Specialist Knowledge for Fiduciary Practice
Professional fiduciaries work at the intersection of legal authority, financial management, healthcare decisions, family dynamics, and human vulnerability. The technical and interpersonal demands of this work extend well beyond what any single training program can cover.
The Expert Training Series™ brings subject matter specialists to the fiduciary audience on topics that directly affect practice: areas where fiduciaries need depth, perspective, and practical guidance from professionals with focused expertise. Each session pairs a specialist's knowledge with a fiduciary practice lens, ensuring the content connects directly to the decisions and situations practitioners encounter in their work.
Sessions are recorded and available on-demand after their initial release. The series is designed to complement the Institute's core curriculum, not replace it, by addressing specialized topics in a focused, accessible format.
Upcoming Session
Grief and the Fiduciary: Understanding What You Carry and How to Work Through It
Session Description:
Professional fiduciaries are present for some of the most difficult moments in their clients' lives: declining capacity, family conflict, end-of-life decisions, the death of a person in their care. Over time, the accumulation of these experiences creates a weight that many fiduciaries carry without recognizing it as grief or understanding its impact on their judgment, their wellbeing, and their capacity to continue doing the work.
This session addresses grief from two perspectives. First, working with clients who are experiencing grief : how to recognize it, how it affects decision-making and behavior, and how fiduciaries can support their clients through these experiences while maintaining professional boundaries. Second, processing and healing from the accumulated grief that fiduciaries themselves carry: the toll of sustained proximity to loss, conflict, and vulnerability, and what practitioners can do to tend to their own resilience.
This is not abstract theory. It's practical, grounded guidance for professionals who carry significant emotional weight as a condition of their work.
Format:
A recorded session in two parts: a focused presentation by Jessica Tomforde followed by a conversation with Junel Unrein applying the content through a fiduciary practice lens.
Following the session release, Jessica will be available in the Fiduciary Professional Community™ forums for approximately one week to answer questions and continue the conversation with practitioners.
CEU Note:
CEU approval through the Center for Guardianship Certification (CGC) is being explored for this session.
Availability:
Launching early July 2026. Join the notification list below to be notified when the session is available.
About the Guest Expert
Jessica Tomforde is a death doula, grief guide, and founder of blue jae, based in Portland, Oregon. She brings death doula training, hospice experience, and 15 years of operational leadership to her work with individuals, families, and caregivers navigating end-of-life, grief, and mortality.
Jessica completed the Nine Keys Death Midwifery Apprenticeship and served as a bedside hospice doula at BeLoved Hospice, where she supported patients and families through the dying process and helped build their integrated doula program. She volunteers with End of Life Choices Oregon and is one of a small number of practitioners in the Portland area with specific knowledge of medical aid in dying.
Her work focuses on helping people understand their options, make meaning of their experiences, and face death and grief with clarity and connection.
Learn more at www.jessicatomforde.com.
Future Sessions
The Expert Training Series™ will continue with additional sessions on topics relevant to professional fiduciary practice. Future sessions are in planning and will be announced to the notification list as they are confirmed.
If you have a topic or specialist you would like to see featured, include your suggestion in the notification form above or contact us at info@thefiduciaryinstitute.com.