{"id":14,"date":"2025-03-06T15:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T14:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davancideathdoula.com\/?page_id=14"},"modified":"2025-10-27T13:20:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T11:20:57","slug":"homepage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/davancideathdoula.com\/","title":{"rendered":"Homepage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Da<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n

Welcome to
Da Vanci deathdoula<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Navigating End of life, Grief and Loss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Why talk about death ?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a death doula and a grief educator, one of my primary goals is to create spaces for open communication, education and normalization around grief, death and dying. Exploring our mortality and our connection to death is, paradoxically, a deeply meaningful journey in life. Breaking down the taboos surrounding end of life, death and grief and providing resources, can have a real impact on people’s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Da VanCi deathdoula is about keeping an open mind, growing, and sharing the knowledge and experience I’ve gained along the way. Creating new ways to guide people through their mortality and the challenges that death and grief can bring into our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a death doula<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Death doulas, or end-of-life doulas provide companionship, comfort, and guidance to people facing terminal illness or death and their loved ones. This holistic, non-medical support can include emotional, spiritual, and practical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Da VanCi deathdoula:it’s me!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I’m Van<\/strong>essa Ci<\/strong>herean and I\u2019m passionate about human relationships. Curious and enthusiastic, I\u2019ve been exploring the many dimensions of grief, death, and dying for many years. I\u2019m a trained Palliative Care Volunteer<\/strong>, a certified Death Doula<\/strong> through Going with Grace<\/em> by Alua Arthur, and a certified Grief Educator<\/strong> through the Grief Educator Program<\/em> led by grief expert David Kessler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past few years, I\u2019ve been part of Deuil’S<\/em> (“grief” in French), a small team focused on education, support, and resources around end of life, death, and grief, founded by Swiss thanatologist and grief specialist Alix N. Burnand.

Alongside my volunteer work in end-of-life care, I have been facilitating Death Caf\u00e9s<\/em> in both the UK and now in Finland. Most recently, I also co-founded the first two Companion Voices <\/em>groups in Finland (in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 and Helsinki). This UK-based initiative offers comforting, soothing singing for people nearing the end of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up in Geneva, Switzerland in a multicultural environment and spent several years living abroad, so I\u2019m fluent in French, Spanish, Italian and English. I\u2019ve been living in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, Finland since December 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Monthly death caf\u00e9 in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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BITE THE DUST, Talking about death over a cuppa\u2028<\/strong>
Death Caf\u00e9 in English.
In Western societies, death and grief are often hidden and we don’t often talk about them. Yet it is so important to create community spaces where we can all openly share our experiences, feelings and knowledge about a subject that will one day affect us all. Let’s break the taboo and have a chat! Free event. A donation to support Maatalo’s activities is very welcome.
Find more information on the Facebook Event<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW: Companion Voices in Finland<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Companion Voices<\/strong> is a meaningful project initiated in the UK, dedicated to soothing and accompanying individuals at the end of life through beautiful and calming songs and sounds. Minna and Vanessa<\/strong> embarked on this heartfelt journey together last autumn, and they are excited to share experiences from their new Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 group with you, as well as their vision and plans for a new group in Helsinki! Curious? Come and listen to our songs !
More information on the Facebook Event <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Da VanCi Blog <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Read my latest news<\/h3>\n\n\n