Death Doula Program
and Apprenticeship

Following your retreat, you embark on a unique hands-on experience as an apprentice to residents in their dying season at CCLD. As apprentices, doula students serve at the bedside, learning from volunteers and a doula program mentor. Students rotate through a schedule of “turn times” throughout the week, allowing for a comprehensive and immersive experience. This structure enables you to observe, participate in, and converse with volunteers and mentors at the bedside through various end-of-life care experiences.

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In the past, students have experienced after-death ritual baths, anointing rituals, the last breath of residents, and much more. Daily debrief sessions, or “integration circles,” provide an opportunity to process everything learned and experienced—both seen and unseen, practical and emotional, and more subtle or energetic experiences.

The apprenticeship program is distinctly self-directed, encouraging students to facilitate their own learning experience by asking questions about the aspects of end-of-life care that interest them most. This immersive apprenticeship week ensures you gain more than practical skills; you learn how to “be” in most situations and lovingly hold space for this sacred end-of-life journey.

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This is a deeply experiential program that does not focus on business development or the logistics of creating a doula business. Each week of apprenticeship varies based on the number of residents at CCLD, their current stage in the dying process, and the level of care needed. Some residents may be imminently and actively dying, while others may have just arrived and are still ambulatory, eating and drinking. Join us with curiosity and an openness to the mystery!