IEOLCA's online death doula training and certification program helps you build the confidence, practical skills, and clear scope to support individuals and families at end of life.
Many students describe this path as an inner knowing - often shaped by personal loss, caregiving, hospice experiences, bedside moments, grief work, or a lifelong desire to bring comfort to tender places.
Our self-paced end-of-life doula certification training combines practical death doula training, reflective learning, ethical foundations, and real-world resources in one comprehensive online program.
This training gives that knowing a grounded place to land.
Complete certification from $262.50 USD · Lifetime access · 60-day satisfaction guarantee
IEOLCA's Certified End-of-Life Doula training is by far the most empowering and practical of the doula courses I have taken. I feel much more equipped for this work with the instruction, examples, and tools Amy-Lynne has provided. I'm very happy that I took a chance on this worthwhile endeavor.
IEOLCA Certified
The comprehensive method by which this course has been constructed, as well as the attention to detail in Amy-Lynne's feedback, are awesome. There is no stone left unturned, no area of this work that is left uncovered by the course, and to make such an incredible course accessible for such a reasonable price makes it even better.
Understand your role, boundaries, referral pathways, and how doula support complements care teams.
Bring inner learning into practice with scripts, plans, prompts, templates, and resources for real-world care.
Study on your schedule with personal assignment review, lifetime access, and questions welcomed throughout.
Build the presence, language, judgment, and practical skills to support people and families with steadiness.
The program moves through three connected phases, building your foundation, developing practical end-of-life doula skills, and integrating your learning as you work toward certification.
This phase begins not with what a doula does, but with who you are and why you are called to this work. Before you can hold space for others, it helps to understand the ground you are standing on - your values, your relationship with mortality, and the lived experience you already carry into this calling.
Through reflective activities and guided exercises, you will clarify your scope, explore your own readiness, and develop the kind of steady, grounded presence that families most need from a doula.
By the time you complete Phase One, you will understand not just what a doula does - but how to show up with calm clarity when emotions are high, and how to honour each person's unique wishes with confidence.
Below are the eight modules you will move through in the Foundations phase.
01
Welcome & Orientation
Begin with a clear map of the learning journey ahead.
02
Self-Directed Learning
Create a learning rhythm that fits your life and responsibilities.
03
Exploring the Call
Connect your values, strengths, and lived experience to this work.
04
History of Deathcare
Explore how caring for the dying has evolved across time and community.
05
The Doula Role
Understand where doula support fits alongside families and care teams.
06
Self-Awareness
Strengthen the steadiness and self-knowledge this work asks of you.
07
Cultural Humility
Offer care shaped by each person's culture, identity, beliefs, and preferences.
08
Exploring Mortality
Deepen your comfort with mortality, meaning, and legacy.
📎 Included resources - Foundations
This is the heart of the training. Fifteen modules covering the full range of what end-of-life doulas do alongside families - life review, dying plans, vigil preparation, guided imagery, legacy work, compassionate communication, and navigating the emotional and physical realities of the dying process.
Every module is built around real-world application, not just concepts. You will learn how to use each skill through practical tools, scenario-based reflection, and ready-to-use scripts and templates you can adapt for your first clients. Students frequently describe this as the point where the training shifted from learning about doula work to feeling ready to do it.
By the time you complete Phase Two, you will have the skills, the tools, and the relational confidence to walk alongside families through one of the most profound experiences of their lives.
Below are the fifteen modules you will move through in the Core Skills phase.
01
Life Review
Help people gather the stories and relationships that shaped their lives.
02
The Dying Plan
Turn values and wishes into a clear, usable plan.
03
The Dying Process I
Recognize common physical changes and offer grounded non-medical comfort.
04
The Dying Process II
Support emotional, spiritual, and relational experiences with steady presence.
05
Grounded Presence
Stay centered and available when moments feel intense or uncertain.
06
The Vigil Plan
Shape the rhythm, environment, and support surrounding the final days.
07
Rituals & Ceremonies
Create meaningful rituals around what matters to each person.
08
Guided Imagery
Use calming language and visualization to support comfort and ease.
09
Legacy & Meaning
Help people preserve stories, messages, memories, and meaning.
10
Compassionate Communication
Meet sensitive conversations and family dynamics with clarity and care.
11
Understanding Grief
Understand varied grief responses and offer steady companionship.
12
Circles of Care
Help families see, organize, and strengthen the support around them.
13
Doula Challenges
Practice thoughtful responses to situations requiring clarity and judgment.
14
Professional Ethics
Build boundaries and practices that protect trust and well-being.
15
Best Practices
Bring the program together into reliable, person-centered support.
📎 Included resources - Core Skills
This is where everything becomes cohesive. Phase Three invites you to step back, reflect on the journey, and synthesize what you have learned into a clear, grounded sense of who you are as a doula - and how you want to show up in the world.
This phase also bridges the training with real-world practice. Through guided reflective and integrative tools, you will clarify the community you feel called to serve, explore readiness, boundaries, strengths, and realistic next steps, and bring the learning together in a way that feels grounded and genuinely your own. After certification, the Graduate Hub provides the practical forms, templates, and practice-building tools that support your next steps.
Students describe Phase Three as the part of the training that brought a quiet confidence: a felt sense of readiness, direction, and purpose that is genuinely their own.
Below are the five modules you will move through in the Reflective Practice and Integration phase.
01
Applying Skills
Move from knowing the skills to using them with intention.
02
Integrating Learning
Bring learning and lived experience into a grounded doula identity.
03
Aligning with Community
Connect your strengths with meaningful needs in your community.
04
From Learning to Practice
Shape a realistic, sustainable path for beginning your work.
05
Final Reflections
Complete certification with clarity about your role and next steps.
📎 Reflective & Integrative Resources
Phase Three includes guided tools for reflection, integration, readiness, boundaries, community needs, and first steps. After certification, your Graduate Hub gives you a growing collection of practical forms, templates, and professional tools to support the work that follows.
For many years, caring for others was woven into my life. Over time, I felt a desire to extend that care more intentionally and find a way to support others through meaningful, human connection.
When I learned about the work of a local end-of-life doula, I was immediately drawn to the role. That curiosity led me on a journey toward hospice volunteering and End-of-Life Doula training.
Along the way, I experienced some of the barriers that can make this education difficult to access. The financial investment was significant, practical guidance and resources were limited, and the fixed evening schedule made for very long days.
Those experiences inspired me to create a comprehensive, practical end-of-life doula program with accessible tuition options and the freedom to study at the time and pace that works for each learner.
I brought that vision to life alongside IEOLCA co-founder Perry Metheral. Together, we drew on our backgrounds in end-of-life care, hospice, spiritual care, education, and curriculum development to shape IEOLCA and the community it has become.
Today, IEOLCA is an international community of learners developing the confidence, knowledge, skills, and practical tools to support individuals and families with respect for each person’s wishes. Our work is grounded in accessibility, humility, inclusion, clear non-medical scope, and the Platinum Rule: supporting each person and family in the way they wish to be supported.
As IEOLCA has grown, I have remained closely involved in each learner’s experience. I personally review every required assignment, provide thoughtful, personalized feedback, and welcome questions throughout the program.
Amy-Lynne
IEOLCA Certified
I entered the training a bit cynically and expected a lot of fluff. I was deeply surprised at the depth and breadth of the information shared — presented as an interactive experience requiring thought and introspection. I have always felt a calling, but now I have the tools and base of information to actually make a difference.
IEOLCA Certified
I completed a death doula certification course through another organization, but felt like something essential was missing. This course is exactly what I was looking for.
We are committed to making this training accessible to anyone called to this path. All tuition options include the complete End-of-Life Doula Certification Program, lifetime access, and our 60-day satisfaction guarantee. Tuition support is self-selected and honour-based, so you can choose the level that best reflects your circumstances. No application or explanation is required.
For those who are able to enroll at the full tuition and help keep the training accessible for others.
Enroll at $875A good fit if you are balancing this investment alongside other financial commitments right now.
Enroll at $437.50If this is the option that makes beginning possible for you, it is here and it is enough.
Enroll at $262.50🔒 Secure checkout • Stripe • Lifetime access
If the training is not the right fit, a full refund is available within 60 days.
Once certified, you will receive your professional credentials, along with access to ongoing graduate support:
Your certification includes complimentary access to practical professional resources, ongoing graduate support, and opportunities to stay connected and contribute within the wider end-of-life doula community.
Graduates are invited to join the Death Doula Magazine community, explore emerging conversations in end-of-life care, and submit articles, reflections, interviews, creative work, or practice-based insights for consideration.
Whether you plan to offer doula support part-time, bring this learning into work you already do, or gradually develop your own practice, the Graduate Hub helps you move forward with compassion, ethical awareness, practical clarity, and continued connection.
IEOLCA Certified
I was so impressed by the comprehensive information presented and how closely the material reflects real support for those transitioning. Thank you for making this training accessible, flexible, and affordable. I feel supported and confident as I move forward in this service.
Explore common questions about the program, certification, tuition, scope, and beginning your work as an end-of-life doula.
Yes. IEOLCA's online death doula training is fully self-paced. You can begin anytime, move through the 28 modules at your own pace, and return to the videos and downloadable resources whenever you need them. You have lifetime access to the program.
Most learners complete the approximately 35 hours of training over a few weeks, although many choose a slower pace alongside work, family, or caregiving. There is no deadline for completing the program.
No. End-of-life doula work is a non-medical role, and no prior clinical experience is required. The program welcomes people who are completely new to the field as well as caregivers, hospice volunteers, helping professionals, and others who want to deepen their ability to support people at end of life.
You receive 28 on-demand modules, the 164-page Guidebook, the 143-page Resource Companion, downloadable learning and reflection tools, instructional videos, required assignments, and lifetime course access. The program also includes the requirements for earning your IEOLCA End-of-Life Doula certification.
Yes. IEOLCA offers a fully online, self-paced death doula training and certification program. Students complete the coursework, learning activities, and required final assignments online, making it possible to complete your end-of-life doula certification from wherever you live.
IEOLCA awards certification when learners complete the required training and demonstrate their learning through the program's final assignments. End-of-life doulas work in a non-medical support role, and in many jurisdictions there is no statutory licence or government registration for this work.
For many learners, certification provides structure, ethical grounding, practical skills, language, and confidence for supporting individuals and families at end of life. It can also help you clearly communicate your education and preparation when speaking with clients, hospices, care teams, and community organizations.
Yes. IEOLCA welcomes students from around the world. End-of-life doula roles, expectations, and requirements vary by region, so graduates should become familiar with the local scope of practice, regulations, and referral landscape where they plan to work.
Many organizations value end-of-life doula training, but employment, volunteer, and contracting requirements vary by organization and location. Your IEOLCA certificate documents completion of education for a non-medical end-of-life doula role.
Graduates receive ongoing access to the IEOLCA Graduate Hub, along with their certificate, digital badge, and invitation to join the IEOLCA Doula Directory. The Graduate Hub includes practical resources designed to help you move from training into thoughtful, scope-aware practice.
The Graduate Hub is IEOLCA's post-certification resource library. Graduates receive ongoing access to professionally designed, fillable tools for introducing their work, responding to inquiries, shaping services, setting prices, building referral relationships, working with clients, keeping records, and continuing to learn.
Yes. Many doulas begin part-time, integrate end-of-life doula skills into an existing caregiving, grief, hospice, spiritual care, or helping role, or gradually develop a community-based practice over time.
Many doulas begin through community education, referrals, hospice and grief networks, local partnerships, and clearly defined services. IEOLCA includes business foundations within the training, and graduates receive additional practical tools through the Graduate Hub to support their next steps.
Hospice professionals and volunteers work within an organized hospice program or healthcare setting. Death doulas provide non-medical emotional, practical, planning, legacy, vigil, and family support. Doulas complement hospice and healthcare services rather than replacing clinical care.
Full tuition is $875 USD. IEOLCA also offers self-selected, honour-based tuition support at $437.50 and $262.50 USD. Every tuition tier includes the complete death doula training and certification program, lifetime access, and our 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
We trust you to choose the tuition tier that is honest and right for your circumstances. There are no income thresholds, forms, committees, or explanations required. Every student receives the same complete program regardless of the tuition tier selected.
Yes. Every enrollment is backed by a 60-day satisfaction guarantee. If the training is not the right fit for any reason, a full refund is available within 60 days of purchase.
Choose the tuition option that is right for you and complete secure online checkout by major credit or debit card through Stripe. Your training is self-paced, so you can begin once your enrollment is complete.