エピソード

  • Ep24: What if Death Isn't the End...But a Return?

    Ep24: What if Death Isn't the End...But a Return?
    2026/08/06
    Rewilding Death, Grie, & Our place in the Living World

    What if our fear of death is actually a symptom of something much larger?
    What if we've forgotten how to belong—to one another, to community, to ritual, and to the Earth itself?

    In this profound conversation, Dr. Deerheart welcomes ecological psychologist and researcher Maria Béarre-Bóynne to explore one of the deepest questions of our time: What have we forgotten?

    Together they examine how modern culture has separated us from death, grief, nature, and each other—and how remembering our place within the living world may transform not only how we die, but how we live.

    This episode is an invitation to return home.
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    58 分
  • Ep23: The Death Underground: Why a Community Is Rising to Reclaim Dying, Grief & Human Connection

    Ep23: The Death Underground: Why a Community Is Rising to Reclaim Dying, Grief & Human Connection
    2026/06/26
    What if death wasn't something we feared alone?
    What if dying, caregiving, grief, and end-of-life planning were supported by an entire community of compassionate professionals, educators, artists, clergy, caregivers, and advocates?

    In this powerful episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart welcomes Barbara McMurray, co-founder of the Orange County Deathworkers Alliance (OCDWA), a growing collective of death doulas, physicians, hospice professionals, funeral providers, artists, caregivers, spiritual leaders, and community members working together to transform how we approach death, dying, and grief. Together they explore why death has become isolated and medicalized, the growing death-positive movement, the role of community in easing suffering, and how ordinary people can become empowered participants in end-of-life care.

    This conversation is a call to reclaim one of the most sacred experiences of being human. Because death belongs not only to medicine.

    It belongs to all of us.
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    58 分
  • Episode 22: Ask a Death Doula Series-The Questions We’re Afraid to Ask About Dying, Choice & Liv

    Episode 22: Ask a Death Doula Series-The Questions We’re Afraid to Ask About Dying, Choice & Liv
    2026/05/23
    What if talking about death could help you live more honestly, love more deeply, and fear less? In this intimate solo episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart opens her heart and shares the story behind nearly four decades of walking beside the dying. From a frightened child hiding under the covers from the “boogeyman” to becoming an end-of-life practitioner, educator, and founder of The HeartWay, Dr. Deerheart explores the sacred, mysterious, and profoundly human journey of dying. Through the beloved “Ask a Death Doula” series, she answers some of the most common—and most misunderstood—questions people have about death, hospice, sovereignty, end-of-life choices, the dying process, and how to say goodbye with love instead of fear. This episode is compassionate, provocative, educational, and deeply heart-centered. Because death is not only about endings.
    It is also about truth, love, and learning how to live fully while we are here.
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    1 時間
  • Ep 21: They Said She’d Never Walk Again: She Rewrote the Ending

    Ep 21: They Said She’d Never Walk Again: She Rewrote the Ending
    2026/04/25
    In this profoundly moving episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Andrea Deerheart is joined by Nikki Brake, Executive Director of The HeartWay, whose life story is a testament to resilience, trauma recovery, transformation, and the power of the human spirit. At just 16 years old, Nikki survived a devastating car accident that left her fighting for her life.

    Facing multiple surgeries, months of rehabilitation, and the unimaginable grief of being told she might never walk—or have children—Nikki was forced to rebuild her life from the ground up. But this is not a story about limitation.

    It is a story about becoming. In this intimate and courageous conversation, Nikki shares her journey through trauma, identity loss, grief, and ultimately empowerment—moving from feeling discarded to discovering purpose. Today, she walks, she mothers, she leads, and she serves as the Executive Director of The HeartWay, giving back with deep compassion and lived wisdom. This episode is for anyone who has ever been told “you can’t,” for anyone learning how to begin again,
    and for anyone seeking hope in the face of the unimaginable.
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    56 分
  • Ep 20: NeuroDiversity with Sari Solden

    Ep 20: NeuroDiversity with Sari Solden
    2026/03/27
    In this deeply moving episode of Death Demystified with Dr. Deerheart, psychotherapist and neurodiversity advocate Sari Solden, MS, joins Andrea to explore an often-overlooked frontier in end-of-life care — how we can honor, comfort, and support neurodiverse individuals as they approach the final chapter of life.

    Together, they dive into what neurodiversity truly means — the unique ways brains and beings experience the world — and how that understanding should shape the way we listen, touch, communicate, and accompany the dying. With tenderness and insight, Dr. Deerheart and Sari discuss practices that ease anxiety, build safety, and affirm dignity for those whose minds may process, feel, and perceive differently. This is a conversation about belonging until the very last breath — and the grace of meeting every soul exactly where they are. A must-listen for end-of-life practitioners, doulas, caregivers, and anyone seeking to deepen compassion in the face of difference.
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    1 時間
  • Ep19: Holding the Unheld: Jizo, Ritual, and Healing After Infant Loss

    Ep19: Holding the Unheld: Jizo, Ritual, and Healing After Infant Loss
    2026/02/27
    In this deeply tender episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart is joined by Patricia Danaher, founder of The Jizo Foundation, to explore how ritual, community, and ancient wisdom can help heal one of the most silenced forms of grief—infant loss. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of Jizo, the beloved protector of children and guardian of souls,

    Patricia shares how creating public memorial spaces and embodied rituals allows parents and families to grieve openly, lovingly, and without shame. Together, they discuss miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss as forms of grief that are often unseen and unacknowledged in Western culture—and why witnessing, ritual, and remembrance are essential to healing.

    This episode weaves heartfelt conversation with moments of intentional silence, reflection, and poetry, inviting listeners to slow down, breathe, and honor love that did not have time to grow—but will never be forgotten. Whether you have experienced infant loss personally, support someone who has, or wish to deepen your understanding of grief, ritual, and resilience, this conversation offers compassion, meaning, and hope.
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    57 分
  • Ep 17: Finding Peace at Life's End: Essential Questions Every Family Should Know

    Ep 17: Finding Peace at Life's End: Essential Questions Every Family Should Know
    2026/01/23
    Death touches every life, yet many of us navigate end-of-life decisions feeling unprepared and overwhelmed. On a recent episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Dearhart shared crucial insights that could transform how families approach this sacred transition, answering the questions she hears most often as a death doula.
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    53 分
  • Ep16: “Walking Him Home: Love, Ritual, and Life After Goodbye with Mary Franz

    Ep16: “Walking Him Home: Love, Ritual, and Life After Goodbye with Mary Franz
    2025/12/26
    In this deeply intimate episode of Death Demystified, Dr. Deerheart is joined by Mary Franz—retired marriage and family therapist, longtime educator, widow, and HeartWay client—for a courageous and tender conversation about love, loss, and resilience. As the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Mary reflects on what it was like to walk beside him at the end of life—participating in sacred rituals such as bathing, anointing, and honoring his body after death. She shares how end-of-life doula support complemented hospice care, filled emotional and spiritual gaps, and allowed her to be both wife and witness, not just caregiver.

    Together, they explore grief as a living relationship, the slow unfolding of resilience, and the practices that help Mary remain grounded as she steps into a new year with meaning, hope, and love still intact. This episode is an offering for anyone who has loved deeply, lost profoundly, and is learning how to live again
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    58 分