GRIEFLINE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Counselling Administrator
As an enthusiastic and empathetic trained social worker, Alpa eagerly embarks on her professional journey with Griefline. After finishing her social work placement with the organisation, she joined the counseling team as a Counselling Administrator in September 2023. Her academic foundation, combined with a deep commitment to helping individuals and families cope with the complexities of grief and loss, drives her aspiration to make a meaningful difference in this vital field.
Academic coursework has equipped her with a solid understanding of the psychological, emotional, and sociological aspects of grief, as well as various therapeutic approaches and interventions. Alpa brings a natural ability to empathise with the pain and struggles of those experiencing grief and loss and firmly believes in the power of compassionate listening and providing a safe, non-judgmental space for individuals to express their emotions. She is eager to work alongside experienced professionals, contributing her enthusiasm and fresh perspective to the team. Her personal and professional philosophy is centered on the belief that every individual deserves the opportunity to heal and find hope in the wake of loss.
Belynda has over 30 years of experience in various industry sectors; most recently retail, finance, and energy. With a strong focus on operational excellence, stakeholder management, governance and marketing & communications, Belynda has consistently contributed to creating and driving cultural transformation across business through improved process, partnership, CX and engagement.
As someone who has a strong ethos in community, caring and giving service, joining Griefline was a natural fit. With a lived experience of grief and seeing first-hand the impact of having support services available throughout the grief journey, Belynda is committed to seeing that everyone in our community has that opportunity of support, that everyone gets a chance to have the conversation on the very human experience of grief.
Job Titles:
- Counsellor I Group Facilitator
Bryan has been with Griefline since early in 2021 when he started volunteering. He worked across the Helpline and Policeline programs before joining the counselling team early in 2022. He now works across both the Policeline and Integrating Grief Programs as well as facilitating support groups.
Bryan has a longstanding interest in working in the grief and loss space and views sharing in the stories of our clients as a genuine honour and privilege. He approaches his work in this space from a person-centred perspective meaning that the client is the centre of all that we do. In addition to the person-centred way of working, Bryan is interested in a range of counselling modalities and how these might be applied and be effective with clients in grief. He is particularly interested in how our thoughts, beliefs and behaviours influence our lives. Bryan is committed to life-long learning and is currently studying cognitive behavioural approaches to counselling.
When not working alongside clients, Bryan can be found on the beach with two large dogs, exploring the outdoors and spending time with family.
Job Titles:
- Counsellor Group Facilitator
Candice started with Griefline in 2019 as a volunteer and moved to the counselling team in 2021. Her lived experiences with grief generated an interest in clinical psychology and grief, loss and trauma and she is passionate about working with people presenting with prolonged grief disorder, complex grief (traumatic grief), pet loss and other disenfranchised grief.
Her counselling style is gentle and collaborative with an intention to create a safe, supportive and affirming place where the grief work is empowering and enriching.
Candice uses person centred and trauma informed cognitive behavioural approaches in her work including acceptance and commitment and schema therapies.
Candice feels honoured to walk beside her clients who have been affected by grief, and really values the time she can spend with her clients as they explore the grief experience together.
Job Titles:
- Volunteer Coordinator
- in 2024 As a Volunteer Coordinator
Corey joined Griefline in 2024 as a volunteer coordinator, providing assistance to the volunteer support team. He is a compassionate and dedicated professional with a passion for helping people who are going through difficult times. He has a diverse background in community law, human rights, and sales, which gives him a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing our help seekers.
He started his career working at various community legal centres, where he provided paralegal and clerk support to the solicitors who represented low-income and marginalised individuals and groups. He then spent five years working for an international human rights organisation, where he advocated for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of persecution, enforced disappearances, human trafficking, and death sentences. He is currently studying a law degree with the aim of completing it in the future.
Corey is committed to providing compassionate and professional service to our help seekers who are experiencing grief. He understands that grief is a complex and personal process, and he aims to support our clients with empathy, respect, and care.
Kates passion to help others goes back almost 30 years when she started working as a Registered Nurse. Through her ongoing work in this space, she has developed a unique understanding of the varied forms of loss and grief that can be experienced and the impact this can have. Through her own lived experience with much grief in her own family, Kate knows how important timely and accessibly support is.
In 2018 Kate decided to formalise her supportive role and became a counsellor. She now works in her own private practice as well as in the Not for Profit sector as a grief and loss counsellor. Kate is passionate about education and working with people to understand the many presentations grief, loss and bereavement can take. She has a strong belief that education, inclusion and support are essential for normalising grief in its many forms and for developing healthy and effective coping strategies. When the opportunity to join Griefline board was presented, Kate saw this as a chance to share her extensive experience and contribute to normalising grief and loss within an organisation that shares the same beliefs.
Kate is an accomplished senior leader with experience in retail operations, project management and successfully delivering operational and efficiency improvements, business innovation, business growth and change projects during her 20+ year corporate career with Caltex Australia.
Seeking an opportunity to work in the for-purpose sector and combine her deep understanding of wellbeing practices and her ability to translate ideas into successful organisation change, Kate joined Griefline in October 2020.
Kate has qualifications in business, wellness, yoga and meditation.
Job Titles:
- Counsellor I Case Coordinator I Group Facilitator
Loss is something that binds us together as human beings and grief is a part of life that all of us will experience when we suffer loss. It is Kerrie's lived experience that steered her to work in the grief and loss space which helped her gain a deeper understanding of grief and the unique challenges that can come with loss.
Kerrie is moved by the stories people tell about their lives and how these stories shape their experiences. It is through these stories that she values exploring their thoughts and feelings and support the person to find their own meaning and purpose in the loss. Kerrie attaches significant importance to the fundamental worth of each person she works with and maintains that people are the experts in their own life and have the ability to heal themselves, given the right conditions.
Kerrie is passionate about community development and group work. She is a big believer in the emotional benefits that peer support offers and likes creating spaces for people to connect, share their experiences; and as a collective find ways to cope, reduce feelings of isolation with the hope of minimising the stigma that can be associated with grief.
Lainie joined Greifline in early 2024, bringing with her vast experience in marketing for the not-for-profit sector.
Lainie began her career in the sports and racing industries before taking on a role with Fitness Professionals in the UK.
Lainie has a strong passion for small business and NFPs, seeking roles that support a community need or cause.
Lainie worked for the Law Institute Victoria, Optometry Australia, and the Victorian Farmer's Federation before stepping away to start a family. While at home with her wonderful daughters, Lainie has run the marketing and administrative functions for her family business.
Lainie openly shares her experience with infant loss and the grief she felt during the early years of supporting her daughter through multiple heart surgeries and a hearing loss diagnosis. Lainie has deep compassion for those on similar journeys and knows first-hand that support can come in many shapes and forms, including strangers.
Louisa is a passionate and dedicated leader who joined Kate in October 2020 to form the Griefline leadership team. She brings two decades of experience in stakeholder management and business strategy from working for large publishing and broadcast media organisations. She also has an entrepreneurial spirit and ran her own online reputation management business for several years, helping start-ups and SMEs to grow their brands.
Louisa is a qualified digital marketer who knows how to use digital strategy to achieve business growth and commercial success.
She is committed to causes that promote social and emotional wellbeing. She serves as a non-executive director of Defining Beauty Through Breast Cancer, an emerging charity that helps young women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Majella's previous career in nursing has given her transferable skills for counselling which gives her insight into individuals and families who may be experiencing grief and loss from a health perspective. She has previous experience working as an Afterhours Hospital Supervisor, lectured in Nursing at universities abroad and facilitated reflective practice and debriefing for staff following various incidents.
Majella has volunteered as a crisis support worker for Lifeline and completed the crisis support worker course, domestic and family violence course, the psychological first aid course, and the suicide LivingWorks Start program with Lifeline. Majella also has volunteer experience on the Griefline helpline and Request a callback service.
Majella sees grief, loss and bereavement as her niche area and appreciates that Griefline provides her with a diverse range of opportunities to engage with help seekers. The stories, experiences and narratives that individuals share when they feel validated, heard and safe is a privileged position that she now sits in as a counsellor and shift supervisor for Griefline.
In her spare time she offers a counselling service for clients experiencing grief and loss. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and a Master of Counselling.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Services Manager
Marianne came home to Australia and joined Griefline in 2021 after managing the East London Bereavement Service Covid19 response in the UK.
Her therapy career has been in the community sector providing free support to people who have not previously thought to access counselling, such as middle-aged and elderly men and individuals from black, Muslim and other global majority cultures.
Her core training is as a person-centred counsellor and she has a clinical focus on bereavement, attachment and loss. She is passionate about clinical supervision and supporting newly trained counsellors in their clinical and professional development. She also dedicates time to preventing suicide in the community as a LivingWorks trainer.
Myrto initially joined Griefline as an administration support volunteer and is now a part of the volunteer support team where she coordinates the onboarding, training and support provided to Griefline's volunteers.
Myrto is passionate about helping others and has a strong interest in community health which has led her to pursue this role to support people in the community experiencing grief and loss. She has completed a Bachelor of Health Science and majored in psychology and nutrition.
Job Titles:
- Operations Support Manager
After ten years of leadership in the healthcare industry, Nick joined Griefline as a helpline volunteer. In October 2021, he was offered the role of Volunteer Support Leader and in October 2023 was promoted to the role of Operations Support Manager.
Nick is passionate about empowering people to achieve their goals and pursue their passions. He is people-focused and collaborative in his approach to leadership and is proficient at navigating challenges and solving problems.
Nick is an advocate for grief literacy and education to normalise grief. He is committed to nurturing Griefline's volunteers who are the organisation's heart and soul, to provide invaluable emotional support to communities throughout Australia.
Griefline's vision is close to Nicky's heart as someone with lived experience of managing challenges with her own mental health and wellbeing due to the impact of unsupported grief and loss.
Nicky has a wealth of experience across many industries, and lives by her passion to bring greater fulfillment to people's lives through her insights.
Nicky has strong relationships across all levels of government, NFP, and global business leaders. She is a strategic powerhouse who is known for bringing focus back to organisational leaders to help them achieve success and the legacy they are seeking.
Job Titles:
- Helpline Shift Supervisor
- Shift Supervisor
Richard began working with Griefline as a member of the Service Support team in December, 2021, after having commenced volunteering with Griefline in July 2021. Richard is very interested in the area of grief and loss, and has worked to develop his skills by completing Griefline's training, and related academic coursework. Richard has previously completed an Honours Degree in Psychology and recently completed a Diploma of Counselling. Richard believes strongly in being present and listening attentively to callers who use Griefline's services.
Richard now works as a Helpline Shift Supervisor with Griefline. Richard is committed to providing assistance to people who contact Griefline seeking grief and loss support, or support related to social isolation and loneliness. As a Helpline Shift Supervisor, Richard works across both our Helpline and G'day Line programs, providing support to callers, and to Griefline's volunteers.
Salomie initially started at Griefline as a volunteer in January 2022. After completing qualifications in counselling and grief education, she joined the team as a Training Coordinator in September 2023. Drawn to this field through lived experiences of loss, Salomie has found her calling in furthering grief literacy and busting biases and myths around grief. Guided by the principles of person-centered, and acceptance and commitment therapies, she is passionate about helping people navigate their own grief journeys, both as individuals, and as members of families, communities, and organisations. A creative soul, Salomie believes in the healing power of being in nature's beauty, and mindful crafting activities including crochet and calligraphy for self-care.
Job Titles:
- Counsellor I Group Facilitator I Trainer
Shelley brings a compassionate and down-to-earth approach to the counselling sessions, creating a safe and non-judgmental space for clients to share their thoughts and feelings.
In recognising that everyone's experience of grief is deeply personal, Shelley is passionate about supporting people in finding their own path to healing.
Shelley has developed and currently facilitates grief groups, finding it a genuine honour to foster a healing environment through the connection of people and shared experiences.
Sona relocated to Australia from the U.K. in 2014. She has a legal background and an extensive career in public service, both in the U.K and Australia.
She spent many years observing gaps in mental health and wellbeing support offered to individuals not just in her industry, but beyond. When she realised the impact that a good counsellor could have on an individual's mental health and general outlook on life, she chose to embark on a career in mental health, determined to help others struggling through difficult moments in their life, and navigate their problems with the support and guidance of a trained professional.
Sona uses integrative therapy, combining different therapeutic tools and approaches to fit the needs of the individual client. Her approach is largely person focused as she believes the client is the expert in their own life, and that counselling merely helps them find the answers that are already within them.
Sona joined Griefline in 2021 as a Helpline volunteer, wanting to help normalise grief and encourage people to have courageous conversations about the loss they experienced and the resulting grief, particularly around grief that results from a non-bereavement related loss e.g., loss of home, relationship, job, self-identity. Since then, she has volunteered in various other roles including as a Peer Debriefer, Training Co-Facilitator and is now a part of the Griefline staff as a Helpline and Counselling Shift Supervisor.
Susan has been on a member of the Griefline board since February 2020 and serves as Board Treasurer.
Susan is an experienced financial counsellor within the not for profit sector and has worked with corporate and government organisations.
An excellent communicator and negotiator, Susan channels her skills in providing financial, strategic and organisational mentorship to the Griefline Executive Team.
Susan has 25 years' experience working throughout the property industry and with a degree in Business (Property), Susan has a wealth of knowledge across all sectors of the property industry.
Tara has many years of administration support and office management experience working across Health Care, Aged Care and IT sectors. She is motivated by using her skills and experience in a community setting and is excited to be working as part of the Griefline team, providing support to the amazing volunteers.
Veronica has over 20 years' of experience in the finance sector and is the current Board Secretary.
Veronica is a specialist in fostering personal connections and believes that mutual support and connection are fundamental to healthy and successful societies; something that all of us can play a role in. Through both business and personal experience, Veronica has had the privilege of assisting hundreds of businesses grow to support local communities and the wider Australian economy.
As someone who strongly believes in the power of community, coupled with her desire to have a positive impact, Veronica found that Griefline's values and ethos aligned perfectly. Veronica joined the Griefline board in 2020 and remains committed to encouraging more conversations around grief and sharing this wholly human experience.