Skip to main content
    Peaceful ocean waves representing the calm and compassionate approach to end-of-life care

    Meet Kristen P. Patterson, MS, MPH

    A Journey of Service

    Kristen P. Patterson, certified death doula and end-of-life planner serving Northern Virginia

    I bring deep multicultural understanding and respect for different cultural traditions and religious beliefs to my End-of-Life work; I've lived and worked in 25+ countries. I proudly served as a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years in Niger, West Africa after college, an experience for which I remain deeply grateful. My services center compassion, connection, reverence, and joy.

    I provide dedicated care and advocacy for clients and caregivers navigating end-of-life transitions in Arlington and other communities across Northern Virginia. As a nearly 20-year resident of Arlington, I am proud to serve my community as a death doula. I bridge the gap between hospice and caregivers, easing stress and increasing comfort by helping people make their wishes around death clear, live their final chapter with intention, and die with grace.

    Core Values

    Connection
    Compassion
    Reverence
    Joy

    Professional Highlights

    Going with Grace Death Doula Graduate - Professional certification for end-of-life planningNEDA Proficiency Badge - National End-of-Life Doula Alliance certified proficientIAPO Member Badge - International Association of Professional Death DoulasNEDA Member Badge - National End-of-Life Doula Alliance member
    NHFA Member Badge - National Home Funeral Alliance member
    HCP End-of-Life Specialist Badge - Healthcare professional certification
    Virginia End-of-Life Doula Collective Member Badge
    Death Doula and End-of-Life Planner certification, Going with Grace
    Death Doula certificate, IAP Career College
    Member, National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) and NEDA Proficient
    Five Mindfulness Trainings, International Plum Village
    Leading from Within trainings, Center for Courage & Renewal
    Hospice volunteer, Capital Caring Health

    Educational Background

    MPH (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), MS in conservation biology and sustainable development (University of Wisconsin-Madison), certificate in African Studies (UW-Madison), BA in Biology (Colby College).
    Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don’t let yourself lose me. Nearby is the country they call life. You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand.
    —Rainer Maria Rilke, from Go to the Limits of Your Longing, in Book of Hours: Love Poems to God