When I was in my 30s, I was in a cancer support group. Within a year, almost everyone died. They weren’t supposed to die. They didn’t die in the ‘right’ order. It wasn’t the plan we’d all made. I wrote a letter to Stephen Levine, a profoundly human death and dying teacher, in a panic.
“I’M GOING TO DIE,” I wrote. “So what’s the problem?,” he wrote back. “I’M SCARED,” I wrote. “Get a little closer to the fire,” he answered quietly.
I started volunteering with my local hospice, then took the job of developing their grief program. I helped our school districts develop crisis intervention teams and we responded to the Columbine massacre. I learned with deep humility what it means to watch a community hold on to each other so they can stand up.
In 30+ years, I’ve facilitated grief groups for those who’ve suffered spousal loss, childhood parent loss, homicide, pet loss and almost everything in between. I’ve learned how many ways grief knocks people over and buries them, and watched how deaths, human and otherwise, alchemically change our very beings. I’ve developed grief and end-of-life training programs for corporations, spiritual communities, Latino communities, hospices, and helping professionals. I learned how to help grieving people take a deep breath and feel seen and safe for the first time. I’ve taught dying and death courses in high schools and universities. The international Association for Death Education and Counseling graced me with their first Community Educator award. I’ve had a quarterly community radio show on death, dying and grief for over a decade. I learned a long time ago that death is a fascinating subject to almost everyone, as long as you don’t start by having to talk about your own.
I’ve helped hundreds of people around the country prepare for death, develop advance care plans that work, and understand the landscape of dying. I’ve learned how to help people ground fears in good information and clear instructions, and get about the business of living.
I’ve learned the most from people who open a conversation with, “Can I just ask anything I want?” or “I don’t even know where to start.” Sometimes people wince and say “How can you do that?” I want to tell them that I’m graced to be here. Some days it is complex and painful; others it is simple and full of grace. I am at times desperately grateful for the moments of humor and wonder. And the greatest gift for me is that I can help people get a little closer to the fire.
Certified Thanatologist, founder of Practically Dying, TV and radio show host and author, Kim Mooney has won national awards for innovative approaches to death support and education, most recently the international Association of Death Education and Counseling’s first Community Educator award.
Prior to founding Practically Dying in 2014, Kim worked for more than two decades in hospice at local, state and national levels. During those years, she cultivated a broad set of skills in end-of-life care, crisis intervention and grief support, recognizing that deaths of all kinds in all communities require different kinds of emotional, spiritual and mental understanding and assistance. As an independent consultant for faith communities, educational institutions, civic and community groups, medical and health care agencies, and mental health organizations, Kim has created and facilitated programs for school districts, corporations, caregiver and volunteer organizations, faith communities and other community groups. She has consulted nationally on advance care planning, grief evaluation, and medical aid in dying research.
Kim has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Directors of the Association for Death Education and Counseling. She is presently on the advisory board of The Conversation Project in Boulder County. She sits on the ethics committees of Boulder Community Health, TRU Community Care, and Care Synergy. She also works both independently and with Compassion and Choices and Death with Dignity providing information and support for Colorado’s End of Life Options Act (Medical Aid in Dying).
A published author and in-demand public speaker, Kim has won awards for innovative approaches to family grief support and death education initiatives, has hosted the local TV series, Living Fully, Dying Well, and hosts a quarterly radio show on death and dying on KGNU 88.5 FM/1390 AM Community Radio.
Prior to founding Practically Dying in 2014, Kim worked for more than two decades within hospice at local, state and national levels. During those years, she cultivated a broad set of skills in end-of-life care, crisis intervention and grief support, recognizing that deaths of all kinds in all communities require different kinds of emotional, spiritual and mental understanding and assistance. She also learned deeply that the most important thing about death is the life that comes before it.
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