MENTORSHIP

Mortal Clay

Welcome to the Mortal Clay Mentorship, a six-month immersive death threshold experience crafted for those who seek the old ways. Whether you feel drawn to serve others as a death doula or are seeking to deepen the capacity to meet your own mortality, we offer a grounded, heart-led path forward.

Rooted in ancestral remembrance and aligned with the INELDA (International End of Life Doula Alliance) Code of Ethics, the Mortal Clay Mentorship is both a training and a spiritual pilgrimage. It is an invitation to return to the old ways of tending the dying, dancing with grief, and bearing witness to the mystery of death itself.

Who This Is For 

  • Aspiring or practicing death doulas seeking deeper training, community, and integrity in their service.

  • Caregivers, clergy, therapists, healers, and artists working in death-adjacent spaces.

  • Those experiencing a personal call to face mortality with clarity, courage, and reverence.

  • Anyone who wishes to be more present, grounded, and skillful in the face of death—whether supporting a loved one or exploring their own mortality.

No prior experience is required, only a willingness to turn toward what most turn away from.

What You’ll Experience

Over six months you’ll move through six modules. Through live teachings, guest guides, ritual practice, case study role plays, reflective inquiry, and a rich curriculum, you’ll develop a framework that is both practical and soul-centered.

Themes include:

  • The Role of the Death Doula: Ethics, scope, legality, and practicalities grounded in the INELDA Code of Ethics.

  • Vigil/Post Death Care/Green Burial: How death manifests, presence, body care, and reclaiming sacred ritual.

  • Business Practicalities & Advance Care Planning : Templates and forms to get your business off the ground.

  • Grief, Mourning & Integration: Tools for tending sorrow—your own and others’.

  • Ritual & the Sacred: Reclaiming ancestral and intuitive rites of passage.

  • The Inner Work: Navigating your own fears, boundaries, and transformation.

What’s Included

  • Once-a-month educational sessions in person or virtually, one-on-one or with a group

  • Once-a-month connection sessions virtually for participants to connect, process, and share

  • Guest teachers from diverse lineages of death work, ritual, and advocacy

  • Community for connection, reflection, and practice

  • Downloadable guides, readings, lists, forms, and documents

  • Optional practicum assignments for those on a professional path

  • Ongoing access to the instructor for continued support between sessions

Our Ethos: Returning to the Old Ways

The name Mortal Clay honors the fragile, beautiful form we inhabit and the earth to which we return. This mentorship calls us back to what many cultures once knew: that death is not a failure, but a threshold. That the dying deserve companionship and reverence. That those who remain need space for their grief. And that each of us is invited to be more intimate with life through our relationship with death.

Continuing Education

Those wishing to pursue professional doula work will be supported in preparing for next steps after the mentorship, including additional practicum or local volunteering.

Investment

Tuition for in person mentorship: $2,000 
Tuition for a virtual, group mentorship: $950

Sliding scale, payment plans, and limited scholarships are available because we believe death care should be accessible to all.

Join Us

If you feel called to this, the Mortal Clay Mentorship welcomes you.
Email Lauren@deathdonedifferently.com today to take that first step toward reclaiming what has always, rightfully been yours.

 *UPCOMING MENTORSHIP DATES*

2027 SPRING VIRTUAL COHORT 
Educational Sessions
(6:00 – 8:00 p.m. EST)
Wednesday, January 6th
Wednesday, February 3rd
Wednesday, March 3rd
Wednesday, April 7th
Wednesday, May 5th
Wednesday, June 2nd

Community Rambles to Wonder, Connect, and Share
*Open to previous students as well as current
(6:00 – 7:00 p.m. EST)
Wednesday, January 20th 
Wednesday, February 17th 
Wednesday, March 17th 
Wednesday, April 21st
Wednesday, May 19th 
Wednesday, June 16th 


2027 AUTUMN VIRTUAL COHORT
(6:00 – 8:00 p.m. EST)
Wednesday, July 7th 
Wednesday, August 4th 
Wednesday, September 1st 
Wednesday, October 6th 
Wednesday, November 3rd 
Wednesday, December 1st 


Community Rambles to Wonder, Connect, and Share
*Open to previous students as well as current
(6:00 – 7:00 p.m. EST)
Wednesday, July 21st
Wednesday, August 18th
Wednesday, September 15th
Wednesday, October 20th 
Wednesday, November 17th 
Wednesday, December 15th