What a Death Doula Does, Does not Do, and What We Want You to Know
“What does a death doula do?” is the question I hear most often. The simple answer is that we support you as a mortal. We talk openly about death with you and those around you. We help you plan your best dying process. We educate, we listen, we hold hands. Here are what we do not offer: medical care or advice, legal information, burial services, or religious counseling. In our death-denying and avoidant lifestyle it is common to not know much about dying or death. Death doulas wish you took some time to consider your death and how to care for others in your life. We seek to improve life by facing death long before it is imminent.
Bio: Laura Lyster-Mensh, MS, is an American writer who has been founding organizations to solve problems all her life, including three international non-profits. She is the author of four books, and has produced four podcast projects. Laura serves as Death Doula in residence at Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC and is a proud member of the DC Death Collective. She enjoys being old, and doesn’t mind being mortal
