Seattle + Puget Sound
I'm Zac, a psychologist and coach training as an end-of-life doula. I came to this work through a lifetime of loss, and I offer presence, planning, and steady company to people facing the end of life, and to the families walking with them.
The work, in plain words
A death doula (sometimes called an end-of-life doula or death midwife) is a holistic, non-medical companion who walks alongside a dying person and their family. Not as a clinician. Not as a stranger paid to "handle" something. As a steady, informed companion.
I sit vigil through long hours. I translate what the body is doing. I help you say the things that need saying. I hold the room so the people you love can stop performing and start being present.
Just as a birth doula supports a person bringing a new life into the world, a death doula supports a person leaving this life, and the loved ones who must continue.
Steady company across the long arc of dying: bedside vigil, hard conversations, quiet hours.
Advance directives, POLST, legacy work, family logistics, after-death care, all on your terms.
Education on the dying process. Grief support before and after. Practical help when the world goes quiet.
About the practitioner
A psychologist and a coach. An end-of-life doula in formation. I came to this work through my own losses, beginning with my father when I was a child, and through years of helping people move through hard change.
Read my storyI met death early. My father died when I was a child, and grief has been a companion throughout my life. I have sat with dying family members and served as the executor of my grandfather's will. This work is deeply personal to me.
I am also a psychologist and a coach. For years I have worked closely with people through the transitions that reshape a life. The end of life is the one we are least ready for, and the one where a steady, compassionate presence matters most.
I'm currently completing foundational end-of-life doula training and accepting a small number of first families, including pro-bono and sliding-scale work. If you're considering working with me, I will tell you exactly where I am in that path and what I can and can't honestly offer.
How I help
Steady, unhurried company at the bedside.
A doula sits vigil during the final hours and days, not to do, but to be. They tend to the room, hold the silence, offer comfort touch, and ensure no one dies alone. For families, this presence means rest, meals, and the freedom to be loved ones first.
Get your wishes on paper, while there is time.
Doulas guide the conversations many of us avoid: advance directives, POLST forms, healthcare proxies, what a “good day” looks like at the end, what you want and don’t want. They help you make decisions clearly, so loved ones aren’t left guessing.
Capture the story while the storyteller is here.
Letters, recorded interviews, ethical wills, photo books, recipe collections, gifts for grandchildren not yet born: legacy work weaves meaning out of a life. Many people find that reflecting on their story is itself a gift to themselves.
Help for the people doing the holding.
Caregivers run on empty. A doula coordinates with family, friends, and care providers, helps facilitate hard conversations, and helps loved ones communicate needs when tensions are high. They bridge gaps in care that hospice or family alone can’t fill.
Knowing what is happening makes it less frightening.
Doulas explain what the body does as it shuts down (changes in breath, color, appetite, awareness), so the people present can stop pathologizing the natural and start being with it. Knowledge replaces panic with presence.
Honoring what was, gently, on your terms.
Home funerals, washing and dressing the body, sitting with the dead, planning ceremony, eulogy work, and coordination with funeral homes when needed. Doulas help families reclaim rituals that were once everyone’s and have lately been outsourced.
Death is one of life's most potent and sacred passages, as well as one of the most denied, ignored, and feared. We do not have to meet it alone.
Common questions
Most of what you're wondering, someone else has wondered too. Here's a start. The rest live in the full FAQ.
Read all FAQsBegin a conversation
Whether you're facing a diagnosis, supporting a loved one, or thinking ahead while there's time, start with a free thirty-minute conversation. There's no pressure to continue.