"It does not matter how long you live,
but how well you do it."
Martin Luther King Jr.
NTD Private Sessions
Nurturing Touch for the Dying is a group of techniques developed by Elizabeth Erbrecht LMT & End of Life Doula. Gentle nurturing touch is of course, always important but even more so when we are struggling with an illness or naturally nearing the end of our lives. NTD offers a comfort that soothes the body and calms the spirit.
An NTD session lasts between 45 minutes to an hour, and takes place where you are able to comfortably relax. This could be on your bed or a favorite napping spot in your living room. If you are calmed by certain instrumental music or sounds from nature, that can be part of what surrounds you. Electronics are muted, placed away from you, and I hang a small sign on the door asking that your bell or knocker not be used. You remain fully dressed. I begin by cradling your feet in my hands, then move to your calves, tops of thighs, hip area, stomach, hands, arms, shoulder, head and continue back to your feet.
I prefer to leave you in silence so you can rejoin the world at your leisure.
$90 per session
Planning Your Last Days
A Personal Vigil Plan will bring you the comfort you wish for in your final days. Think of it as a blueprint for loved ones to follow. It provides them with a sense of purpose, guidance and support in their care for you. This allows them to be present for you, taking part in your final journey here, without the anxiety of second guessing what to do for you.
We have five traditional senses that transmit information from our peripheral nervous system through various pathways to our central nervous system, and then on to our unique brain. While the smell of rain might soothe one, it might instead trigger the memory of a terrifying hurricane, in another. So, keeping all our senses in mind, we spend time considering what feeds your heart and your soul.
Within your home are the objects that bring you happiness, as you see them in your daily life. They could be a trinket brought back from a wonderful adventure, a painting, a group of photographs, or a baseball caught at the World Series. What it is, matters not. How it makes you feel, matters entirely.
From there, we will make note of what gives you pause as you catch its fragrance in the air. Dunhill tobacco, garden roses, or fresh cut grass? What happens to your spirit when you hear lovely piano music, The Beatles, waves breaking on shore or songbirds? Have you always carried a pocket-cross or lucky coin? Does holding a smooth stone cradled in your hands, offer calm and solace? Even during active-dying one’s lips are gently moistened. Would you love to have the flavor of chocolate, raspberry or perhaps a favorite rye whiskey?
$90 per session
Grief Coaching
At its core, coaching is a relationship designed to help the client transform their life. It is a conversation between two people that evokes a thoughtful and creative platform for success.
Coaching is not therapy or counseling. I do not tell my clients what to do or how to solve their issue. As a coach, I am charged with supporting my clients in traversing the journey of grief.
The death of a loved one changes us. Sometimes we pay attention. Sometimes we keep it at arm’s length. We might even begin to drown in our grief. At some point we have to do the work of grief if we want to learn how to live alongside it into our new life.
The specialty of Grief Coaching helps to adjust and plan in ways meaningful for the client. Going through the evolution of grief with a coach takes the feeling of being alone out of the loss.
$90 per session
Women's Grief Support Group For Widows
At some point, as we are grieving the death of a loved one, we need the compassion of others who can identify and empathize with our loss, as we can, theirs.
If you are a woman having lost a spouse, may it be husband or wife, and are ready to discover how to live forward ‘with’ your mourning, perhaps you would consider an intimate Grief Support Group.
Part of my grief story includes the death of my husband 30-years ago. The evolution of my mourning began four years later when I volunteered in the oncology dept of Driscoll Children’s Hospital in 1995. Other hats have been worn along the way to my becoming a Certified End-of-life Doula five years ago.
Beginning Thursday, October 5th , in the library of All Saints Episcopal Church (3026 S. Staples), from 10am-11:30am, I will facilitate a weekly 12-week support group. I am offering the program, Understanding Your Grief: Exploring the Essential Touchstones (second edition) by author, death educator and grief counselor, Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D.
The cost is $30 per session and includes materials. I ask that the total cost of $360 be paid to Together Forward, via personal check or Venmo @Martha-Heymann, following a prescreening with me to clarify your readiness for a group setting. Space is limited to six.
Please email me at togetherforwarddoula@gmail.com to schedule your prescreening.
Understanding Your Grief Support Outline of Topics
Week 1 | Oct 5, 2023: Introduction to Program/Welcome to the Group
Week 2 | Oct 12, 2023: Introduction to the Text/Journal and Touchstone One: Open to the Presence to Your Loss
Week 3 | Oct 19, 2023: Touchstone Two: Dispel a Dozen Misconceptions about Grief
Week 4 | Oct 26, 2023: Touchstone Three: Embrace the Uniqueness of Your Grief
Week 5 | Nov 2, 2023: Touchstone Four: Explore Your Feelings of Loss (zoom)
Week 6 | Nov 9, 2023: Touchstone Five: Understand the Six Needs of Mourning (zoom)
Week 7 | Nov 16, 2023: Touchstone Six: Recognize You Are Not Crazy (zoom)
Week 8 | Nov 23, 2023: Touchstone Seven: Nurture Yourself
Week 9 | Nov 30, 2023: Touchstone Eight: Reach Out for Help
Week 10 | Dec 7, 2023: Touchstone Nine: Seek Reconciliation, Not Resolution
Week 11 | Dec 14, 2023: Touchstone Ten: Appreciate Your Transformation
Week 12 | Dec 21, 2023: Graduation
Dying To Talk About Death Cafe
Death Cafés are a very informal, respectful and inclusive gathering for differing views, curious ponderings, and meaningful conversations around dying, death and life.
Laughter, while not required, is hoped for.
Please be on time, which means 10-minutes early, so you can order a refreshment before we start.
Date:
Saturday – October 28th, 2023 | 2:00 pm-3:30 pm
(Accepts Donations)
Location:
Coffee Waves Flour Bluff
10309 S. Padre Island – Drive Suite F
(Private Room)
Please RSVP by emailing togetherforwarddoula@gmail.com and we will confirm your spot within 24-48 hours, as space is limited.
Please realize this is NOT a grief support or therapy group.
