About Living Peaceful Doula

I am a Mother, Daughter, Sister, Partner, Social Worker, and End-of-Life Doula and and end-of-life care advocate. I did not set out intending to work in death care, but I have also never felt a calling quite like this. As a child, I helped care for family when they were ill and/or dying...this is just how we cared for our loved ones. After receiving my Masters in Social Work, I started working at a Long Term Acute Care Hospital in New Jersey and began witnessing more death and was present for more than I ever thought I would experience. I have held hands of those who were dying, rubbed their heads, and just sat with them so they weren't alone. I've listened to loved ones tell stories and supported their grief journey. This was all happenstance for what was to become my purpose in my community now. 

"If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.” ~Heraclitus

In 2014, my father was diagnosed with Stage IV non-small cell carcinoma and the doctors told us at hat time, "It isn't curable, but it is treatable" ... we never thought our time would be cut so short and within 2 months he had passed away. It was during this time, and with hospice, I noticed something just didn't feel right. Being his primary caregiver, I was full of emotions like sadness, grief, and uncertainty, and felt completely lost in a sea of medical professionals who simply didn't speak my laymen's language. I didn't know if what I was thinking, doing, or feeling was right, wrong or even normal, but what I did know is that I never want another individual or family to go through something like this alone. I didn't know how I could help make a difference until I started working in hospice, where the gap in support become so incredibly clear to me, even with hospice in place. I started to remember all of the  confusing feelings I experienced during my journey with my dad's diagnosis, treatment and death. It was at this point I started to think about ideas of how I could help.

To formalize what I had already been doing for those who were in their final stages of life, in 2023, I decided to get my End-of-Life Doula certificate with IAP Career College. Then in 2024 I trained with International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA). Now, here I am hoping to help change our relationship with death to improve the quality of life for patients and families.

To provide compassionate, non-medical, care to patients and their families during a life-limiting illness and to increase the presence of end-of-life doulas through conscientious education and normalizing conversations around death, dying and grief.