We are Exit Strategy for Dying
We aim to refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation.
We aim to refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation.
Karen Bellone’s life-long journey as an artist and storyteller has inspired her unique approach as an INELDA Certified end-of-life Doula and Transitional Guide. An award-winning filmmaker & photographer, Karen has interwoven the intention within her artistic process to assist individuals in finding their way to a conscious and meaningful death. Her calling is to demystify and assuage the fear that surrounds death in our culture and to foster safe passage for the dying, as well as to aid the families and loved ones through anticipatory grief and bereavement. Karen studied film as an undergraduate at NYU, with graduate work at the Actors Studio at the New School. She acquired tools in these formative years that unlocked a deep passion for understanding the power of visual and auditory perception on human consciousness. Taking her lead from working with sensory stimulation, Karen incorporates visual, sound and meditation therapy, personalized guided imagery, and commemoration of the sacred in the form of legacy and memory work, in order to bring comfort -physically, emotionally and spiritually - and to celebrate and commemorate the life of the individual. Karen hopes to be an integral part of bringing back the wisdom of death into our modern lives.
Maureen Donley, MA, MFT is a psychotherapist in private practice in West LA with a focus in creative professionals, adoption and trauma work. She earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She holds both Family Training and Trauma Training Certificates from the Southern California Counseling Center including both EMDR and TRM certifications. Maureen is also a certified Kundalini yoga instructor and has been a student of meditation for many years.
Before joining the field of psychology Maureen worked in both theatre and film. As a producer and studio exec she was one of the architects of the Feature Animation team at Disney during the Renaissance years of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King and Toy Story. She subsequently had a production deal at Fox under which the animated feature Anastasia was released. Prior to moving to Los Angeles to join the Mermaid team Maureen was based in New York City. While there she was on the faculty at The Juilliard School (Drama Division), was a visiting professional for the Yale School of Drama and worked on many theatrical productions as a stage manager including the Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie with Jessica Tandy, the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes and the 1st and 2nd National Tours of Cats in Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Lisa Peterson has always been drawn to both creativity and healing. Her maternal grandfather was a healer and her father a medical examiner. Lisa grew up in a household that encouraged intuitive thinking and welcomed non-linear experiences.
Lisa worked in a medical laboratory throughout high school and college and graduated with a teaching certificate in history/secondary education. Drawn to healing, Lisa was a pulmonary function technician at a teaching hospital in Detroit. She was required to administer breathing tests to terminally ill patients undergoing chemotherapy. It was at this time that Lisa began her life long interest in life and death and the correlation between mind and body, and developing her understanding of people’s attitudes toward life and how that manifested during death and dying.
Feeling a need to follow her creative interests, Lisa went back to school and studied photography and graphic arts and then to Otis Parsons to study fashion design. After raising three children, Lisa went on to receive a Masters Degree in clinical psychology from Antioch University and is also a Reiki Master/Teacher. It is Lisa’s belief that death and dying are a holy ritual and the last mystery we encounter on this earth.
