#54 - Treza Gallogly - Living With Death in a Secular World

Nothing is certain but death and taxes.

Death is coming for all of us, but why are we so afraid of talking about it?

As a doctor, most of my job has been about saving people. Saving people from harm to their body or mind and alleviating suffering.

But what if some of our choices are causing more suffering? What if by sterilising and ignoring the process of death we now just see death as failure?

Medical care has come so far in the last century where far fewer people die in childhood and many are living well into their 90s.

But how we in Modern Western society approach death, dying and living has changed drastically with the growing trend of death denialism and a lack of opportunity for people to just talk about death. On this episode we bring on Treza Gallogly, a death doula. Doulas have been popularised as a support person and advocate for women in pregnancy helping to bring life into the world. Now there is a growing need for that support in dying.

As a death doula Treza walks with her clients who are making their last journey into death, helping them and their families navigate the next chapter.

But helping people through their dying months, weeks, or days is not just about death, it is about living. When we start becoming less uncomfortable with approaching death, this is the moment when we really start to live.