Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Threshold Collective. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Threshold Collective, thanks for joining us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

We both have backgrounds in as traditional medical practitioners. Catherine is a geriatric nurse practitioner and Rebecca is a hospice/pall med physician. We are both stepping away from a very prescribed way of working with people as clinicians, and so a big part of what we have been doing is leaning into trusting our intuition and slowing down so that we can be more aware. In medicine, there is a big focus on diagnosing and solving specific problems, so it’s very active and solution-based. We are learning how to listen and honor other ways of knowing, following our creativity and not always needing to have the right answer. This has allowed us to show up with a level of presence and curiosity that has been refreshing, inspiring, and energizing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

We founded Threshold Collective with the dream of radically supporting folks at the end of life to have a different kind of experience with death that was more present, intentional and less medicalized. We have been delighted to discover and foster a growing community of people in the greater Philadelphia area who are drawn to exploring mortality, death, and grief as a way of feeling more connected and more alive.

We were very lucky to be able to have an office for our work in the Maas building, which is a vibrant arts and performance venue in North Philadelphia. This physical location has allowed us to curate and support a wide range of community events including book readings with notable experts in our field, community grief rituals, educational events such as shrouding workshops, movie screenings, art installations, and more. These events have become a touchstone for community building. We believe strongly that a healthy community is crucial to support these explorations of death and grief.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We were introduced by mutual friends in around 2008. Those friends saw a lot of similarities in us as medical professionals who also had many other overlapping areas of interest – we were both rehabbing old Philadelphia houses at the time which was probably a big one. We remained in each other’s spheres at sort of a friendly distance for many years, and unbeknownst to each other were both living with a growing sense that there was something else that was possible – and even necessary in death care. It was during the pandemic when both of us had been working in our respective institutions and watching a lot of people die alone and often scared that I think something gelled. Catherine called Rebecca to have an exploratory conversation about starting a business, knowing that as an MD Rebecca had branched out of clinical care to start a successful company, Herbal Care Rx, supporting patients in using cannabis for symptom management. When we sat down and talked we were just amazed and so excited to discover that we both actually wanted to do the same thing – and Threshold Collective was born.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

There is a lot of amazing work in the field of alternative death care going on in Philadelphia, and really all over the US, right now, and we are very fortunate to be housed in The Maas Building which is a beautiful physical space where people can gather. That has given us an opportunity to be seen by the Philadelphia community and it fulfills a real void in the death care community for spaces where culture can be imagined and built – we are just at the beginning of a long road towards change in culture and practices surrounding how we die in this country, Many people heard of us for the first time when we had our first public event at the Maas Building where our office is housed; we had authors Stephen Jenkinson and Kimberly Johnson come and give a talk. Stephen is famous in the alternative death community for his seminal book Die Wise and has a big following. So very quickly we were known as a place where interesting events related to death and grief were held, and we have had regular workshops and performances ever since – all exciting and in some cases even ground-breaking as we are asking audiences and participants to drop into a subject that can be hard to grapple with.

Additionally, we are both career medical providers: an MD and a Nurse Practitioner who spent a collective 30 years working in end-of-life care inside institutions. That intimate knowledge of what it is like to die in this country is something that we lean into in terms of the services we offer, and something that not too many other Death Doulas in Philadelphia offer, though everyone brings their own set of strengths and experiences to bear in their offerings and it’s all very needed.

Finally, we know that we are part of a large movement full of really smart, dedicated, and interesting people who all want to change how people die, and one of our strengths in terms of the local market is just being really curious about collaborating and sharing ideas with as many people as possible. This is not about competition but rather about finding our way to something new together, and Threshold Collective has established itself as a place where really generative engagement around death and dying can happen between people from all different backgrounds from artists to medical practitioners.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thresholdcollective.org
• Instagram: @thresholdcollective_
• Facebook: Threshold Collective