Migration Circles

Guided advance care planning gatherings to help you explore the conversations that matter most before crisis forces them.

Let's plan one!

Migration Circles are facilitated, small-group gatherings where you explore advance care planning alongside others.

In the company of your community, we explore the questions many people avoid until urgency demands it: What makes life worth living? Who do I trust to speak for me? How do I want to be cared for at the end of life? These aren't morbid conversations, they are clarifying ones. You leave with language for the conversations you've been avoiding, and the confidence to have them.

Why plan ahead? Because the alternative is making decisions in crisis.

When serious illness or dying enters our lives unexpectedly, families are often left guessing, unsure what their loved one truly wants. Advance care planning shifts this experience. It allows you to clarify values before urgency, reducing uncertainty and protecting the people you love from carrying that burden alone.

Planning ahead is not about fear. It is about agency, care, and connection.

Looking for 1:1 support instead? I offer that too. Let's connect!

"Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end." 
 - Atul Gawande

This space may resonate with you if:

  • A recent loss has you thinking about your own mortality and who will care for you at the end of your life

  • An upcoming medical procedure has you thinking it's time to get this in order

  • You know you should do advance care planning but don’t know where to begin or are stuck midway

  • You want to spare your loved ones from having to guess what you'd want

  • You want to face these conversations, even if they feel hard

  • You prefer 1:1 advance care planning support rather than a group gathering → Let’s connect

Migration Circles begin not with paperwork but with the questions underneath it. What makes life worth living? What brings you comfort? What couldn't you imagine living without? Understanding your own values is what makes every planning decision and conversation that follows feel true rather than arbitrary.

These gatherings combine structured facilitation with meaningful conversation and reflective practices. You do not need to have everything figured out. The circle creates a container where insight emerges through shared reflection. Together, we will explore:

  • What matters most to you; what you couldn't imagine living without

  • Your fears, hopes, and questions about aging, illness, and dying

  • Who you trust to speak for you, and how to have that conversation

  • Your advance directive, in the company of people doing it alongside you

❋ Intentional Structure

Each gathering follows a thoughtful arc that helps participants arrive gently, engage in meaningful reflection, and leave with a sense of integration and clarity. Between sessions, reflection continues through optional practices that deepen the work. Structure provides steadiness while allowing authentic conversation to unfold naturally.

❋ Meet You Where You Are

Some are starting from scratch. Some have paperwork that needs updating. Some struggle to talk about it with family. Whatever your starting point, you'll leave having moved in the way that's right for you.

❋ Community Learning

Hearing others articulate their experiences often unlocks insight we cannot reach alone. The group dynamic fosters empathy, perspective, and collective wisdom.

❋ Facilitation

Guided by Jessica, whose knowledge of advance care planning combines with her experience holding conversations about mortality, values, and end-of-life wishes to create a space that feels both informed and grounded. Participants are supported without pressure and invited into honest exploration at their own pace.

❋ Practical Outcomes

Conversations move beyond reflection toward real-world clarity. Across the series, participants work toward a completed advance directive, a proxy who truly knows their wishes, and the language to talk with family about what matters most.

❋ Flexible Options

The Migration Circle series is a three-session arc designed for real completion and integration. For those curious about the work before committing to the full series, a single gathering is available as a gentle introduction.

  • Your Community, My Facilitation

    Migration Circles happen within existing communities, with the people who already share connection or trust.

    Sometimes that's a group who already knows each other well. Sometimes you're the connector, bringing together people from different parts of your life. Either way, your presence as the host creates the familiarity athat allows people to show up more fully.

    This partnership is what makes the experience work: your community provides familiarity and relational safety, while my facilitation provides the structure, guidance, and care needed to hold both depth and ease. You gather the people and provide the space; I guide the experience with presence, clarity, and thoughtful design.

    Together we create a container where honest conversation and meaningful preparation can unfold.

    Let's talk hosting! 
How It Works

  • Migration Circles begin with relationship. You gather people you already trust (friends, family, colleagues, or community members) and feel called to share this work with. Some groups already know each other well; sometimes you are the bridge connecting people from different parts of your life.

    As the host, you provide a comfortable space where people can arrive as themselves: your home, a shared community space, or an outdoor setting. I recommend groups of 3–7 people to support both intimacy and meaningful conversation.

  • Select the structure that best fits your group’s readiness and curiosity:

    • Single circle - One focused gathering introducing values clarification and the foundations of advance care planning. Ideal for groups who want to explore the work gently and see how it feels before committing to a longer process. ($150 for up to 7 people)

    • Series of 3 - A deeper arc designed to support real completion and integration across 3 gatherings. Together you'll move from values excavation through your first advance directive draft, proxy identification and conversation, and final documents with a plan for talking with your loved ones. ($400 total for up to 7 people)

    • Optional add on - After completing the series, gather for a fourth session exploring funeral wishes and body disposition options, including green burial, aquamation, home funerals, and other meaningful choices. ($150 for up to 7 people)

  • You bring the people and the space. I bring the structure, guidance, and care that allows real depth to unfold without overwhelm.

    Each gathering blends conversation, reflection, and practical guidance designed to make conversations about mortality and end-of-life wishes feel approachable and human. I arrive with facilitation tools, values exercises, advance directive resources, and clear frameworks that help your group move from reflection into grounded action.

    Gatherings typically last 2–2.5 hours.

  • Those completing the series leave with an advance directive, a proxy who truly knows their wishes, and the language to talk with loved ones about what matters most. For those joining a single gathering, you leave with clarity about your values, a meaningful first step forward, and the confidence that this work is possible.

  • "As an ICU nurse, I regularly witness the pain families endure when complex or end-of-life decisions must be made without guidance from their loved one—and despite this, I had not completed my own advanced care plan. Working with Jessica was an entirely different experience than anything I had seen clinically: calm, thoughtful, and deeply human. Her expertise and professionalism shine, creating a space where fear softens and clarity emerges."

    — Heather Rose, Migration Circle participant

Ready to host a Migration Circle?

Let’s talk about creating a space where meaningful conversations can happen before crisis arrives.

Contact Jessica