The calling is enough to begin. IEOLCA gives you the structure, language, tools, and ethical grounding to support people and families through dying, grief, planning, vigil, legacy, and practical end-of-life care.
Become a Certified End-of-Life Doula through a fully online, self-paced program created for beginners, caregivers, helping professionals, hospice volunteers, grief workers, and those already serving people at end of life.
Start anytime. Move at your own pace. Choose the tuition tier that is honest and right for you.
So many students describe this path as a pull - something shaped by caregiving, personal loss, hospice experiences, bedside moments, grief work, or a lifelong desire to bring comfort to tender places. Often, they felt the calling before they had clear language for it.
This training gives that pull a grounded place to land. It offers reflection, structure, and practical preparation so you can understand the role more clearly, build confidence in your scope, and learn how to support people and families with presence, dignity, and care.
Recent graduate feedback consistently highlights the program's reflective depth, practical tools, self-paced format, and the confidence students gain as they begin to understand the role more clearly.
A brief introduction to the tone, structure, and practical tools included in the IEOLCA End-of-Life Doula Certification.
Choose the tuition tier that is honest and right for you. Every option includes the full certification program, lifetime access, and the 60-day guarantee.
Many IEOLCA students arrive with a quiet pull toward end-of-life work - shaped by caregiving, personal loss, hospice experiences, grief work, or a lifelong desire to offer comfort in tender moments. In their own words, they describe finding clearer language, practical tools, stronger confidence, and a more grounded understanding of how to support people and families with presence, dignity, and care.
IEOLCA’s certification is designed to be both reflective and practical. Students are not simply moving through information. They are invited to pause, consider their own relationship with mortality, build language for tender conversations, and develop practical skills they can bring into real-world support.
The program is shaped by end-of-life care experience, spiritual care practice, and many years of medical education administration, including curriculum coordination, accreditation support, learner evaluation systems, and standards-based program operations. That background informs our approach to course structure, learner support, reflective assignments, and certification processes.
Join compassionate learners from 75+ countries.
Self-paced, fully online, and available at a tuition that works for you.
💛 Tuition That Meets You Where You Are
We do not want financial circumstances to stand between someone and a calling to this work, so tuition is self-selected and honour-based, with no applications and no explanation required.
Each tier gives you the complete program, lifetime access, and our 60-day guarantee. Choose the option below that feels honest and sustainable for you today.
For those who are able to enroll at the full program rate and help keep the training accessible for others in our community.
Enroll at $875Half the full rate - a good fit if you are balancing this investment with 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. No explanation needed.
Enroll at $262.50🔒 Secure checkout • Stripe • Lifetime access
We want you to feel good about your decision. If the training does not feel like the right fit, a full refund is available within 60 days.
We believe deeply in the value of this education, and we want you to feel supported from the very first day you begin.
The International End-of-Life Care Association supports learners in more than 75 countries, guided by an established Code of Ethics and Scope of Practice for compassionate, non-medical end-of-life care.
Our curriculum is shaped by experienced practitioners, certified doulas, spiritual care professionals, and years of hospice and bedside experience, alongside the wisdom of the communities we serve.
Our work is grounded in presence, humility, practical preparation, and respect for the person and family in front of us.
Expert-led videos, written materials, reflective practice, practical resources, and certification support, all in one place.
Move through Foundations, Core Skills, and Reflective Integration with expert-led video lessons in each module, written learning materials, reflection prompts, and assignments.
Includes the 164-page Guidebook and 143-page Resource Companion, created to support both your learning and your future doula practice.
Work with dying plans, vigil guides, legacy prompts, intake forms, scripts, care checklists, business resources, and certification guidance you can return to again and again.
After completing the required modules and assignments, you receive your IEOLCA Certified End-of-Life Doula certificate recognizing your training in compassionate, non-medical support.
This course is an immersive learning experience designed to meet you where you are. It unfolds across three phases, each building on the last: you begin with personal readiness and foundational understanding, move into practical doula skills, and complete the training through reflection, integration, and final certification. Throughout, you move at your own pace and let the learning unfold in its own time.
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
Set expectations, understand the program flow, and begin with clarity and intention.
02
Self-Directed Learning
Practical strategies for staying motivated, organized, and consistent.
03
Exploring the Call
Clarify what draws you to this work, what values will guide your practice, and the unique strengths you bring.
04
History of Deathcare
Understand cultural shifts in how we care for the dying, and the re-emergence of community-based, person-centred support.
05
The Doula Role
Define scope, boundaries, and what non-medical support means in practice.
06
Self-Awareness
Build emotional regulation, reflective practice, and steadiness under stress.
07
Cultural Humility
Learn how to provide inclusive, dignified support across beliefs, traditions, and identities.
08
Exploring Mortality
Engage your own relationship with death, 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
Support storytelling, dignity, and deep reflection as clients revisit the moments and relationships that shaped their lives.
02
The Dying Plan
Help clients document their values, goals, and preferences in clear, usable language.
03
The Dying Process I
Common physical changes and comfort-focused non-medical support - so you can reassure families and help them understand what is happening.
04
The Dying Process II
Emotional, spiritual, and relational experiences near end of life - and how to hold space for them with steadiness and care.
05
Grounded Presence
Stay regulated and genuinely supportive in emotionally intense or uncertain moments - one of the most essential skills a doula develops.
06
The Vigil Plan
Co-create a values-aligned plan for the final days - covering environment, rhythm, presence, and the bedside wishes that matter most.
07
Rituals & Ceremonies
Offer gentle, personalized rituals that honour each person's traditions without imposing belief - drawing on what brings meaning to them.
08
Guided Imagery
Use calming language and visualization to support comfort - with scripts you can adapt and use with clients right away.
09
Legacy & Meaning
Support legacy projects and memory-making with dignity - letters, recordings, playlists, and other ways of preserving what matters most.
10
Compassionate Communication
Navigate sensitive conversations, family dynamics, and difficult moments with care, clarity, and appropriate scope.
11
Understanding Grief
Normalise grief responses and offer steady companionship - before, during, and after the death.
12
Circles of Care
Map support networks and coordinate practical care needs - so no one is trying to hold everything alone.
13
Doula Challenges
Work through real-world ethical dilemmas and difficult situations - so you can respond thoughtfully when things do not go to plan.
14
Professional Ethics
Strengthen boundaries, avoid overreach, and build sustainable practices that protect both you and the families you serve.
15
Best Practices
Integrate heart-centred, scope-aware guidelines that build trust, clarity, and lasting confidence in your work.
📎 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 planning tools, you will clarify the community you feel called to serve, map out the first steps of a sustainable practice, and receive the complete Business Tools & Resources companion - so you finish the program ready to begin, not still searching for the practical pieces.
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
Translate training into confident, grounded action - bringing presence, planning, and communication into real-world use.
02
Integrating Learning
Synthesize your learning and lived experience into a grounded doula identity and a clear sense of how you want to practice.
03
Aligning with Community
Connect your purpose with real needs and realistic ways to serve the community you feel called to support.
04
Business Essentials
Professionalism, ethics, and sustainable practice foundations - with the complete Business Tools & Resources companion included.
05
Final Reflections
Complete your certification requirements, confirm scope and ethics, and step forward with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
📎 Included resources - Integration & Practice
Many people complete their doula training feeling ready for the care work - and then face a new set of questions: how do I talk about what I do, what do I charge, how do I welcome my first client? The IEOLCA Resource Companion includes a complete Business Tools & Resources guide so that when you finish the program, those answers are already in your hands.
A sample service agreement, client intake form, consultation questions, and a scope-of-practice acknowledgment - ready to adapt and use with your first clients.
A comprehensive pricing guide, sample service packages, sliding scale language, invoicing templates, and a Business Planning Worksheet to help you define your services and set sustainable rates.
A professional networking checklist, introductory email templates for hospices and funeral homes, and messaging guides for talking about your work in person and online.
Guided questions for first-time client calls, a client-fit assessment, and practical guidance on handling inquiries with clarity, compassion, and appropriate scope.
A curated library spanning grief, communication, legacy, advance care planning, culturally inclusive care, and more - Canadian, American, and international sources.
Professional invoice templates for hourly, package, and sliding scale services - so billing feels as grounded and transparent as the care you provide.
Most end-of-life doulas do not step straight into a full practice. Many begin part-time, bring these skills into caregiving, hospice, grief, spiritual care, or community roles they already hold, or grow a practice gradually as trust and relationships develop.
Our training is built with that real path in mind. In the Reflective and Integrative phase, students bring their learning together, explore how their personal “why” meets the needs of their community, and map out small, realistic next steps for beginning in a grounded, sustainable way.
Alongside the care skills, students gain practical tools for the business side of the work: defining services, thinking through pricing, planning first outreach, responding to client inquiries, setting boundaries, and shaping a sustainable practice with clarity and care.
Our training is designed to help students step forward thoughtfully, with compassion, confidence, ethical awareness, and a clear understanding of how their skills, values, and community needs can come together in meaningful and sustainable ways.
Every IEOLCA program comes with meaningful recognition of your learning - and credentials you can put to work right away.
Receive an IEOLCA Certificate of Completion recognizing your training in end-of-life doula support. Yours to display, frame, and share with confidence.
Receive a shareable IEOLCA digital badge for your email signature, website, LinkedIn profile, and social media.
Graduates receive a complimentary listing in the IEOLCA Doula Directory, helping families find trained, compassionate support near them.
End-of-life doula work is a non-medical support role, and in most places there is no government licence or registry for it. What your IEOLCA certification gives you is a clear, verifiable record that you have completed structured training to an established standard, along with the language and grounding to explain your preparation to families, hospices, care teams, and community organizations.
Your certificate, digital badge, and directory listing are yours to show with confidence. They tell the people you hope to serve that you have done the work to show up with skill, ethics, and care.
Everything here is designed to help prospective students quickly understand what the certification includes and who it is meant to serve.
Yes. Start anytime and move through the 27 modules at your own pace. You have lifetime access to all videos and downloads.
Most learners complete the approximately 40 hours of training over a few weeks, though many choose a slower pace alongside work or caregiving. There is no deadline.
No. This training is designed for a non-medical role and welcomes caregivers, volunteers, helping professionals, and those new to end-of-life support.
This is a non-medical support role. In many jurisdictions there is no statutory licence or government registration for end-of-life doulas. IEOLCA awards certification when learners meet established standards through module completion and final assignments.
You receive 27 on-demand modules, the 164-page Guidebook, the 143-page Resource Companion, downloadable templates and forms, and a Certificate of Completion upon meeting program standards.
Full tuition is $875 USD. We also offer a self-selected, honour-based tuition support at 50% ($437.50) and 70% ($262.50) off. No application required. Every tier includes the full program, lifetime access, and our 60-day guarantee.
We trust you to choose the tuition tier that is honest and right for your circumstances. There are no income thresholds, no forms to fill out, and no one to ask permission from. If a reduced rate is what makes beginning possible for you, that option is there. It is part of our commitment to keeping this work accessible to everyone who feels called to it.
For many learners, certification gives structure, ethical grounding, language, confidence, and practical tools for supporting people and families at end of life. It can also help you explain your preparation when speaking with clients, hospices, care teams, or community organizations.
Yes. Many doulas begin part-time, integrate the skills into an existing caregiving, grief, hospice, spiritual care, or helping role, or slowly build a community-based practice over time.
Hospice workers are part of a formal healthcare or hospice team. Death doulas offer non-medical emotional, practical, planning, legacy, vigil, and family support. Doulas do not replace hospice care or provide clinical services.
Yes. IEOLCA students come from more than 75 countries. End-of-life doula roles and expectations vary by region, so graduates should understand the local scope, requirements, and referral landscape where they live and work.
Many doulas begin through community education, referrals, hospice and grief networks, local partnerships, and clear service offerings. IEOLCA includes business foundations and practical tools to help you begin shaping a grounded practice.
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. No questions asked.
Secure online checkout is available by major credit or debit card through Stripe.
Many organizations value end-of-life doula training, but requirements vary by location and agency. Your IEOLCA certificate verifies education for a non-medical role.
No prior experience required. No prerequisites. If you feel called to walk alongside others at end of life, this training gives you a grounded place to begin.
Choose your tuition
We want this training to be accessible to anyone who feels the call. Every tier includes the full program, lifetime access, and our 60-day guarantee.
For those who are able to enroll at the full program rate and help keep the training accessible for others in our community.
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. No explanation needed.
Enroll at $262.50If the training is not the right fit, a full refund is available within 60 days. You do not have to prove that this work matters to you - you simply deserve time to decide whether this is the right learning home.
🔒 Secure checkout • Stripe • Lifetime access
Questions before enrolling? Reach us at office@ieolca.org - we are glad to help you find the right path forward.