attendees were under the age of 35. Bring back the elder teachers! Thanks for the read and comment.

  2. I have completed a course of training to be an end of life doula. Indeed upon completion I was assured that I was qualified to help patients and their loved ones through a difficult time. However at the same time I was offered a second course in what might be called business administration to allow me to profit from my endeavors.
    Upon reflection I realized that I was in no way qualified. Even though I had years of experience working with the dying in my role and in hospital pharmacist on a palliative care service nothing in the course made me feel skilled or confident enough to take on this important task. The “syllabus” was glib and superficial. I met no dying patients. I met none of the loved ones experiencing a loss.

    1. Tom—It’s always nice to know when one is not alone in their perspective, especially when it is based on experience…like ours. I really like your last statement. Couldn’t agree more. Thank you for all the work you do and thank you for reading and commenting!

  3. YES to every word of this. Yes. So clear, so compassionately written. Thanks for your insight that people who have recently experienced the mystery, at the bedside of someone they love who has died, are often spurred to this work, yes… but woefully unprepared by these quick trainings. I’m so glad you share this wisdom.

  4. It’s always nice to know when one is not alone in their perspective, especially when it is based on experience…like ours. I really like your last statement. Couldn’t agree more. Thank you for reading and commenting!

  5. It’s about life, death… it is the journey in-between. How we learn, share and grow as human beings and develop community. Learning, education and how we teach… is what we currently do a process or an experience? We learn from experience, mentoring and relationship with those who experienced first… real learning, real education through real life. This is a great example!

  6. Thank you Delta for highlighting a large gap in training. Online programs can only work with hands on clinical hours, good preceptorships, and plenty of mentoring. Without that the soul of the profession is lost.

    1. So true, Leah! If you know, you know….and they don’t know. Thank you for reading and leaving a comment. Your support is invaluable!

Leave a Reply