Dying with Joy – Catherine Durkin Robinson

If you want to have a happy evening sitting around with friends or family, you don't talk about religion, sex, money, and politics. Another topic, perhaps, is death and dying. Death is a part of all of our lives and something that we should feel normal discussing. What if we had someone to walk alongside us and make the prospect of the end of life something less scary? That is exactly the role an end-of-life doula takes. My Guest, Catherine Durkin Robinson, works as a death doula – offering her services to those with a terminal diagnosis and those who want to learn about the dying process alike. Talking about death and owning the process could very well be the key to breaking out of our fear and making it a sacred, almost joyful event.“We're talking about reducing fear, reducing anxiety, so that they can have a more joyful death.”Catherine Durkin Robinson is a death doula and educator. She graduated from the University of Vermont's End-of-Life Doula program and belongs to National End-of-Life Doula Alliance. She was also a longtime hospice-trained volunteer and registered pre-need counselor in the state of Florida before relocating to Chicago in July 2022. Her varied career includes 30 years as a political organizer, 10 years as an educator at the high school and college level, and 10 years as a newspaper columnist in Tampa.Currently, she serves people at end of life and teaches classes at colleges and community organizations through her private practice, Anitya Doula Services, in Chicago. She also serves as a death doula with the Diaspora Psychedelic Society in Jamaica.Show notes:* What is a doula?* Becoming an end of life doula* The people who seek out a death doula* Catherine’s goal is to normalize the conversation about end-of-life* “Doula for a Day” with Richard* What an advanced care directive is* Your familiarity with the dying process* End of life and psychedelics* More and more places are decriminalizing plant medicine* Dying joyfully, rather than consciouslyLinks and references:* Psychedelic Wisdom- PREORDER NOW* Psychedelic Medicine* Diaspora Psychedelic Society* The National End-of-Life Doula Alliance “NEDA”* Compassion and ChoicesThank you for reading Mind Body Health & Politics. This post is public so feel free to share it.Want the episode transcript and video? Join our Tribe!Mind Body Health & Politics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.https://www.mindbodyhealthpolitics.org/subscribe Get full access to Mind Body Health & Politics at www.mindbodyhealthpolitics.org/subscribe