Natural Touch: A Gentle Touch Training for Doulas and Palliative Care Professionals

Natural Touch: A Gentle Touch Training for Doulas and Palliative Care Professionals is a 7-module, self-paced online course designed to prepare you to offer gentle touch in a safe, ethical, and deeply compassionate way to those experiencing serious illness or nearing the end of life.

 

This training is thorough, thoughtful, and practical - rooted in both skill and heart.

 

By participating in this course, you will learn to:

 

    •    Describe the benefits and precautions of gentle touch in palliative care settings

    •    Maintain clear, ongoing consent throughout a session

    •    Ground yourself before, during, and after offering touch

    •    Practice self-care and self-compassion as a practitioner

    •    Grow your capacity to offer touch with confidence

 

The modules move from foundational understanding to hands-on specifics, such as professional considerations and how to move forward with community support. Each module includes written teachings, video demonstrations (where applicable), reflection exercises, quizzes, and a comprehensive workbook to deepen integration.

 

After completing the course, you will not only feel prepared to offer gentle touch to clients, friends, or family members - you will also develop a clear plan for how to bring this work into your community, supported by a growing community of practice.

 

Participants also receive access to:

 

    •    An online forum for connection and questions

    •    Monthly live Zoom Office Hours

    •    Information about volunteer and paid opportunities

    •    Optional in-person practice workshops in the Greater Vancouver area

    •    A certificate of completion

 

This is not just skill-building - it is capacity-building.

Course curriculum

    1. Nice to meet you!

    2. Introducing Your Guides

    3. Navigating the Course

    4. Course Details

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. Course Outline

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Course Learning Intentions

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Important Note

      FREE PREVIEW

    8. Legal Stuff

    9. Let's Get Started!

    1. Join the Community

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Introduce Yourself

    3. Questions? Ask Away!

    4. Local Practice Groups

    5. Opportunities!

    6. Natural Touch Monthly Office Hours on Zoom

    1. Module 1 Overview

    2. Benefits of Gentle Touch

    3. Ward on Benefits of Gentle Touch

    4. Timeline of Challenges

    5. Changes Toward Death Chart

    6. Navigating Conversations

    7. Empathy vs Sympathy

    8. Tips for Compassionate Communication

    9. Module 1 Quiz

    1. Module 2 Overview

    2. Your Presence Matters

    3. Time to Reflect: Presence

    4. Importance of Consent

    5. When to get Consent

    6. Verbal Consent Before Session

    7. Helpful Phrases for Ensuring Consent and Safety

    8. Doctor's Approval

    9. Cautions and Contraindications

    10. Module 2 Quiz

    1. Module 3 Overview

    2. Preparing for the Session

    3. Positioning

    4. Equipment

    5. Adjusting Hospital Bed

    6. Pre-Session Checklist

    7. Beginning the Session

    8. Pressure and Techniques

    9. Techniques: Scalp Demo

    10. Techniques: Forearm with Oil

    11. Techniques: Low Leg Demo

    12. Techniques: Feet Demo

    13. Techniques: Dry Stroking

    14. Activity: Practice Techniques!

    15. Signs to Watch For

    16. Closing the Session

    17. Finishing Up with Client

    18. Module 3 Quiz

    1. Module 4 Overview

    2. Introduction to Aromatherapy - Definition and Background

    3. Mechanisms of Action

    4. Get the Psychopomp - A short skit by Anne-Marie Keppel

    5. Aromatherapy - Common Uses in Palliative Care

    6. Delivery and dosing

    7. Aromatherapy and Safety Considerations

    8. Aromatherapy Checklist

    9. Scents That Make Sense by David Malone

    10. Evidence: Aromatherapy and End-of-Life Care

    11. Module 4 Quiz

About this course

  • $450.00
  • 90 lessons
  • 0.5 hours of video content

Learn how to offer Gentle Touch to your clients with care and confidence.

Enroll today

Instructors

Tracy Chalmers

Tracy Chalmers is grateful and humbled to be living on Coast Salish land known as the North Shore of Vancouver, in British Columbia. Since 2017, she has served as an end-of life doula, co-founded the End-of-Life Doula Association of Canada, founded Endwell, co-founded The Grief Well, served as a hospice volunteer and mentor, trained as a Forest Therapy guide, facilitated various training and community workshops through Endwell, written her first book, The Nature of the Journey, and facilitated the End-of-Life Doula Care program at Douglas College. A friend to grief and death and servant to many, Tracy also considers herself a perpetual student. She is of Norwegian, Swedish, Scottish, and English ancestry, and values her roles as mother, daughter, wife, sister, friend, listener, and lover of the natural world and all of life. The work that Tracy does honours and is supported by countless ancestors.