Phyllida studied and worked for 10 years with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in the 80s at the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross foundation Centre in Virginia, USA. She lived with Elizabeth during 6 weeks, leading up to her death in 2004. During this time she wrote her first book ‘The Celtic Book of Dying’, taking inspiration from her in depth studies of Celtic Consciousness, marrying the Celtic teachings with Humanistic psychology.

She was inspired to create workshops and trainings in expressive therapy, rituals for integration and ‘Celtic Consciousness’ Retreats, and has created healing songs, along with trainings in ‘Watching with the Dying’. She created 9 CDs during the years 1998 to 2019, and has written 4 books on Celtic spirituality and care of the dying.  She teaches Celtic Gutha or Caoineadh, sounds of mourning which origin stems from the ancient Gaelic practice of keening/sounding and has a daily online practice.   In 2020 Phyllida created an international on-line circle of people, with the intention to send healing and to hold the space, for those who were dying alone.

Phyllida teaches that all emotions are sacred and that the emotions of fear, rage, unexpressed grief, need non-judgemental compassionate witnessing. That during the dying process, it is important for that which is not healed, during life, as unfinished business, be dealt with before death, so to prevent it travelling with us into our next experience of life, and also preventing the transfer of our ancestral burdens, to our children, and other descendants.