Course Description
This online course includes comprehensive discussions surrounding the history and culture of death care in the United States, highlighting themes of choice, access, oppression, and liberation in death care. Together, we will study & discuss nonmedical, medical, and legal components of end-of-life and deathcare with details and stories of different procedures, methods, and frameworks for body and mind during death.
Death Care Training with ASP encourages and centers conversation surrounding dominant cultural norms and justice-based alternatives for support techniques. We will highlight options available related to choice in death care and comprehensive resources for the surviving care team (medical, nonmedical, community, etc). This learning also includes ongoing grief tending and skill building as we learn together. We will engage in grief care throughout the 8-weeks together through artwork, poetry, facts, conversation, games, and stories.
Topics & Themes:
- Learn Media Literacy & Death Terminology
- Explore and Create Models of Grief & Grieving
- Practice Consent & Non-medical Support
- Develop Practical Skills for Support & Care in End-of-Life and Death
- Share Understandings of Access for Dying People & their Care Network
- Articulate the Role of Lineage and Tradition in Companionship
- Define and Explore Archetypes, including Dominant Cultural Norms
- Advocate for Choices, Options, and informed consent in Death Care
- Build on Dialogue, Relationship Building, and Understanding
Students will learn in cohorts to identify resources that broaden their existing nonmedical care practices to include practical end-of-life and death care skills. Training for caretakers centers on what role a support person can hold while working in these oppressive and biased systems that exist in the United States, particularly for those who do not have access to death care.
The cohort meets for 2.5 hours on Monday & Wednesday online via Zoom, AM Cohort 9 am to 11:30 am PT and PM Cohort 6 - 8:30PM PT for 8 weeks, a total of sixteen live sessions. In addition to weekly gatherings, self-paced content modules on Thinkific included pre-recorded content and resources.
2025 Cohorts
Spring: March 31st - May 21
Fall: September 1 - October 22
- AM - 9 am -11:30 am
- PM - 6 pm - 8:30 pm
Course Outline:
- Week 1: Welcome to Death Doula Training
- Week 2: Laying the Groundwork
- Week 3: What is Death?
- Week 4: Medical & Legal Components of Care
- Week 5: Ways of Tending a Body
- Week 6: Ways of Tending to Grief
- Week 7: How do people, people?
- Week 8: Living Funeral & Closing Circle
Rate for 2025 8-week Deathcare Course (sliding scale):
- $950.00 for anyone who has a financial need for a reduced rate; does not cover cost of the course
- $1,550.00 covers cost of the course and payment to facilitators; this is the rate that covers the full cost of class
- $2,250.00 payment covers the cost of the course and payment to facilitators and helps towards sustainability; choose this option if you can pay extra to support our scholarships & programs.
16 Live Classes on Zoom:
Attendance and participation is requested. Our classes are small and each student brings an important presence. If you are unable to make more than 3 sessions, we invite you to please sign up for a future cohort where the dates fit your schedule):
Our core teachers facilitate our 16 zoom sessions, in addition to several pre-recorded videos that students are invited to watch asynchronously during the 8-weeks together. Guest teachers weave their knowledge throughout the curriculum in live sessions, pre-recorded offerings, informational materials, and workbooks for practice and reflection.
Ongoing Facilitators:
Previous Guest Educators:
Before you enroll! Please take a moment to read more about the courses, how we teach, learning environment, accessibility, cost of training, and our reschedule/refund policies at https://asacredpassing.org/accessibility-info
