I help people reclaim death as a meaningful part of life rather than something to fear or avoid. As a sociologist, writer, and certified death doula — trained by Alua Arthur and the team at Going with Grace, and by the faculty at the University of Vermont — I bring something unusual to this work: academic understanding of how death functions in our culture, the direct experience documented in my memoir Bound, and hundreds of hours embedded with inpatient hospice and palliative care teams.
I work with conventional families and unconventional ones. Religious people and secular ones. Peaceful deaths and complicated ones. If your situation doesn’t fit a tidy narrative, that’s not a problem — it’s exactly where I’m most useful.
If there’s something you need that you don’t see here, reach out to me so we can discuss it. If I can’t offer it, I might know someone who can!
Family Navigation & Communication
For complicated relationships and difficult dynamics
There’s a common saying that people die the way they live, which means that strained relationships, old conflicts, and difficult family patterns don’t disappear when someone is dying. They often intensify. I specialize in helping families navigate end-of-life decisions when communication is hard, when people disagree, or when the dynamics are simply too charged to manage alone. I also support people in grieving complicated relationships after death, when the loss is real, but so is the relief, the anger, or the ambivalence.
- Facilitate difficult conversations about care preferences and values
- Help decode what your loved one really needs when they can’t express it clearly
- Guide families through decision-making that is fraught with disagreement
- Walk you through clarifying and maintaining boundaries before, during, and after a death, so you can be as fully present as possible.
Ideal for: Adult children managing care for aging parents, families with histories of conflict, and situations where past trauma complicates current caregiving
Death Anxiety Transformation
From fear and avoidance to acceptance to agency
Death anxiety isn’t just the fear of dying. It’s fear of meaninglessness, loss of control, and the unknown. By listening deeply to your concerns and introducing meditative practices combined with philosophical, sociological, and psychological insights, I help people understand why death feels so terrifying so they can step outside that fear and build a different relationship with mortality.
- Understand why our culture makes death so frightening (and how to opt out of that fear)
- Explore what death means to you personally, separate from cultural programming
- Develop practices that help you live more fully by making peace with mortality
- Create advance care plans that reflect your actual values,
Ideal for: People with persistent death anxiety, those avoiding end-of-life planning due to fear, and anyone who wants to live more authentically by accepting mortality
Story & Legacy Crafting
Your life is a story—let’s keep it alive even after you die.
This isn’t just memory preservation, it’s meaning-making. Together we can document the lessons and stories that are uniquely yours to share, and create the narrative you want to craft about the way your story completes itself. This is not only about death. It’s about understanding and sharing the value of your life.
- Explore the key experiences, lessons, and values that have shaped your life
- Create narratives that help you embrace rather than just accept your circumstances
- Document stories that reveal who you truly are, not just what you’ve accomplished
- Frame your legacy in ways that bring peace to you and meaning to those who remain
Ideal for: People seeking meaning in their mortality, those wanting to heal relationships through storytelling, and anyone feeling like their life “doesn’t matter.”
Anticipatory Grief Support
When you’re grieving someone who’s still alive
Watching someone you love decline involves a form of grief that our culture rarely acknowledges. It can be hard to make room for that grief when you are expected to stay strong, present, and grateful for the time you have left despite being exhausted, heartbroken, and worried about the loss that hasn’t yet happened.
- Navigate the complex emotions of anticipatory grief
- Find ways to connect with your person as they change
- Manage caregiver burnout and complicated feelings
- Prepare emotionally for the death that’s coming while staying present for the life that remains
Ideal for: Caregivers, family members watching someone they love decline, anyone facing terminal diagnoses in their inner circle
Vigil Companionship & Death Education
Calm, knowledgeable, presence when you need it
Death has become medicalized and professionalized to the point that many people feel like bystanders in their most profound moments. I can help you understand what is happening physiologically and emotionally during the dying process, reducing fear and creating space for you to be present, make your own rituals, and say goodbye on your own terms.
- Educate about the natural dying process so it’s less frightening
- Provide peaceful companionship during vigil periods
- Assist with the setting of boundaries, where possible, in care settings
- Support decision-making about comfort measures and saying goodbye
Ideal for: Families with someone in hospice care, people who want to die at home, and anyone feeling unprepared for what dying actually looks like
Grief and Bereavement Support
Grief doesn’t fit neatly into life, but it’s an essential part of living and loving
Grief isn’t a problem to solve or a stage to get through. It’s evidence of your capacity for love and connection. I support people through all kinds of grieving, including grief over deaths that brought relief, grief over people who were difficult to love, and grief that people around you don’t know how to acknowledge or understand.
- Honor your unique grief timeline and process
- Address secondary losses that compound primary grief
- Navigate grief when your relationship with the deceased was complicated
- Find ways to carry love and memory forward when the person is gone
Ideal for: People grieving complicated relationships, those experiencing disenfranchised grief, anyone whose grief doesn’t fit cultural expectations, and anyone who would like support and companionship through grief.
Working together
Rates & what to expect
| Initial consultation (60 min) | Complimentary |
| Individual sessions (60–90 min) | $150–$175 |
| Full end-of-life accompaniment package | $1,500–$2,500 |
| Vigil support (active dying, in-person) | Contact me |
| Sliding scale | Available — ask me |
Rates are a starting point for a conversation, not a barrier to one. If cost is a concern, please reach out — I’d rather find a way to work with you than have you go without support.
How it works
Four simple steps from first contact to ongoing support
Step 1
Free consultation
A 60-minute conversation to understand your situation and see whether we’re a good fit. No obligation.
Step 2
Scope & plan
We clarify what kind of support would be most useful and agree on how we’ll work together.
Step 3
Ongoing sessions
We meet by phone, video, or in person depending on your location and the nature of your needs.
Step 4
As needed
I’m available for urgent support, family calls, or in-person presence when the time comes.
Every situation is different. If you’re not sure whether what you need is something I offer, reach out anyway — I’ll tell you honestly, and if I can’t help, I may know someone who can.
Start a conversationWhy Work With Me?
Academic Credibility + Personal Experience My PhD in sociology gives me unique insight into how death functions in our culture, while my personal experience (documented in my book Bound) means I understand the messy reality of family dynamics during the end of a person’s life.
Specialized Training
- Trained by Alua Arthur and Going with Grace End-of-Life Services
- University of Vermont End-of-Life Doula Certificate
- NEDA-proficient (National End of Life Doula Alliance)
- Hundreds of volunteer hours with inpatient hospice and palliative care teams
Unique Approach
- I understand complicated family dynamics—not every death story is a Hallmark movie. That’s okay. It can still be the best death possible.
- I honor both reason and spirituality without imposing any particular belief system. My goal is to help you make sense of things in the way that’s right for you.
- I support you as you craft the narrative of your life and death, giving you authorship and control over your story.
- I bring sociological insight into the fear of death and also into ways of reducing that fear.
Your life is your story. Every chapter, including the last, should reflect your unique existence.
In a society that often denies the ultimate reality of death, it’s easy to forget that death is the only outcome of a well-lived life. By openly confronting and accepting the fact that we are all going to die, we can claim some authorship over how our lives and our stories unfold.
About my training: It’s important to know that there is no state licensure or standardized training for doulas. I was trained by Alua Arthur and the incredible team at Going with Grace End-of-Life Services. I then completed the University of Vermont’s End-of-Life Doula certificate program. I am NEDA-proficient, which means that I’ve passed the proficiency exam of the National End of Life Doula Alliance.
Important Note: Death doulas are not licensed medical, psychological, legal or funeral professionals. Our services complement, but do not replace, medical care, therapy, legal advice, or funeral direction. We provide holistic, emotional, social, and practical support as you navigate life’s most profound transitions.
Elizabeth Anne Wood, Ph.D. 