Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Parker.
Hi Christine, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m Christine Grace Parker, and I am an End-of-Life Doula, Certified Hypnotherapist, and Reiki Master. I currently work in hospice, where I train and support volunteers in providing compassionate presence and comfort at the bedside.
My passion for this work began early. My mother suffered a brain aneurysm when I was a child, and our family struggled to talk about death and dying. When she passed suddenly in my twenties, I didn’t have the tools to navigate my grief. Years later, during my divorce and what felt like a dark night of the soul, I went searching for meaning and found it through end-of-life work. Becoming a Death Doula helped me discover the concept of a “good death,” and that we, as a culture, can approach death with far more compassion, honesty, and humanity. Death doesn’t have to be so frightening or so medicalized.
I trained with leaders in the field, including hospice RN Deanna Cochran, a founding member of the National End-of-Life Doula Association, and Dr. Sarah Kerr of the Centre for Sacred Deathcare, among others. My focus is on spiritual, emotional, and psychosocial support for the dying and their families. I take an eco-spiritual approach, believing that when we look to the cycles of nature, we can see that death is a transition that is sacred, natural, and deserving of reverence. Ritual and ceremony help us honor that.
I became certified as a hypnotherapist this year because I wanted to focus on pain relief and supporting seniors. Since 2022, I’ve been attending song circles and ceremony with a retired Native American Studies professor, which has deeply shaped my understanding of community, reverence, and spirituality. During one of these gatherings, I met a man with stage 4 throat cancer who was in severe pain. He avoided pain medication because of the fatigue and confusion it caused, yet he was open to hypnosis and cannabis. I made a personal vow that I would learn hypnotherapy to help people like him. Sadly, I wasn’t able to assist him in time, but that vow lives on. My mission is to support those experiencing pain or distress at end-of-life in finding comfort through non-pharmacologic, holistic approaches.
In my practice, I’ve worked with clients on challenges such as fear, pain, depression, trauma, smoking cessation, weight loss, and connecting with their higher self.
I’m also an artist and a bellydancer of over twenty years, but my most important role is being a mom to a wonderful and creative 10-year-old.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When I first launched my business, most people didn’t know what a Death Doula was, and I quickly learned how challenging it can be to market a service people aren’t yet familiar with. A banker once told me that no one would write a check to a business with “Death” in its name (my original business name was Death Doula Christine Grace).
Yet, I knew how much families could benefit from non-medical support during the end of life. Hospice providers usually visit only a few times a week, and those visits are brief. Families are left to navigate caregiving, exhaustion, big emotions, and unanswered questions on their own. End-of-Life Doulas fill in the gaps. Doulas offer presence, guidance, emotional and spiritual support, and the radical acceptance people desperately need when facing anticipatory grief.
I realized early on that building a Death Doula practice takes time, especially in a field many people are still learning about. As a single mom, I needed stability, so I chose to work full-time in hospice coordinating volunteers. It keeps me rooted in this work while also allowing me to support families as a part of a broader hospice team. I recruit, train, and empower volunteers using doula-informed skills, and it’s deeply meaningful work.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Graceful Guides?
I’m a Certified Hypnotherapist who is developing a focus on pain relief, end-of-life support, and seniors. I’m also an End-of-Life Doula, supporting individuals and their families emotionally and spiritually so there is less fear and suffering during end-of-life. I’m a Reiki Master and energy healing practitioner as well, and I teach about the mind-body-spirit connection and how unprocessed emotions and energetic blocks can create distress.
What makes my work a little different is that I blend these approaches in a grounded, nature-based way. I focus on embodied spirituality and often use ritual, ceremony, guided imagery, art making and meditation to help people find comfort, meaning, and connection. My intention is to help people feel safe, supported, and more at peace as they navigate life’s transitions.
How do you think about luck?
I became an End-of-Life Doula during COVID, which some might see as unlucky timing. But I’ve been blessed to learn from and work with some remarkable individuals who have made me feel very lucky. I’ve found that when I trust that things unfold as they’re meant to, luck seems to follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gracefulguides.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deathdoulachristinegrace
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeathDoulaChristineGrace/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinegracep/
Image Credits
Virginia Harold
