Other griefs besides over death

A Grief without a loss: John Brodgen shares.

John Brogden, Chair of Lifeline

This article was updated on 21 March 2023. On the 60 year anniversary of Lifeline Australia we revisit patron John Brogden’s lessons from grief. A lot has changed for Lifeline Australia patron Mr John Brogden since we last caught up with him in 2020. Lifeline has now ‘gone global‘ with … Read more

Grief and forced adoption

Sandra attended the Without Consent exhibition on forced adoption in 2015 at Canberra’s National Gallery.

This article was updated on 16 March, 2023. It discusses forced adoption in Australia. Next week will be the 10th anniversary of then prime minister Julia Gillard’s apology to victims of forced adoption in Australia. As we’ve often said, there are other sources of grief besides death. Our Good Grief! … Read more

Sometimes the source of our grief is not noticeable to others.

The birth of a new baby, even though good, is an example of a big life transition. Photo-Aditya-Romansa-@adroman-via-Unsplash.png

This article was updated on 1 November, 2022. It discusses grief in retirement. We all know it – grief is part of life. And it’s not just the obvious, big things like the death of friends or family that cause this pain. Sometimes the source of grief and loss is … Read more

Climate grief is a real thing.

Climate grief is the grief felt over ecological losses

By Julia Grieves. In the wake of COP26 and widespread critique around the extent of its latest pledges, many Australians join others around the world in feeling increasingly disturbed by alarming predictions of future climate crisis. Climate grief, also known as ecological grief, has been defined as the grief felt … Read more

Menopause and My Ticking Clock

Menopause and my ticking clock

If I had been given just some notice that suddenly one night my sex drive would be switched off, I would have made sure I enjoyed some last hurrahs. I was just forty-one when I experienced menopause. I had relatively few symptoms to warn me and those I had, I … Read more

Sue Lennox and Resilient Communities

A workshop with Bellingen's OzGreen Resilient Communities

By Julia Grieves When Sue Lennox and Anton Juodvalkis put their heads together because of a growing concern about the threats to their community posed by climate change, they had no idea how soon they would need to step up. However their action meant they were ready to go when … Read more

Of droughts and flooding plains.

Sadly, one person has died in the NSW floods. Our hearts go out to the young man’s family. The 25-year-old got trapped in his car at Glenorie, a place we know and love. News reports say he was caught by suddenly rising flood waters on Cattai Ridge Road. We’re thinking … Read more

Petrea King talks about “Beyond cancer: creating a healing environment”.

Photo of Petrea King by Ben Dearnley

The grief journey is often about hope, or rekindling it – the crucial ‘other’ component. When someone receives a diagnosis of a terminal illness they have to make a lot of adjustments, including adapting to the radical change to their dreams about the life they were going to have. Adjusting … Read more

John Brogden shares chicken soup with Simon Marnie.

John Brogden, Chair of Lifeline.

We have settled into the rhythm of Covid-19 – we have dealt with the massive death toll, watched the social destruction it has caused, particularly in the USA, seen the cracks it causes to social cohesion in other places and we now brace ourselves for the real economic fallout, now … Read more

There is ash in our hearts…

There us ash in our hearts

When I closed Good Grief for the 2019 summer break, fires were already licking at Australia. The anxiety this was causing was a good reason to pull up stumps a little earlier than usual. Of course as the summer progressed in this great, sunburnt land the fires got worse and … Read more

Men and grief

The ABC’s Man Up series and Gus Worland’s ad campaign.

  “Now tough blokes like us don’t have to worry about grief because we just get on with it, right?” Anthony suggested, to nods from thirty other men huddled in the man cave. Wrong. (We weren’t exactly huddled, either. It was a balmy Sydney evening and the men were sitting … Read more