In this moving and wide-ranging conversation, host Claire O’Berry sits down with mentor and trailblazer Deanna Cochran, RN, hospice nurse and bestselling author, to explore the current challenges — and extraordinary possibilities — in end-of-life care.

Together, they discuss the growing gaps in U.S. healthcare, the power of early planning, and how end-of-life doulas can help families long before hospice. Deanna shares the deeply personal story of her father’s end-of-life journey and why community-based models like compassionate communities and doula-led neighborhood networks may be the most effective solution for the future.

 Topics covered:

• End-of-life care systems: Australia vs. U.S.
  
  

• The role and training of end-of-life doulas
  
  

• Building community and compassionate care networks
  
  

• What families really need in the pre-hospice stage
  
  

• Why mentorship and collaboration are critical for doulas
  
  

Deanna’s book:  Accompanying the Dying: Practical, Heart-Centered Wisdom for End-of-Life Doulas and Healthcare Advocates

Learn more: CareDoula® Education https://caredoulaeducation.com/

Earlier Podcast with Deanna Cochran: https://dyingyourway.com/podcast-item/rn-reclaiming-community-centered-death-care-with-deanna-cochran/

Explore Dying Your Way End of Life Training: https://www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

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• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

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Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

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When a loved one dies, the world tilts. The air feels different. Time both stops and rushes forward.

In this compassionate solo episode, Claire O’Berry gently guides listeners through the sacred and often chaotic first days after death — from the moment of passing through the week of the funeral. Learn what steps to take, what mistakes to avoid, and how to find meaning in the midst of grief and confusion.

Topics include:

• Sitting with the body and honoring the sacred moment of death

• Understanding next-of-kin and executor responsibilities

• How to handle social media announcements with sensitivity

• Managing funeral planning and paperwork without losing your center

• Caring for yourself when exhaustion and grief collide

This episode offers reassurance, practical wisdom, and a reminder that there’s no “right” way to grieve — only your way.

Listen now and learn how the Dying Your Way End of Life Training provides the Executor Checklist, a vital tool to guide your family through the immediate days and weeks after a loved one’s death.
 www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

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• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

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Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Returning guest Dr. Fred Mirarchi, DO, joins Claire O’Berry to discuss the critical intersection of technology, ethics, and end-of-life care.

As CEO of MIDEO, LLC (My Informed Decision on Video) and Chair of the National Palliative Care Committee for USACS, Dr. Mirarchi has led groundbreaking research (the TRIAD Studies) revealing how often advance directives are misinterpreted — and how a short, personalized video can save lives by clarifying patient intent.

In this episode, they explore:

• Why AI and video tools are transforming modern medicine
  
  

• The growing trend of lawsuits for “wrongful prolongation of life”
  
  

• The dangers of outdated, paper-based advance directives
  
  

• New challenges in palliative and hospice care in the U.S.
  
  

• Ethical implications of AI-guided medical decision-making
  
  

Dr. Mirarchi’s call to action is clear: take charge of your own care through informed decisions and documented clarity.

Learn more about your own MIDEO card: https://mideohealth.com/

Listen, learn, and share this episode to start an essential conversation about how you want to be cared for at the end of life.

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this deeply personal and practical episode, host Claire O’Berry gently guides you through the physical, emotional, and spiritual transitions that occur during the final stages of life.

Using the framework of two months, two weeks, two days, and two hours before death, Claire offers a compassionate roadmap of what to expect — from declining appetite and extreme fatigue, to near-death awareness and the sacred stillness of the final moments. She shares tender stories of her parents’ passing, personal insights from hospice work, and her own near-death experience that removed her fear of dying.

Whether you’re a caregiver, a planner, or simply curious, this episode will help you demystify the dying process and prepare to hold space with peace, love, and presence.

 Learn more and access the full Dying Your Way End of Life Training: https://www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Dying Your Way Podcast, Ryan Bell returns for a deeper conversation about how we prepare for death—and why it matters.

From the history of embalming after the Civil War to today’s growing interest in natural burials, Ryan and Claire discuss the cultural shifts that shape our rituals of mourning. They reflect on how pre-planning transforms chaos into calm, and why legacy work—writing your own story—matters for the people you leave behind.

This heartfelt exchange covers:

• Advance care planning and the legal tools every family should have.

• How communities once rallied around grief, and how we might reclaim that support.

• Gender roles in end-of-life care and what’s shifting now.

• Death as our final opportunity to teach those we love how to live well.

• Download your free copy of the Dying Your Way eBook  and consider enrolling in the Dying Your Way End of Life Training to create your own informed End of Life Plan: https://www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people avoid thinking about funerals—until it’s too late. But planning ahead is a gift, both for you and your loved ones.

In this episode of the Dying Your Way Podcast, Claire O’Berry shares why funeral planning matters, what options are available, and how to create a service that truly reflects a life well lived. From traditional burials to green burials, from heartfelt eulogies to intimate memorials, this conversation will inspire you to make choices with meaning and clarity.

Learn how to budget wisely, explore cultural and spiritual traditions, and give your loved ones the gift of closure and connection.

Tune in and start planning your curtain call with love and intention.

For deeper guidance, visit: https://www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

Resources:

• Dying Your Way End-of-Life Training → https://www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Part One episode, Claire speaks with Ryan Bell—Licensed Family Service Advisor at Dignity Memorial, grief guide, death doula in training, and founder of DeathWorker.com.

Ryan shares his remarkable journey from an Emmy-winning marketing career to meaningful end-of-life work after a season of grief, loss, and an adult autism/ADHD diagnosis. Together, we explore:

• Why Ryan says “death isn’t the enemy—chaos is”
  
  

• The role of pre-planning in easing family burdens
  
  

• The beauty of grief as a doorway to deeper love
  
  

• The future of human composting and greener burial options
  
  

A candid, heartfelt conversation about authenticity, grief, and why preparation is the greatest gift we can give our loved ones.

 Listen now and share with someone you love.

And stay tuned for Part Two coming soon! 

Resources:

• Dying Your Way End-of-Life Training → https://www.dyingyourway.com/eol-training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Dying Your Way podcast, Claire O’Berry explores what it really means to leave a legacy. Beyond money and material possessions lies something much richer: your story, your wisdom, your values, and your love.

Through personal stories—including her own mother and father's lasting influence—Claire invites you to reflect on the memories, rituals, and teachings that shape the lives of those who come after you.

👉 Share this episode with someone you love to begin a deeper conversation about legacy and meaning.

For more guidance on end-of-life preparation, visit the Dying Your Way End of Life Training.

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interviewing Stephen Jenkinson is not for the faint of heart. In this thirdconversation on the Dying Your Way Podcast, I stepped into the ring once again with one of the great cultural teachers of our time. We explored his latest book Matrimony—a text that challenges, confronts, and ultimately blesses the reader with the possibility of change.

What began as a “slog” of words became an initiation through storytelling, ritual, patrimony, vows, and grief. Stephen makes the case that matrimony is not a private romance but a cultural act—a village-making event that has profound resonance for how we face death, loss, and love itself.

I survived. I stretched. I grew. And I am incrementally, if not forever changed. My hope is that you, too, will listen to this conversation, buy the book, share this podcast with others and so you too can take up the work in your own way. The village really needs us.

Purchase Matrimony at https://orphanwisdom.com/shop/

For step-by-step support, enroll in the Dying Your Way End of Life Training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this practical and heartfelt solo episode, Claire O’Berry explores what it really takes to stay at home in your final days — and how to make that experience as safe, supported, and peaceful as possible.

You’ll learn:

• What defines a “natural death”
  
  

• How to assess if dying at home is right for you
  
  

• Common risks (falls, isolation, access) and how to prepare for them
  
  

• Why hospice, palliative care, and honest communication matter
  
  

• How early planning can prevent crisis, confusion, and unnecessary suffering
  
  

Free Resource!

Download the Home Safety Checklist for a Natural Death (PDF)

For step-by-step support, enroll in the Dying Your Way End of Life Training

📬 Connect with Us:

• 💻 Website: https://dyingyourway.com

• 📧 Contact: [email protected]

• 📱 Instagram: @dyingyourway

• 🗣️ Leave a comment, submit a topic, or tell us your story!

🙏 Support the Podcast:

• ✅ Subscribe — It’s free!

• 💬 Leave a review or comment

• 🔗 Share this episode with someone who needs it

• 👍 Hit that like button to help others find this space

Take a deep breath, hold your loved ones close, and remember: You can die your way.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.