Death
Death Coach
Training Retreat
coach
Transform how we do death this december in cape may, new jersey.
Join us for an intimate, in-person certification experience hosted in a (potentially haunted) Victorian home – just two blocks from the ocean. You and six other brilliant students will dive into 12 hours of death coaching education and community building (plus a 13th hour reserved for witches, naturally).
Certificate Program
Co-hosted by Melissa Delizia and Lauren Carroll
December 8-11
An intimate, hands-on experience where you'll learn to support the supporters of dying individuals.
This 4-day intensive brings together ancestral wisdom and modern coaching practices to train Death Coaches - professionals who stand beside caregivers during their most vulnerable moments. You'll master practical skills like resource allocation, supportive presence, and adaptive goal-setting while learning to help families trust their innate wisdom about those they love.
Death Coaches fill a crucial gap in end-of-life care: while death doulas support the dying person directly, Death Coaches empower the circle of caregivers - validating their expertise rather than replacing it. You'll learn to guide families through fear, grief, and uncertainty into clarity, confidence, and connection with their ancestral wisdom.
Your Victorian Sanctuary
You'll be staying in a meticulously restored 1800s Victorian home that perfectly embodies the spirit of Cape May's golden age - and perhaps a few of its lingering residents. The house features period details, high ceilings, and the kind of atmospheric charm that makes Cape May one of America's most beloved (and most haunted) historic destinations.
Cape May is known as one of America's most supernatural cities, where spirits linger in nearly every Victorian home and historic hotel. From the "Lady in Blue" at the Inn of Cape May to the ghostly innkeeper still tending to guests at Hotel Macomber, the city's tragic history of fires, drownings, and Civil War-era drama has left an abundance of otherworldly residents. It's the perfect backdrop for those of us who work at the threshold between life and death.
Each student has their own private bedroom, and we'll gather in the spacious shared spaces throughout the house. From the formal dining room where we'll share our meals to the cozy parlor for evening conversations and tarot readings, every corner of this home holds space for both the living and the stories of those who came before.
Your Time with us in Cape May
Four Days • Immersive Learning • Real Community
day 01
Arrival & Opening Circle
Settle into our Victorian sanctuary
Gather for a welcome dinner and begin building your sacred community who will carry you through this transformative weekend
Set the tone for your deep dive into this work with a death-related film screening in our private theatre.
day 02
Foundation Building
Morning learning session covering Death Coach basics
Extended lunch break and ocean walk (weather permitting)
Afternoon session on logistics for caretakers
Optional, 90-minute Cape May Ghost Tour ($23 additional) that visits the city's most haunted locations.
day 03
Practical Application
Morning session covering session prep
Lunch and reflection time
Afternoon session on the end of life and funeral planning
Close our intensive learning and receive personal guidance for your Death Coach journey with a private tarot reading with Lauren and Melissa
day 04
Integration & Farewell
Check-out and closing circle
Optional farewell brunch at The Mad Batter, Cape May's beloved local institution, where we'll share reflections and cement the bonds formed over these transformative days
Note: All accommodations, meals, materials, and activities (except your travel, the ghost tour, and farewell brunch) are included in your program fee.
Empower families to confidently reclaim the caretaker role in community.
As a Death Coach, you will help caregivers trust their innate wisdom about those they care for. You will guide them toward confidence and clarity around death and dying when confusion clouds their vision. You will share coaching skills that elevate others through teaching and support when they doubt their capacity to serve.
Certificate Program
Co-hosted by Melissa Delizia and Lauren Carroll
December 8-11 | $1895
Your teachers
Melissa Delizia
Melissa Delizia, MSW, LSW, DSW (she/they) is a death doula, educator, professional coach and social worker whose work lives at the intersection of sacred care, transformative education, and social justice. With a Doctorate in Social Work and certifications in grief companionship, deathcare, and sacred ceremony, Melissa brings both clinical insight and spiritual depth to their offerings.
Their practice is rooted in ancestral connection, mediumship, and energy work, with a focus on holding space for queer and trans individuals navigating death, dying, and grief. Melissa approaches this work with reverence, tending to the liminal with embodied presence and a belief in the healing power of collective care and ritual.
As an educator and adjunct professor, they are dedicated to reshaping how death is taught and understood—centering marginalized experiences, challenging systems of harm, and cultivating spaces where grief and identity are honored in all their complexity. Whether teaching or learning, Melissa holds a deep commitment to equitable deathwork and heart-centered education.
Lauren Carroll
Lauren Carroll, co-founder of La Mort, is a Death Educator & Holistic Funeral Director who is passionate about weaving community and family back into the death space. Her work centers around re-aligning our culture with Mother Earth and helping humans remember how to love one another. She is a former board member for the National Home Funeral Alliance and co-founded The Deathwives. She lives on an urban farm at the base of a mountain where she tends to her animals, raises her two children, and dances around bonfires on the full moon with friends while listening to Nick Cave.