Services offered
Planning
Planning for death can happen during any stage of life. I can help you assemble practical documents, such as advance directives, obituaries, or life files. I can also help you plan what you want to happen before, during, and after you die, including vigil planning, legacy projects, forgiveness circles, and after-death care plans.
Support
We suffer more when we don’t talk about our wishes, thoughts, and fears—and less when we know and honor our wishes and the wishes of those we care about. I meet with clients and their loved ones to help them find the greatest peace and clarity during this emotionally unique time. I reassure individuals contemplating death and actively dying that they are never alone.
Tools
Sometimes you need to talk through your options to clarify your values and priorities and sometimes you need an easy tool to start the conversation. The Circle offers both so that you can create the positive death experience everyone wants and deserves. I can work with you to customize these tools to meet your unique needs or you can download and use them on your own.
My mission is to provide people contemplating their death, or the death of someone they care about, with the planning, support, and tools they need to embrace their own mortality in order to bring the greatest acceptance, comfort, joy, and meaning to life and death. Find details about what The Circle offers below.
Frequently requested planning
Initial consultation
One 20-minute initial meeting to see how to best support the individual and those who care about them during the dying process. Not experiencing an imminent death or not sure how an end-of-life doula can help enrich your life right now? Reach out anytime—we’ll talk through your needs together.
Free
Advance directive
Two 1-hour sessions to help you create a document that expresses your wishes around end-of-life medical decisions—including appointing a healthcare agent should you no longer be able to speak for yourself. Together, we discuss different scenarios, weigh options, and finalize your plan.
$250
Vigil planning
Six hours (about five 1-hour sessions plus 1 hour of writing) to explore your life’s meaning and talk through your vision for your final days. I’ll help develop a written vigil plan that clearly expresses how you want your last days to look and feel, and help initiate the agreed-upon vigil plan when death is near.
$750
Legacy project
Ten hours (about eight 1-hour sessions plus 2 hours of writing) to explore your life’s meaning to help conceive and execute a legacy project that reflects the impact you’ve made. Legacy work has the power to enrich your life up until the moment of death and continue to enrich the lives of loved ones who grieve.
$1250
Obituary writing
Three hours (two 1-hr sessions plus 1 hour of writing time) to explore your life’s meaning to determine how you’d like to be remembered, highlight the achievements closest to your heart, and decide what you’d like to see written about you after your death. This service gives you the opportunity to define your own legacy.
$375
Life file
Three hours (two 1-hr sessions plus 1 hour of writing time) to help you create a master file of key information that will ensure your loved ones have what they need to take care of your affairs after your death. This service helps you identify what’s important to share, such as passwords, social media accounts, or insurance policies.
$375
People start to heal the moment they feel heard.
Cheryl Richardson
Support services
Initial consultation
One 20-minute initial meeting to see how to best support the individual and those who care about them during the dying process. Not experiencing an imminent death or not sure how an end-of-life doula can help enrich your life now? Let’s talk.
Free
Hourly services
Book 1-hour sessions on an as-needed basis for yourself or you and your loved ones. We can use the time for whatever you need most, including life review, vigil planning, legacy work, ritual planning, anticipatory grief work, or even vigil support.
$125
Gift or donation
Connection is an antidote to the fear and loneliness that can arise when faced with dying. Gift someone you love—or an anonymous someone who can’t afford our services—the compassionate support everyone everywhere deserves.
$125
Planning package
When you need ongoing support for yourself, your family, your caregivers, or your friends, you can purchase 5 hours of personalized support up front. Use your time in whatever way you need, including life review, legacy projects, vigil planning, anticipatory grief work, obituary writing, life file creation, forgiveness circles, after-death planning, or even just to talk.
$625
Vigil support package 1
Up to 5 days of vigil support at up to 2 hours per day during the active dying phase. Includes 24-hour, on-call support for the dying person and their caregivers, as well as the initiation of the vigil plan, guided meditation, and anticipatory grief work as needed. About a month after the death, a final meeting with loved ones will help reprocess the experience and provide grief resources.
$1500
Vigil support package 2
Up to 5 days of vigil support at up to 4 hours per day during the active dying phase. Includes 24-hour, on-call support for the dying person and their caregivers, as well as the initiation of the vigil plan, guided meditation, and anticipatory grief work as needed. About a month after the death, a final meeting with loved ones will help reprocess the experience and provide grief resources.
$2200
The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Tools for you
The Circle has created a growing library of customizable tools and online resources of the most commonly requested end-of-life templates because I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to plan for the best possible death. I would be honored to work with you and your loved ones using any of these tools. I also invite you to download and work with them on your own if that feels right for you. Either way, I’m always here to help.
We’re all just walking each other home.
Ram Dass