Aaron Shipps, LPCC, Specializing in Grief and Loss
Durango, CO, United States

To hold death in one form or another is to connect with essential vulnerability. While death asks us, perhaps, to live with open eyes, just maybe it does so in a way we can’t preconceive. It calls us to put complacency at the foot of our awareness one moment, while simultaneously inviting our egos to run for the door. Death brings forward conundrums that pin our knowing minds to the mat, calling forth qualities of heart and humility. Importantly, death is no academic subject. It can bring us to our knees while squeezing the heart into shapes never imagined. This is real territory best traveled with honesty, compassion, and a healthy willingness to listen and respond.

While having traveled my own terrain of grief I’ve also lived with a life long reverence for listening deeply….. to dying as much as to living. Honoring a need for service and communion, I’ve recently received my LPCC in counseling, and am specializing in grief and loss. It is undeniably an honor to join you all in this exploration in Dying Into Life.

Ruth Williamson, PCC, CDTLF, Chaplain, Upaya Zen Center
Bend, OR, United States

Ruth Williamson is a chaplain in the Soto Zen lineage of the Upaya Zen Center under the guidance of Roshi Joan Halifax. She is a trained teacher of Mindfulness and Self Compassion, an Integrative Enneagram Practitioner, and a certified facilitator of Dare to Lead™ and other curricula of Dr. Brené Brown. Ruth holds a PCC credential from the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She is a social justice activist in her community of Bend, Oregon. Ruth loves mountains and rivers, her beloved family and her dog, Stu.

Deah Robinson
Kansas City, MO, United States

I consider myself a dark and twisty person, I’ve never shied away from exploring the depths of the human experience. However, after my father passed away in my early 20s, death became off-limits because it was too painful to approach. Ultimately I continued to face different layers of death, dying, grief, and loss and quickly realized that American culture does not welcome these difficult parts of life which makes them even more difficult to navigate. As a full-time doctoral student, one of the most influential classes that I have taken was Death and Dying. The biggest impact came from creating a safe space to hold the complexities of exploring the topic of death and dying. An internal shift occurred when death stopped being morbid, taboo, and unapproachable subject to considering how facing mortality can be an invitation to live more fully. Completing cohort 2 of Dying Into Life provided additional opportunities and support to create a deeper understanding of my fears around death and connect to the values that make life worth living. 

As a person who strongly values research and empiricism, so much is unknown about death and dying, which draws me to explore it even more. As a facilitator for Dying into Life, my intention is to hold the tension of the opposites of our human experience; known/unknown, neat/messy, joy/grief, trust/doubt, and presence/trance (and many more!), with empathy and compassion. My wish for Dying into Life participants is that this experience allows them to honor and cherish this ever-changing life. 

Deah is a full-time doctoral student at the California Institute of Integral Studies in the East-West Psychology program. Her dissertation will focus on examining self-compassion narrative as a tool to facilitate and support post-traumatic growth. Deah works as a mindfulness instructor and facilitator throughout the KC Metro for the Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness.