CERTIFICATE COURSE IN DEATH STUDIES

A Master's Program for Spiritual Care
in Illness & Dying.

A path to introduce oneself to the themes of death and life.

In Montaigne's words we can recall how death is intertwined with life,

and therefore:

"He who taught men to die would teach them to live".

Key Lessons Of This Program

Here are some of the in-depth transformations available through the vision of the different modules of this course.

• The spiritual dimension in the path of illness and in the face of death.

• Forgiveness and the art of hope: the importance of these aspects in the accompaniment of illness and in dying.

• Traditional techniques of preparation for death.

• Practical perspectives to change one's view on one's life and death

• The needs of the sick and dying from different ethnicities and religions

• The importance of being able to talk about death and mourning to children and adolescents.

• The importance of self-help and processing emotions in those who have to take care of others.

• The approach that different religions take in the face of death and the afterlife

• The sense of illness and suffering starting from the knowledge of the great wisdom traditions.

• What palliative care is, its history and the vision of taking care of people and their families globally.

Key Features Of The Course

Downloadable lessons and workshops are available to manage your time and adapt the course to your personal rhythms and needs.
It is possible to access either the individual modules, or the fully integrated school.
It is possible to have direct contact with the teachers for question and answer sessions that are periodically organized live for the students.
To compensate for the reduced interaction with the teachers, this path includes in-depth modules and a greater number of hours than the in person Master's program.
This course is open and suitable for everyone, but issues a certificate and diploma exclusively to those who possess professional qualifications in the care professions (e.g., doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers), or to volunteers active in qualified and affiliated associations, only following an institutional request of the association to which they belong.
Those who do not have these requirements and are still interested in having a diploma, can enroll in the Master's Program in person (to learn more ...) or remotely (to learn more...)

Course Structure & Directions

The modules of which the school is composed are arranged according to a precise training path. The fundamental stages of the path are:

Deepening of spirituality as a personal experience

Personal awareness of one's own mortality

The general principles and philosophy of accompaniment and palliative care

The practices of accompaniment

Communication in illness and mourning

Knowing how to talk about death to children

Spiritual support in mourning

Intercultural and interreligious dialogue

The tools to strengthen and support the companion

The art of accompaniment and the necessary spiritual practices

The course is divided into 16 modules of about 6-8 hours each. Each module consists of lectures and experiential activities , which offer the student exercises, internalizations and visualizations to help personalised involvement.

At the end of the course, the participants have the opportunity for a short Practicum in Italy with Fr. Guidalberto Bormolini himslef in assisting the dying and gaining immensely powerful insights.