A Gentle Guide

What I wanted to do when I began to visit lunch groups 3 years ago was to let people know I was here to help them go through the death of someone they loved. A sort of ‘midwife’ for the dying, or ‘doula’ to the dying. Read more

Worth Kilcrease

Worth is a Licensed Professional Counselor and certified as a Fellow in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement by the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC).

He is dedicated to counseling those who are suffering mental, emotional, social, moral, and spiritual pain related to death, dying, and bereavement. He provides bereavement counseling to people of all ages suffering the loss of a parent, spouse/partner, sibling, child, or unborn baby. He has led bereavement groups for Hospice Austin, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas, The South Texas Chapter of The ALS Association, and the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas. Having counseled and comforted many caregivers and their dying loved ones, he is thoroughly familiar with the dying process and the stresses of being a caregiver.

Besides counseling, he has made numerous presentations on death, dying, and bereavement to various organizations and churches, has appeared on radio and television programs including Austin Now, Austin Faith Dialogue, and Law Talk with Brad, and is the co-producer and interviewer for the documentary video This Place. In addition to being an adjunct faculty member at St. Edward’s University, he is co-founder of Solace Center of the Hills.

Prior to beginning his career as an end-of-life and bereavement counselor, he spent 25 years as a business executive, mostly in finance. When he left the corporate world, he had been the chief financial officer and corporate secretary for two high technology companies and one private investment firm. He continues to sit on the Board of Directors of one of the high technology companies.

He received a B.S. and M.A. in Chemistry and an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, and most recently, an M.A. in Counseling from St. Edward’s University.

article for Quality of Life

Grief and Mourning When Anticipating Death

painting by Marlo McKillop

by Worth Kilcrease

The following is an excerpt of a letter Edgar Allen Poe wrote on January 4, 1948 after his wife died:

“You say—‘Can you hint to me what was the terrible evil’ which caused the irregularities so profoundly lamented?” Yes; I can do more than hint. This ‘evil’ was the greatest which can befall a man. Six years ago, a wife, whom I loved as no man ever loved before, ruptured a Read more

The Planning Begins

I’m getting together this week with Larry Farrow, Executive Director, and Brandie Baker of the Texas New Mexico Hospice Organization. They are the organizers this year and Quality of Life Care is going to co-coordinate. Basically we’ll do whatever Larry says.   : )

Stay tuned. This year will be a blast. Last year the cradle was built and we put World Hospice and Palliative Care day in our Austin town on the map. Larry has some great things up his sleeve.

visit: the World Website & the Austin Celebration website for more information

The Revolving Door

The following e-mail that Gail Sheehy wrote could have been written by many people who are living with illnesses in their end-stages.

She wrote about her and her husband’s experiences with frequent hospital visits and the medical predictions (that usually go with them) that often don’t pan out. Palliative care stops all this nonsense but few know about it. A person can be treated Read more

Palliative Care for the Soul

There’s some snobbery in a person judging if another person is in denial, don’t you think?

Sitting around tables we shake our heads or we tsk-tsk or the like because some unfortunate soul is not coming to terms with their own death or with that of their loved one. How rude.

Suffering, hope, depression, grieving, coping, etc. have faces and nuances we don’t always recognize or understand in people. To cope with hope…. Read more

Do It Your Way

Jeanne is a woman I have known for years. There is a quiet kindness that emanates from her;, side by side a fire that fuels her fiddle or cello or whatever she puts her hands on. She has brought me to tears with her music and has made me want to dance.

She told me about her experience with her mom’s death some time ago but until I learned about home funerals, I didn’t really understand the depth of it. I asked her if she would share her story. Enjoy. Read more