Reimagining How We Die: Innovation & Transformation
MNHPC Fall Forum and the Florence Schorske Wald Lecture
Friday, November 13, 2020 | 10:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00 Central Time
https://www.mnhpc.org/2020-fall-forum
https://www.mnhpc.org/
Being Present with Dying: Basic End-of-Life Doula Skills for Family & Community
Oct. 2 & 3, 2020 — Online & interactive workshop
http://www.consciouslivingdying.org/
The Beauty in Dying
Sat., 3/21/20 — Seal Cove, Mt Desert Island, ME
A sacred conversation, grounded in experience and hope, with end-of-life educator Janet Booth and priest/chaplain Julia Polter.
Our relationship with diminishment and dying can be like looking at the desert – what’s here to like and appreciate? Loss, grief, fear, and a sense of marginalization may seem to dominate, yet this ‘desert’ may also contain unexpected places of great beauty in the form of meaning, love, compassion, purpose, service, initiation. Some may say it’s a completely natural beauty – that it is in our nature to diminish and die…as well as to serve, love, and hold compassion for each other.
This day-long program invites exploration of questions emerging in these complex times: What do we think happens when we die? Is there purpose or meaning to be found at the end of life – as a dying person or as a caregiver? What has shaped our beliefs about these questions? Where do we go to know more about the wisdom of diminishment, dying, and caring for each other?
Pre-Conference Florence Wald Lectureship on Hospice & Palliative Care
https://www.mnhpcconference.org/janet-booth
“Re-Imagining How We Die: Innovations in end-of-life care”
April 5, 2020 — St. Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, MN
The Inner Path of Dying
https://www.opencenter.org/the-inner-path-of-dying/
April 16, 2020 (Sunday) — 9:30 am — 5:00 pm
New York Open Center, NYC, NY
What if we re-imagined the end of life as a vital and purposeful stage of being fully human? In a death-phobic culture, practices that wake us up to our mortality are countercultural and radical acts. How do we learn and practice this particular path of awakening?
To imagine new possibilities, we benefit from drawing out of a different well of thinking and experience—perhaps a different kind of knowing. Contemplative and mythic traditions teach the necessity of an inner path of dying—so that we can be more fully present with our own and others’ grief, losses, and death.
This workshop draws from experiential practices, storytelling, music, and focused reflection to explore the mystery and meaning in dying – and how it changes how we live.
Companioning the Dying: Opening Fully to Living
Oct. 2018–June 2019
This program was created to empower and support persons who feel called to companion the dying and desire to live fuller, more courageous lives.
This ten-month long program offers both formation and ongoing support and has a special concern to support companions for those persons who would otherwise have no one to accompany them in their final journeys. Through formal presentations and experiential learning, the program offers basic skills and contemplative practices that will assist participants in confident and compassionate companioning of the dying along with the integration of this experience into their own spirituality.
The program, which is offered in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area, begins in October and ends the following June.
http://www.companioningthedying.org/
Inner Path of Dying
June 1-2, 2018
Alcyon Center, Seal Cove, ME
We live with a fundamental dishonesty when we hide from our dying. What are the waking up practices that come before illness and hospice? How do contemplative and mythic traditions prepare us to live our dying as a gift and inspiration to those we leave behind?
Guest Teacher: Janet Booth
Jun 1: Evening Conversation 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Jun 2: Day Workshop 10 am – 5 pm with lunch
http://alcyoncenter.org/what-we-offer/programs/workshops-and-retreats#innerpath
Defining Hope Film Screening
Where: Ballston Common Stadium 12, 671 N. Glebe, Rd., Arlington, VA, 22203
Cost: $13.20
To purchase tickets: https://gathr.us/s/22255
Coaching Conversations for People Living with Chronic and Advanced Illness
Harmony Hill Retreat Center, Union, WA
Oct. 1-3, 2017
https://inursecoach.com/events/coachingconversations/
Navigating serious illness and the end of life within the current health care system can often be confusing, isolating, crisis-driven, and dis-heartening. Coaching conversations help guide individuals living with chronic and serious illness to make decisions about care and treatments within the values and meaning of their own life story. Opening up these conversations earlier in the trajectory of illness may uncover new possibilities for wellbeing — and transform how a person lives the last months or years of their life. This experiential workshop will use a coaching model to share practical skills with nurses and nurse coaches who want to engage more effectively in conversations about what matters most in living and dying.
Come nurture your body, mind & spirit in a setting that includes other inspiring nurses, beautiful gardens & views, and delicious meals.
This three-day experiential program will assist nurses and nurse coaches to:
- Explore personal beliefs and values about aging, serious illness, and dying to further enhance self-development.
- Further develop coaching skills to engage more effectively in conversations about what matters most in living and dying.
- Discuss grief, loss, and bereavement across the lifespan.
- Integrate self-care practices that encourage resilience and decrease compassion fatigue, burnout, and moral distress across practice settings.
Re-imagining the End of Life
Alcyon Retreat Center, Seal Cove, Maine
May 6, 2017
http://alcyoncenter.org/what-w…/programs/alcyon-program-2017
Navigating the challenges of aging, serious illness, and dying within our complex health care system is not for the faint-hearted. What might be possible instead:
If we re-imagined the end of life as a vital, purposeful stage of human development?
If practices of healing – forgiveness, gratitude, and letting go – were essential parts of our care plans?
If wisdom informed our challenging decision points, instead of fear?
Or if ‘Allow Natural Death’ were to replace ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders?
This one-day workshop will bring together insights about modern death & dying, practical guidance, and experiential exercises for participants to go deeper into their own preparation for the end of their lives.
Day workshop: 10 am to 5 pm, lunch included, $65.
Overnight option: includes personal consultation and planning session with Jan, $150.
“Shift Happens” – Nurse Coaching as Integrative Practice
Integrative Health Symposium, NYC, NY
Feb 24, 2017; 10:45 am-12:00 pm
Join us for an experiential workshop that explores how nurses are transforming their practice through the lens of health & wellness coaching. Integrative Nurse Coaching is a natural extension of nursing practice that addresses the whole person and the healthcare needs of our nation and world. As health care shifts from a disease-oriented system to one proactively focused on wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention, the Integrative Nurse Coach role is an essential ingredient for successfully assisting people toward sustained health and well-being. Observe the creative process of working with clients in a new way.
Interview with Karen Wyatt, MD — End of Life University
Listen here: http://iteleseminar.com/86029554
(Recorded Thurs., September 15, 2016 — 10 am PST/1 pm EST)
- The role of end-of-life nurse coaches
- How end-of-life nurse coaching differs from hospice or palliative care nursing
- How the nurse coaching model can fill in the gaps of the Western medical approach to advanced illness and the end of life
- How nurses can benefit from nurse coach training
Janet Booth RN is a hospice and palliative care nurse who now works as a board-certified integrative nurse coach around issues of aging, illness and dying. Her 30 years of nursing include being a hospice nurse at the bedside, a palliative care nurse in a major medical center, and an employee health and wellness nurse for a large hospice organization.
In her work as an end-of-life nurse coach she supports people in navigating conscious aging and serious illness, helps families to talk more openly about end-of-life priorities, and provides health coaching for both professional and personal family caregivers.
She serves as associate faculty for certification programs through the International Nurse Coach Association, including a new program starting in the fall of 2016 called End-of-Life Nurse Coaching and co-created the course “Sacred Journey: Being Present with Aging, Illness and Dying” in the Washington DC area. Her current graduate studies are focused on innovative nursing leadership in the emerging models of more humane end-of-life care in the U.S.
The End of Life Nurse Coaching Program
A collaboration between the International Nurse Coach Association and The New York Open Center’s Art of Dying Institute November 2016 — April 2017New York Open Center, NYC
3-minute video clip: https://www.youtube.com/
- Nurses have the opportunity to be on the forefront of a new paradigm of health care – one that includes both the promotion of wellbeing as well as advocacy for more compassionate end of life care.
- We integrate a coaching model throughout the trajectory of illness, and work closely with people as they make changes and decisions in their lives based on what matters most to them.
- By using high-level communication skills and a coaching perspective, we open up the conversations with people living with chronic and advanced illness. This not only can change the trajectory of how people live, it also changes the conversations at end of life.
- Nurses are the most trusted profession in yearly polls, and have a real opportunity to combine that trust with our depth of experience, skills, and knowledge to guide people in navigating the complexity of health care decisions and options at end of life.
For more information:
Alcyon Center — Seal Cove, Maine
April 22-23, 2016 http://www.alcyoncenter.org/what-we-offer/programs/alcyon-program#janbooth Following the thread: An experiential workshop for people who want to explore their own relationship to deep living & dying well (4/23/16) Many people come into the time of serious illness and dying feeling unprepared and untethered. Our time together will focus on the inner and outer preparation that might allow for a more conscious and meaningful last chapter of life. Stephen Jenkinson says, “It’s the quality of your approach to dying that determines what you’ll find.”Through both individual and small group practices, we will look at the deep thread that has given meaning to our lives and could inform how we make decisions at the end of our lives. For example, what is a new model of health care decision-making that includes both the medical model and the values emerging from the narrative arc of our lives? This thread also speaks to the legacy we leave behind – not just the legacy of how we lived, but also of how we died. There are many possibilities for healing in living deeply and dying well. At the Edges of Our Dying: A conversation about what’s new & emerging in end of life care (4/22/16) An informal talk & follow-up conversation about both the mainstream & the new, emerging models for end of life care in the US. Discussion includes:- What is breaking down in our culture in order to transform, evolve and make room for new possibilities at end of life?
- If new growth starts around the edges of a culture, what’s around the edges of end of life care in these times?
- What needs are being met by the new innovations that are emerging in end of life care?
- Why are many of the emerging models coming out of the younger generation?
Living Well, Dying Well
Integrative Healthcare Symposium 2016 New York City, NY — 2/27/16 Death is not a medical event, a failure, or a problem to be solved. It is a natural part of the life cycle and holds the possibility of meaning-making and transformation for all of us. There is a growing cultural awareness that we need to navigate a more conscious and compassionate approach to care at the end of life.Hospice and palliative care serve as anchors for end of life care, and draw from integrative principles that address body, mind, and spirit.
Integrative nursing is whole-person care that focuses on healing and well-being at all points along the life spectrum — and is therefore an important voice in the conversation about conscious living and dying well.
This session will explore concepts and practices that are helpful in caring deeply for people living with serious illness, and in the transition of living to dying.
When we stay present and engaged with very ill and dying people, we create a relationship of authenticity and connection that deepens the possibilities for healing in any practice setting.
The New Dying: Emerging Models and Innovation at End of Life
An Open Conversation with Jan Booth and Mark Cevoli about their work—bring your questions! Saturday Oct 17, 2015, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. The Alcyon Center, Seal Cove, Maine (Please call for Reservations — 207-244-1060) Jan Booth is a longtime hospice & palliative care nurse, now working as an Integrative Nurse Coach around issues of aging, illness, and dying. She also serves as co-faculty for a course in the DC area called Sacred Journey: Being Present with Aging, Illness & Dying. Her current graduate studies at Goddard College are focused on the emerging models for more conscious & wise end of life care in our country, with particular interest in creating a new ethic of decision-making based on the arc of our life stories. Mark Cevoli, after studying at McAllister Institute for Funeral Service and interning in Maine, now is living in Portland, studying the funeral ceremony and its place in our culture. He is working to make home funerals more available and practical, as well as revisioning how we participate in them. “Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure…the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.” – Sir William Ewart Gladstone Microsoft Word – 2015 New Dying.doc (1)Compassionate Care of the Dying
those who wish to gain insight into their own suffering and learn skillful ways to transform this deep wisdom into compassionate service of the dying. Using dialogue, experiential exercises and guided meditation, participants will explore how deeper awareness and presence to our own suffering can lead to compassionate caregiving at end of life.
Teachers: Susan Akers, Janet Booth
For information or registration: https://imcw.org/Calendar/EventId/299/e/daylong-compassionate-care-of-the-dying-14-nov-2015The Art & Science of Integrative Nurse Coaching
Sat., 11/1/14, 9:30 am-4:30 pm
Arlington, VA
If you are looking for information on how to become Board Certified as a Nurse Coach, want to enhance your own self-care, or are seeking new directions in your nursing practice to support patients in co-creating healthier lifestyles…join us in Arlington, VA on November 1st!
For more information, click on:
11/1/14 Workshop
Sacred Journey: Being Present with Aging, Illness, And Death/Loss
November 2014 – June 2015
Washington DC/Baltimore
Sponsored by IMCW – see www.IMCW.org
Sacred Journey is an in-depth, experiential program for people who are deeply curious about or have experience with issues related to aging, illness, or dying. Encounters with these vital topics have the potential to be both transformative and life affirming.
Schedule of Retreats
Residential Retreat 1: November 7-9, 2014 Resiterstown, MD
Half-Day Meeting 1: December 13, 2014 Bethesda, MD
One-Day Retreat 1: January 10, 2015 Bethesda, MD
Half-Day Retreat 2: February 7, 2015 Bethesda, MD
Residential Retreat 2: March 6-8, 2015 Reisterstown, MD
One-Day Retreat 2: April 18, 2015 Bethesda, MD
Half-Day Retreat 3: May 9, 2015 Bethesda, MD
Residential Retreat 3: June 5-7, 2015 Reisterstown, MD
All-inclusive tuition: $2000
During the retreats, we will explore Sacred Journey topics through small and large group activities, silence and laughter, meditation, movement (yoga) and music — all in beautiful, natural surroundings.
A dedicated group of participants will come together for monthly retreats; support between retreats includes readings, peer support and one-on-one teacher meetings.
Who are the teachers?
A unique mix of seasoned guides lead the program including Insight Meditation/mindfulness teachers, yoga teachers, grief counselors, hospice workers and health care practitioners: Susan Akers, Mary Aubry, Alicia Bazan, Janet Booth, Lauren Cates, and Trish Magyari. In addition, we have experienced aging, illness and/or loss in our lives as patients, grievers, and caregivers; we are honored to share this Sacred Journey with you. Guest teachers will include Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance andTrue Refuge.
Click here for Program Application.
For full program details www.imcw.org and search for “Sacred Journey.”
I’ve taught extensively over the years, and facilitated a variety of workshops and retreats. Feel free to contact me for custom-designed workshops, retreats or education for your group — on a wide variety of topics.
Workshops & Retreats
Half-day, all-day or weekend retreats
Custom-designed on a variety of topics related to:
- Health & Well-being
- Care for the Caregiver
- Transforming Compassion Fatigue & Burnout
- Transforming our Experience of Aging, Illness, and Dying
- Compassionate Care at the End of Life
- Conscious Preparation for End of Life
- Follow Your Thread: What matters most in living & dying
Rates vary per group — contact me for further information.
Community Health Education
Custom-designed on a variety of topics related to:
- Health & Well-being
- Eat Less, Move More
- Building Resilience & Health in a Fast-Paced World
- Transforming 21st Century Stress
- Care of the Caregiver
- Transforming Compassion Fatigue & Burnout
- Compassionate Care at the End of Life
- Giving the Gift of ‘The Conversation’
- End of Life 101 — Beyond Advanced Directives
- Innovation & Fresh Thinking about End of Life
Rates vary per group — contact me for further information.
