Grab a coffee or a tea and join us for Death Doula Chats: Conversations about loss, grief, dying and death with leading death doulas, death educators, hospice palliative care providers and those in support of wellness and well being at the end of life.

​Talking about loss, grief, dying and death, and sharing our experiences may reduce our fears and help us better understand and prepare for this important phase of life.

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Death Chats with Jane Whitlock, death doula & TedTalk presenter

I had the pleasure of connecting with End of Life Doula  Jane Whitlock in the late summer of 2020 to discuss the success of her TedTalk, her journey to become an end of life doula and what the future holds for those working in end of life care.
See Jane's TedTalk What I learned about life from death.
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I have always appreciated Jane's honesty and her ability to acknowledge our innate wisdom that guides so much of this work.
I hope you enjoy this 20 minute conversation.

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Death Chats with Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller, Palliative Care Social Worker

Kathy is an unconventional death educator with a passion for palliative care and improving the end of life care for all. Kathy has been teaching and researching at Lakehead University for over a decade. In her work, Kathy inspires and challenges future healthcare providers to be prepared to care for individuals who are dying, and their families, in healthcare settings. Kathy leverages her experiences as a cancer survivor and as a palliative care provider to challenge us to have the important conversations about dying, death and life. Kathy strives to make an impact with her teaching, research and speaking to discover, share and communicate the information that we are all "dying to know."

The following is a conversation I had with Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller.

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Death Chats with Maureen Pollard, Social Worker

Maureen Pollard is a Registered Social Worker. Since 1991, she has worked with a broad range of individuals and families to resolve challenges, cope with difficult and tragic circumstances, and find hope, healing and resilience in their own way and at their own pace.
I met Maureen at the Bereavement Ontario Network conference a few years ago and we had many in-depth conversations about loss and grief. Since then Maureen has been part of Grief Stories, and has written her tender book of memoirs The Twentieth Year.

​I hope you enjoy and learn from our 22 minute conversation.

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Death Chats with Yvette Murray, mental health first aid trainer

I had the chance to sit down and have a conversation with Yvette Murray, Certified Instructor of the Mental Health First Aid, Body Language Institute (BLI) Certified Instructor, seasoned entrepreneur, and personal friend. Yvette is a passionate mental health advocate, with over 20 years of experience in the Wellness sector, focusing on empowering others in caring for their body, mind and spirit. Yvette offers on-line training and virtual mental health consulting.

I hope you enjoy this 26 minute conversation.

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Death Chats with Martha Jo Atkins, death educator & author of "Signposts of Dying"

I was so excited to sit and chat with Martha Jo Atkins who inspired me and many other end of life educators and supporters with her TedTalk in December of 2013. Martha has been a leader in death education for a few decades now and continues to provide training now with her newly launched D-School, where she guides others in seeing "dying as a vehicle for learning about presence and belonging, giving and receiving."

I had a chance to speak with Martha about her book Sign Posts of Dying, her D-School and the future of death education.
I hope you enjoy this 24 minute conversation.

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Death Chats with Darren Evans, Founder of The After Cloud

​Darren Evans is the founder of After Cloud and is passionate about using technology to make effective and progressive change for positive social impact for those at the end of life and those grieving. The After Cloud app., currently in Beta testing, "enables individuals in all care settings to share their stories and important moments with their loved ones." You can find more information about After Cloud HERE.

I hope you enjoy this informal 20 minute conversation.

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Death Chats with Karry Sawatsky, death educator & author of "End of Life Planning Guide"

I was so glad to connect with past student, experienced death doula and death educator, Karry Sawatsky, to discuss her business Modern Deathcare, the death caring movement and her End of Life Planning Guide. We also talked about the future of death education and Karry's part in the Stories for Caregivers project How We Die documentary.

​I hope you find this 23 minute conversation interesting and enlightening.

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Death Chats with Dr. Weiss, palliative care physician

I  had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Weiss about Medical Assistance in Dying and the development of MAiDHouse in Toronto, Ontario whose mission is to "Provide a supportive, inclusive and home-like setting for those eligible to receive MAiD, while supporting MAiD providers and assessors, patients and their families, and the general public through education, training and research." Dr. Weiss, who was instrumental in the creation of the Ontario MAiD Provider handbook, shares his insights into how we may better care for those that request Medical Assistance in Dying, and how the MAiDHouse will serve those in need.

​I hope you find this 26 minute conversation interesting.