Some people say I’ve been a counsellor since I was about 10 years old. I was always the one friends, and even their friends, came to when they needed someone to talk to. In many ways that hasn’t changed.

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For most of my adult life I ran a successful clothing manufacturing company in Indonesia that my husband and I started in 1988. At its peak we employed more than 120 staff.

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But life has a way of changing your direction.

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In 2005 our one week old grandson Cooper died. Then in 2012 our healthy 25 year old son Kane died suddenly when his heart stopped. Those losses shook me deeply and forced me to ask the big questions about life, purpose and suffering.

In time, my husband and I gifted our business to our staff and started a charity called KwaYa (www.kwaya.org).

 

Over the next decade we took volunteers from Australia to Uganda to work on community projects alongside people living in the slums of Kampala and with the African Children’s Choir. We also brought African groups to Australia for concert tours.

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During those journeys I found myself doing what I had always done. Sitting with people, listening carefully, and helping them navigate difficult moments in their lives.

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That path eventually led me to formal counselling.

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Today I love journeying alongside people as they work through life’s struggles. This might include easing anxiety, rebuilding after loss, strengthening relationships, or finding purpose again.

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I am especially drawn to those experiencing grief. Loss can come in many forms. It may be the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, a home, or the future you thought you would have. My major area of study is grief therapy and I believe talking about those we love and honouring memories is both healing and important.

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Grief can numb our body, break our heart and take the air out of our lungs. Yet grief is also love. With the right support it is possible to carry that love forward and rediscover meaning again.