Death Demystified with Dr. Deerheart

Who Owns Death? Reclaiming the Last Act of Love
What if we’ve been taught that death belongs to someone else?
The hospital.
The hospice.
The funeral home.
The professionals.

But what if death still belongs to us? In this provocative episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart sits down with Penny Waugh, certified Death Doula and Funeral Coordinator, to question what we have forgotten about caring for our dying and our dead. Penny shares her own extraordinary journey from a 30-year corporate career into deathcare—and her passionate belief that we can reclaim choice, participation, ritual, and intimacy at the end of life.

Together, they explore questions we rarely ask:

Why have we stopped caring for our own dead?
What happens when we become participants rather than consumers?
Could the changing funeral industry actually create an opportunity to reinvent deathcare?
What is your “death style”?
And what might happen to our grief if we were invited to touch, wash, dress, honor, and care for the person we love after they die?

From home funerals and green burial to Natural Organic Reduction, sea burial, living funerals, and family-led after-death care, Penny invites us to discover possibilities many people don't even know exist. This isn't a conversation against hospice, medicine, or funeral professionals.It's a conversation about choice. About education.About sovereignty.And perhaps most importantly, about love. Because maybe the final question isn't “How do I arrange a funeral?” Maybe it's: “If love had one final act, what would it look like?”Come sit with us.This one may change the way you think about death—and perhaps the way you live.

Rewilding Death, Grie, &  Our place in the Living World 

What if our fear of death is actually a symptom of something much larger?
What if we've forgotten how to belong—to one another, to community, to ritual, and to the Earth itself?

In this profound conversation, Dr. Deerheart welcomes ecological psychologist and researcher Maria Béarre-Bóynne to explore one of the deepest questions of our time: What have we forgotten?

Together they examine how modern culture has separated us from death, grief, nature, and each other—and how remembering our place within the living world may transform not only how we die, but how we live.

This episode is an invitation to return home.

What if death wasn't something we feared alone?
What if dying, caregiving, grief, and end-of-life planning were supported by an entire community of compassionate professionals, educators, artists, clergy, caregivers, and advocates? 

In this powerful episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart welcomes Barbara McMurray, co-founder of the Orange County Deathworkers Alliance (OCDWA), a growing collective of death doulas, physicians, hospice professionals, funeral providers, artists, caregivers, spiritual leaders, and community members working together to transform how we approach death, dying, and grief. Together they explore why death has become isolated and medicalized, the growing death-positive movement, the role of community in easing suffering, and how ordinary people can become empowered participants in end-of-life care.

This conversation is a call to reclaim one of the most sacred experiences of being human. Because death belongs not only to medicine. 

It belongs to all of us.

What if talking about death could help you live more honestly, love more deeply, and fear less? In this intimate solo episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart opens her heart and shares the story behind nearly four decades of walking beside the dying. From a frightened child hiding under the covers from the “boogeyman” to becoming an end-of-life practitioner, educator, and founder of The HeartWay, Dr. Deerheart explores the sacred, mysterious, and profoundly human journey of dying. Through the beloved “Ask a Death Doula” series, she answers some of the most common—and most misunderstood—questions people have about death, hospice, sovereignty, end-of-life choices, the dying process, and how to say goodbye with love instead of fear. This episode is compassionate, provocative, educational, and deeply heart-centered. Because death is not only about endings.
It is also about truth, love, and learning how to live fully while we are here.

In this profoundly moving episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Andrea Deerheart is joined by Nikki Brake, Executive Director of The HeartWay, whose life story is a testament to resilience, trauma recovery, transformation, and the power of the human spirit. At just 16 years old, Nikki survived a devastating car accident that left her fighting for her life. 

Facing multiple surgeries, months of rehabilitation, and the unimaginable grief of being told she might never walk—or have children—Nikki was forced to rebuild her life from the ground up. But this is not a story about limitation.

It is a story about becoming. In this intimate and courageous conversation, Nikki shares her journey through trauma, identity loss, grief, and ultimately empowerment—moving from feeling discarded to discovering purpose. Today, she walks, she mothers, she leads, and she serves as the Executive Director of The HeartWay, giving back with deep compassion and lived wisdom. This episode is for anyone who has ever been told “you can’t,” for anyone learning how to begin again,
and for anyone seeking hope in the face of the unimaginable.

In this deeply moving episode of Death Demystified with Dr. Deerheart, psychotherapist and neurodiversity advocate Sari Solden, MS, joins Andrea to explore an often-overlooked frontier in end-of-life care — how we can honor, comfort, and support neurodiverse individuals as they approach the final chapter of life.

Together, they dive into what neurodiversity truly means — the unique ways brains and beings experience the world — and how that understanding should shape the way we listen, touch, communicate, and accompany the dying. With tenderness and insight, Dr. Deerheart and Sari discuss practices that ease anxiety, build safety, and affirm dignity for those whose minds may process, feel, and perceive differently. This is a conversation about belonging until the very last breath — and the grace of meeting every soul exactly where they are.  A must-listen for end-of-life practitioners, doulas, caregivers, and anyone seeking to deepen compassion in the face of difference.

In this deeply tender episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart is joined by Patricia Danaher, founder of The Jizo Foundation, to explore how ritual, community, and ancient wisdom can help heal one of the most silenced forms of grief—infant loss. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of Jizo, the beloved protector of children and guardian of souls,

Patricia shares how creating public memorial spaces and embodied rituals allows parents and families to grieve openly, lovingly, and without shame. Together, they discuss miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss as forms of grief that are often unseen and unacknowledged in Western culture—and why witnessing, ritual, and remembrance are essential to healing. 

This episode weaves heartfelt conversation with moments of intentional silence, reflection, and poetry, inviting listeners to slow down, breathe, and honor love that did not have time to grow—but will never be forgotten. Whether you have experienced infant loss personally, support someone who has, or wish to deepen your understanding of grief, ritual, and resilience, this conversation offers compassion, meaning, and hope.

In this deeply intimate episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart is joined by Mary Franz—retired marriage and family therapist, longtime educator, widow, and HeartWay client—for a courageous and tender conversation about love, loss, and resilience. As the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Mary reflects on what it was like to walk beside him at the end of life—participating in sacred rituals such as bathing, anointing, and honoring his body after death. She shares how end-of-life doula support complemented hospice care, filled emotional and spiritual gaps, and allowed her to be both wife and witness, not just caregiver.

Together, they explore grief as a living relationship, the slow unfolding of resilience, and the practices that help Mary remain grounded as she steps into a new year with meaning, hope, and love still intact. This episode is an offering for anyone who has loved deeply, lost profoundly, and is learning how to live again

The holidays can be tender, complicated, and unexpectedly raw when grief is present. In this heartfelt episode, Dr. Deerheart sits down with grief companion and spiritual mentor Crystal Potter to explore how love and loss intertwine during the holiday season. Together they offer gentle practices, meaningful rituals, boundary-setting wisdom, and compassionate ways to honor those who are no longer physically with us.
This episode is an invitation to breathe deeper, slow down, and remember that grief is not something to “get over”—it’s something we learn to walk with. Whether your heart feels heavy, hopeful, or somewhere in between, this conversation offers comfort, clarity, and community.