Community Death Doula training, family support and ceremony.
Anne-Marie's author site is at annemariekeppel.com
Community Death Doula training, family support and ceremony.
Anne-Marie's author site is at annemariekeppel.com
**APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN FOR JANUARY-APRIL 2023**
Two death doula trainings to chose from: Awake and Dream (click through for more details)
It is crucial, now, that deathcare be revived as a healthy part of community. Deathcare is ancient and belongs to no one and belongs to everyone- but we have lost our way. Through examining our own mortality, fears and aspirations, and discovering the challenges of today's complexities of caring for our own dying and dead, we will begin to understand the great importance and urgency of reviving community deathcare. There are many courses to train you within a system of professional care to be a Death Doula (I can recommend some) this training is for deepening the roots of healing within your self, your home and your physical community. Apply by submitting a one page summary of why you would like to be a a village deathcare citizen to strengthen your community and bring deep loving healing into your own life.
NEXT UPCOMING COURSES: JANUARY 2023
Anne-Marie is a trained nurse assistant, former Hospice volunteer and active death doula. She offers assistance with bedside care, sitting vigil, open gentle conversation, scheduling, errands, establishing a "flow" in the area of care and other care. Available for temporary respite, with the possibility of extended care. Hourly rates are sliding scale. Please inquire about your specific circumstances.
Anne-Marie writes eulogies, obituaries and ceremonies and offers consulting on Family Directed Home Funerals in Vermont. She has hands-on experience with home funerals, home burial and green burial. Please inquire for more details.
When confronting or contemplating our mortality we often need alternative means of exploring and feeling and to trust that curiosity can be a very healing modality. Anne-Marie is a certified shadow work facilitator (Feeding Your Demons®), and Light Being Attendant (to help you connect to your own end-of-life spirit guides). She also has education and experience with ambiance preparation for guided therapeutic psilocybin sessions
(under the guidance of a doctor or therapist).
An advocate for those whose voices are unheard, weak or forgotten, Anne-Marie believes Community Deathcare and open conversation about life and death is crucial for the health of individuals and the planet. With gentle timing, and an uplifted manner, she believes conversation about death makes our own lives and the lives of those around us more precious.
A childhood of magical play in faery forests, a barn full of animals, and teenage years in the circus formed an independent and reflective spirit. At the age of 19 Anne-Marie gave birth to her first child which only deepened her inner love and patience for herself and her wee one. Today, Anne-Marie has three children ages 25, 21 and 7 and has held fast to her circus days by teaching tight wire as a form of body/mind awareness practice.
After two decades of professional event coordination for weddings, fashion shows, concerts, festivals and conferences, Anne-Marie halted everything to work with the elderly. Propelled by her work with the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and her love of an elderly homeless man, she became a Hospice volunteer in 2013. She continued her path of care as a licensed nurse assistant from 2013-2016 and worked with the elderly in residential care and as a private duty nurse. She was the only full time over-night "nurse" and cared for a home of 12 elderly residents. During this time she also studied herbal healing and received a certificate from Mandala Botanicals' 9 month training in Community Herbalism.
When working as the Director of Meals on Wheels in Montpelier her understanding of how often the elderly struggle living on their own with loneliness, physical ailments, embarrassment and confusion only deepened her desire to engage the able bodied in assisting the elderly. She believes that the more conversations about death and dying and grieving that spring forth in communities, the more empathy will be generated, and the better the chance the elderly, sick and dying will have companionship and a feeling of value at the end of life; this is the core of Community Deathcare.
Anne-Marie is an award-winning published author, Reiki Master Teacher, meditation and basic goodness instructor and has 12 years training in Shambhala Buddhist teachings. She has completed Level I Dying With Confidence training in Phowa with Anyen Rinpoche, completed "This Sacred Journey: Living Purposefully and Dying Fearlessly" with Pema Chodron and has completed a year long Feeding Your Demons® certification course (Buddhist track) with Tsultrim Allione. Anne-Marie has passed the National Home Funeral Alliance Proficiency test and currently in school for Funeral Director Certificate in the state of Vermont.
Anne-Marie is a graduate of the BEyond Yonder School of Death Midwifery (Community Deathcare). This four month course of intensive death care training (6 days per week with an average of 20 hours of work per week) covered pre-death needs to post mortem care and disposition. She is qualified to guide families in home funerals and is familiar with Vermont's laws.
After an 8 month training in the fundamentals of celebrancy, ceremonies and ritual, Anne-Marie received her certification as a Life-Cycle Celebrant with a certificate in funerals and memorials. She is a graduate of the Celebrant Foundation and Institute.