Henry Fersko-Weiss – Caring for the Dying

Aired Wednesday, 19 April 2017, 8:00 PM ET

Henry Fersko-Weiss – Caring for the Dying

We live in a world where for the most part, we are welcomed into life with joyous and loving anticipation. Many of us have been born in hospitals and some have been welcomed at home with our arrival facilitated by a mid-wife or doula. As joyful and warm as our arrivals may be, how often it seems that our departure from this life is cold, sterile, sad and incomplete for those we leave behind. What if there was a doula to support us and our families when we pass in a life affirming way that liberates the spirit and brings maximum comfort to our loved ones?

Such doulas do exist and my guest this week on Destination Unlimited, Henry Fersko-Weiss, created the first End of Life Doula Program in the United States in 2003. Henry is executive director of the International End of Life Doula Association and has built many programs based upon his original model. His work has been featured in the NY Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere. Henry is on the faculty of the Open Center’s Art of Dying Institute. He joins me this week to discuss his new book, Caring for the Dying: The Doula Approach to a Meaningful Death.