About Me

The scope of what I provide may fall under various titles…Life Interventionalist, Serious Illness Doula, End-of-Life Doula, or death educator. No matter the title, I am here to hold space, guide, empower, support and advocate for those that are thinking about death, ill or dying and those that surround the dying. I am a gifted listener, empath, intuitive and connect deeply and purposely with other humans. My strength of communication serves to build a bridge to allow discussion about illness, death and dying. Whether you have been given a “projected time of death” or you have never even thought about death, working with me will improve how you approach life.

I get asked all the time…

“Why do you want to work with death?”

The simple answer…

“To allow you to live life, fully.”

Death is the great equalizer. Not talking about death isn’t going to stop it. Our body knows how to die, it is the mind that tells us “death is later, you don’t have to worry about that right now.” The last gift we can give those that we leave behind is having a plan in place.

My journey of embracing death is an accumulation of my years of personal life and professional work in the western medical system. I have walked friends and family, including my aunt, mother-in-law, niece and father through to the end of their lives. Professionally, as a speech/swallowing pathologist, across acute care hospitals, cancer centers and hospice I have repeatedly watched death happen regardless of how hard people tried to stop it. I have seen so much extra pain and trauma for the person and their inner circle around death. I ask myself, “What if the conversations surrounding death started earlier—before the sudden illness or injury—when we are “healthy” and “fine?”

My Doula training with Going with Grace anchored my learning in February 2021. I am an ongoing member of the National End of Life Doula Alliance, completing proficiency in March 2021. I have furthered my knowledge base completing the following: Creating an Herbal Toolkit for End of Life Care (June 2022); Grief Educator Training with David Kessler (summer 2022); International Doula Life Movement’s EOL Doula Specialist (June 2023) and Certified Life Planning (December 2023).

I am a life-long Arizona resident. My husband, Shawn, has supported me along our journey of raising two children who have grown and flown the nest to California. We have also brought the world to us over the years with hosting 10+ foreign exchange students, teenagers—there are a bundle of life lessons there.

I look forward to meeting you, hearing your story and helping you create comfort in a death plan so that you can live fully.

In Loving Kindness,

Keri Winchester

Going With Grace End-of-Life Training Graduate

National End-of-Life Doula Alliance Proficiency Badge

International Doula Life Movement Graduate