Foundations of Death Care
End of Life Doula Certificate Course
Winter 2026

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  • Online Course Material: September 28 - November 23; access anytime on your schedule

  • Meetings:
    Meet for learning and community online on Zoom, held once a week for 8 weeks

  • Cohort Meets: 
    Sundays from 4-6:00 pm Mountain Time

8 Week Session. Online material opens January 18.
Live Zoom Sessions Sundays 4:00 - 6:00 pm MST
(January 25; February 1, 8, 15, 22; March 1, 8, 15)

Course overview
This 8 week course will provide resources, supportive community, and training for understanding the foundations of death care for serving as an End-of-Life Doula.

Online learning with weekly Zoom sessions on Sundays 4:00 - 6:00 MST. Course opens January 18, 2026 and ends March 15. Limited to 15 students.
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Certification Included
Create your own learning agreement and make the course work for you! You can choose to finish with an Iliff End-of-Life Doula Certificate that will prepare you to serve in your community.


Explore our unique approach to building skills and connections for end of life care

 
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Grounded in Justice and Intercultural Competency

Our approach, informed by Iliff School of Theology's longstanding commitment to justice, means that intercultural competencies are at the center of our approach. We honor the unique and diverse experiences of our participants and clients.

Practice Grounding and Non-Anxious Presence

Maintaining a grounded, non-anxious presence is critical in end-of-life work. We emphasize the importance of grounding and centering practices as crucial for a sustainable end-of-life doula practice.

Focus on Interpersonal Communication

End-of-life care includes not just the dying, but their communities of care and all those who love them. We focus on healthy communication patterns as well as understanding non-verbal cues, as well as family systems dynamics.

Connect with a Diverse Community

This course will connect you with leading scholars, practitioners, spiritual leaders, and thinkers from various backgrounds and perspectives in end of life care. Join us to change the narrative around end of life care.

How does the
course work?

Learn from 8 units addressing the most important topics in end-of-life doula care. Participants learn and study online on their own, then meet on Zoom Sundays from 4-6:00 pm MST.
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Total Course Investment

$1600
for 8-week course

Payment Plans Available:
(see below and email for details)

8 Content Units

1. The Practice of Death Care
2. Justice & Ethics
3. Legal and Medical
4. Legacy & Quality of Life
5. Spiritual & Religious
6. Practical & Thanatology
7. Communication & Community
8. Taking the Leap

Rich Learning Material

Instructor-Created Videos

Weekly Discussion Forums

Varied Assignment Modes

Weekly Journals

Videos, Podcasts, Articles

Customized Goals

Learners may pursue a personalized learning context that makes sense for them:

a Certificate of Completion,

or commit to the more professional pathway of
Death Doula Certification

What do you learn?

An end-of-life doula (EOLD) is a non-medical, non-denominational holistic companion who guides and supports a dying person, recognizes their individual needs and ensures they feel loved, valued, and affirmed. They do this by:

Creating Sacred Spaces

Creating and holding sacred and/or compassionate space whether in a hospital, hospice, or home

Honoring Spiritual Beliefs

Honoring the person’s religion/spirituality or atheism/agnosticism

Understanding Family Dynamics

Supporting the person’s family and communities

Communicating With Teams

Working in collaboration with other providers

Anticipating Unique Needs

Sharing information and resources to ease transitions

Meet your teacher,
Matt Ricke

Rev. Dr. Matt Ricke is passionate about enriching lives through education, making death care and death education more accessible, and creating powerful and transformative spaces for spiritual exploration. Matt is currently an organizational ombuds, resilience coach, death doula, and community minister who brings experience in hospice and death care to this course. Matt holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Northern Colorado, where his dissertation focused on how campus leaders make meaning of death-related crises. Matt will also finish a two-year certificate in Spiritual Direction with Cherry Hill Seminary in February.

Matt is a Board Certified Coach (BCC), holds an End-of-Life Doula Proficiency Badge from the National End-of-Life Doula Association, and is a member of Spiritual Directors International, the Zen Peacemakers Order, and the American Academy of Experts on Traumatic Stress. A graduate of the Foundations of Death Care course, Matt was privileged to be a beta tester for the first iteration of the course and is thrilled to join the faculty of the Iliff Death Care Collective. 
Patrick Jones - Course author
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What Students Are Saying

The Foundations of Death Care class at Iliff is exceptional.  Not only have I learned new and interesting skills and concepts that will support my job as a hospice Chaplain, but I have also met the most wonderful, new community of people who have informed me in so many ways. 

Whether you are new to the concept of death and dying and just want to learn more or are already a veteran professional in the field, you will not be disappointed in what you take away from this incredible, new innovative course.

Annie groves, mdiv
hospice chaplain
This is an amazing, embodied, educational experience through the processes of living, loving and dying. Beth is an invitational facilitator who is attuned to the specific needs and hopes of her colleagues.

It is a heartfelt journey as a group together exploring the multiple layers of dying and loss with individuals, systems, and organizations.
Highly highly recommend!

Rev Dr. Dee Cooper
Lead Presbyter
I’m here to share that this course has been truly transformative. This course improved our awareness of the power of justice, compassion, and community. With this awareness, we can enter the current conventional space of death care and empower people, especially the vulnerable.

I highly recommend that you dive in and experience the power of this course. Your worldview, how you view death, death care, and life, will blossom and enrich your way of being. 

Jiyoon Lee
Meditation Center Director

Click here to read our refund and cancellation policy.

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Still have questions?
Let's talk! 

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