Judy Iannaccone (she/her)
End-of-Life Doula & Certified Grief coach
Services available in English & Spanish
I'm Judy Iannaccone, an end-of-life doula and certified grief coach, and the founder of Spirited Crossings. I accompany people through two of life's hardest crossings: the end of a life, and the grief that follows one.
HOW I CAME TO THIS WORK
In 2018, my brother was dying, and I sat at his bedside not knowing how to help him. I was unsure whether I was doing it right, or offering the right kind of support. There was no one to guide us to the answers we needed, and we were adrift. I knew there had to be a better way.
Afterward, I felt called to this work. In 2020 I completed the International End of Life Doula Association's (INELDA) end-of-life doula training. Then I went deeper, completing The HeartWay's comprehensive 600-hour End-of-Life Practitioner Certification, including a year of study, supervised client hours, and mentorship under Dr. Andrea Deerheart.
My aim is to meet you exactly where you are, and to be the steady presence I didn't have in those days at my brother's side. I'll support you as a whole person and I'll be there for the people who love you, before, during and after a death.
I KNOW GRIEF FROM THE INSIDE
Within seven years I lost my father, my mother, and my only sibling, my brother Jim. Across my life I have also grieved dear friends and the loss of six animal companions — among them my soul cat, Spotty, who taught me to stay beside a sorrow rather than fix it. Those losses taught me what grieving people most need and too rarely receive: someone unhurried, unafraid of their pain, willing to simply stay.
Grief takes many shapes, and it does not follow a timetable. The loss of an animal companion is real grief, too. I know that firsthand, and I meet it as the profound loss it is.
Whatever your grief comes from, it is real, and this is a safe place.
I won't try to fix your grief or rush it along. I'm here to sit with you in it, and to help you find your footing — at your pace, in your own way.
End-of-Life Practitioner (ELP) — The HeartWay. A 600-hour certification: education, supervised client hours, and mentorship (Dr. Andrea Deerheart).
Certified Grief Coach — Healing Hearts Master Grief Coach Certification.
End-of-Life Doula Training — INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association).
SAGECare-trained — LGBTQ+ inclusive care and cultural competency.
Reiki Master — Usui System of Reiki Healing.
Yoga Nidra — Teacher Training (Dr. Marc Halpern) and End-of-Life Training (Dr. Andrea Deerheart), California College of Ayurveda.
Aromatherapy in Palliative Care — CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care.
Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) — trained through the American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying. MAID is legal in California; I am informed and supportive.
Bilingual — I work in English and Spanish.
Member, NEDA & INELDA — (National & International End-of-Life Doula Alliance)
Member, Orange County Deathworkers Alliance
Service in the Community
This work is a calling, not only a practice, and much of it I give freely:
End-of-Life Support Volunteer, The HeartWay
For nearly five years, I have been serving the dying and their families with presence, advocacy, and support for their emotional and spiritual concerns.
Death Café Facilitator
I lead conversations about death and dying so people can make the most of their finite lives. We meet as peers, in a safe and confidential space, to voice our thoughts, fears, and questions. It's a discussion group, not grief support or counseling — and always free.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
Before this work, I spent thirty years in public relations — in the nonprofit sector, municipal government, and higher education. I hold an M.A. in Spanish language and literature, taught Spanish, and still study languages for the love of them. I'm also a writer and poet; I publish reflections on living, dying, and the love that remains.
My work is non-medical and non-clinical. I don't replace hospice, your doctor, or a therapist. I'm the person with time to sit with what the medical world doesn't have hours to hold. I can't promise you a peaceful death or an orderly grief. I can promise presence, honesty, and steadiness in the middle of something hard.
Let's talk.
Wherever you are — facing the end of a life, caring for someone you love, or living with a loss — you don't have to do it alone. The first step is a free intro call: no pressure, no obligation, just a conversation to see whether we're a fit.