Become an end-of-life doula!

Sacred Passage Doula | Certificate Program

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REFUND/CANCELLATION POLICY: WE DO NOT OFFER REFUNDS. IT IS OUR EXPECTATION THAT STUDENTS COMPLETE THEIR COURSEWORK AND GRADUATE WITH THEIR COHORT IN ORDER TO EARN A CERTIFICATE. IF YOU HAVE PAID AND NOT YET ACCESSED THE COURSEWORK, YOU MAY CONSIDER OFFERING A ONE-TIME GIFT OF YOUR ENROLLMENT AS A SCHOLARSHIP TO A STUDENT IN NEED.
Our transformative Sacred Passage End-of-Life Doula program is comprised of BOTH the Conscious Dying Coach and End-of-Life Doula programs, and offers a complete end-of-life literacy and coaching education while interweaving our innate healing gifts, talents, and wisdom of our soul’s calling. End-of-Life Doulas are frontline caregivers who offer non-medical, healing vs. curative care to families and patients during critical illness and the dying process. They work individually or in teams, available around the clock, and fill in care gaps before, nearing and during death. The presence of an End-Of-Life Doula at the bedside assures families and loved ones that they can focus on what is most important throughout the dying process.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

Our program supports frontline clinicians, clinical leaders, educators, home and family caregivers, healing arts professionals, and volunteers. People who have attended our programs in the past are Para and Legal Professionals; Massage Therapists and Healing Arts Practitioners; Physicians, Nurses, PAs, NPs, PTs, Hospice and Palliative Care Professionals; Directors of Nursing Education; Nursing Students; Children and Families facing death or loss of loved ones; Directors, Staff, Activities Directors, Residents of Senior Care Communities; Psychologists, Chaplains, and LSWs. Regardless of background, this program is designed for anyone interested in exploring their own life and death and how to bring their wisdom in service to others facing critical illness and death.

OUR PROGRAM PROVIDES YOU WITH THE SKILLS TO:

  • Increase beauty, pleasure, and contentment.
  • Provide emotional and spiritual support.
  • Initiate conversations about the dying process.
  • Practice self-care to reduce burnout and emotional fatigue.
  • Demystify the stages of the dying process.
  • Acknowledge mysteries, miracles, and unexplained events.
  • Create Ceremony & Ritual, Community Building, Business Development
  • Learn how to be with intense emotions, in self and others.
  • Honor others’ beliefs while staying true to your own.
  • Be a steward of conscious death.
  • Attend at the bedside so that no one dies alone.
  • Restore death to its sacred place in the beauty, mystery and celebration of life.

REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION / CERTIFICATE:

  • Complete the practicum using the Best Three Months.
  • Participate in readings and self-reflective writing assignments.
  • Explore your own end-of-life desires, beliefs, and wishes.
  • Complete your own end-of-life vision and care plan.
  • Experience caring, healing, and transformational practices.
  • Participate in live virtual sessions with our faculty.
  • Interact with your classmates in thought-provoking discussions.

THIS PROGRAM AND COURSE CONTENT CONTAIN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FROM THE BEAUTIFUL WORK OF CONSCIOUS DYING INSTITUTE AND TARRON ESTES AND ASSOCIATES, INC. WE ARE HONORED TO CARRY ON THIS LEGACY WORK WITH THEIR EXPRESS PERMISSION.

What does it mean to be a certified doula?

Certification for doulas is not mandated by any government authority, as this is a self-regulating profession without a centralized regulatory or accreditation body. Consequently, claims of "national" or "international" certification by training organizations don’t carry a standardized meaning. Most doulas operate as independent contractors and may choose whether or not to pursue certification.

In the doula community, certification indicates that an individual has fulfilled the requirements set by a specific training program. At its core, certification ensures that a person identified as an "end-of-life doula" has:

  1. Completed a professional training program.
  2. Demonstrated knowledge and competence in essential aspects of the field.
  3. Agreed to adhere to a specified Scope of Practice and Code of Ethics. (The Scope of Practice and Code of Ethics found on the NEDA and INELDA websites are 

We believe that imposing extensive certification requirements and fees is not essential for training well-qualified, proficient doulas to serve families in their communities. Therefore, we have incorporated certification into the training costs and developed a professional curriculum that is robust and accessible.

What is the “Best Three Months?” (B3M)

The Best Three Months is an end-of-life care and planning process that goes beyond advanced directives and what is undesirable in our time of dying. B3M focuses on how we live our lives before, during, and after death. Students learn to use an individual and family coaching model along with group facilitation practices that focus on identifying and implementing our most important life priorities within a ‘3 months-to-live’ time frame.

Students practice this coaching tool with a partner in class, and with two community members. By using the communication skills they have learned in the course, students are able to coach others and create Vision Maps with them for the Five Domains of Life. Working with your course partner, a Vision Map will also be created for you. It is a deeply moving process to partake in and prepares students for listening deeply and implementing what people hold most precious in their hearts and minds.

As a result of going through the Best Three Months practicum, students establish a strong foundation to foster integration of the 10 Conscious Dying principles. It grants students the opportunity to synthesize everything they have learned in this course so that as graduates, they can increase the number of people who receive the end-of-life care they want and need, regardless of setting.

Continuing Education & CNEs

Our certificate program is credentialed through the Arizona Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Our CNE hours are recognized across all 50 states as well as Canada. Your completed certificate (received upon completion of the program) is the verification of your 71.5 contact hours. If your employer is looking to confirm the program outside of the Conscious Dying Institute, our CNEG Approval ID from your certificate is all they need to verify our program.

Because of the rigorous nature of the approval process, many employers will accept CNE hours as sources of continuing education, even for professionals who are not nurses.