California Dreaming

 

In just a few days (February 3) I will be going out to California for a number of events. First I will participate in the training of a new crop of volunteer doulas at the Hospice of San Luis Obispo County (Hospice SLO), an organization that has a very successful End of Life Doula Program we helped them create a little over a year and a half ago. The following weekend I will conduct a public INELDA training in Santa Barbara, about an hour and a half south of San Luis Obispo.

Perhaps the most exciting part of this upcoming trip is what will happen between these two trainings: I will team up with the Executive Director of Hospice SLO, Kris Kington-Barker, to teach a select group of inmates in the California Men’s Colony prison how to support and guide fellow inmates as they grieve the deaths of prisoners from a terminal illness. INELDA has made a commitment to teaching the doula approach pro bono in prisons and veterans hospitals. This will be our first such project, which we hope will expand during the year. At some point later in 2017, we will go back to the California Men’s Colony to instruct that same group of inmates on how to do vigil work.

This year we’re expanding the number of teachings we offer around the country and hope that those of you who have been thinking about attending a training session finally decide to do so. The end of life doula field needs better-trained doulas. And with one training a month you should easily find a session that fits your schedule and geographic location.