Hosting Grief Walks and Grief Tending Rituals from one day workshops to full-weekend retreats, supporting those who feel called to process their grief in a group setting. Practices include movement, music, meditation, ceremonies and rituals, writing exercises, gratitude practices and integration support.
Hello, I'm Dave
I'm a songwriter and 'working musician' with a music career spanning 30+ years,
I was performing full-time until 2020 when the pandemic prompted me to move towards bereavement support, disability care, and end-of-life care. This path is deeply personal; having lost my father to Leukemia at age six, I spent decades processing this profound loss through music until a curiosity about grief led me to volunteer with Feel The Magic in 2018. Mentoring grieving children inspired me to look deeper at my own loss, leading me to Hammondcare's bereavement services department, where I assisted to facilitate bereavement walking groups and conducted outreach calls to bereaved families, discovering firsthand the benefits of blending community support with nature.
To anchor this calling, I completed a Grief Educator Certification with David Kessler, a Grief Ritual Facilitator training with Francis Weller, and qualified as a Death Doula. Since the lockdowns I have shifted my relationship with music from a primary source of income back to an expression of love. Inspired by my older brother who has downs syndrome, I now support disability clients with therapeutic music and continue performing in yoga classes, sound journeys, and grief rituals.
In the mid to late 90’s I lived and worked with several remote Central Desert communities and have witnessed communal grieving practices from the Central Desert, the Tiwi islands and Elcho island. My time with Aboriginal people instilled a deep reverence for the land on which we are lucky enough to inhabit and out of respect for the traditional owners, I prioritise maintaining a lasting and meaningful connection with nature.
I pay my respects to the traditional custodians of our entire continent and I celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing connection to the lands and waters of this country. I also acknowledge the unfathomable depths of trans-generational grief that have been inflicted upon our traditional owners at the hands of colonising cultures. I am honoured and blessed to work on Gayamagal and Cammeraygal lands, in Gadigal country of the Eora nation. I live on stolen land and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded.
Certifications and Training:
Grief coaching certificate - David Kessler Training - 2026
Early Parent loss course - David Kessler - 2026
Grief Ritual Facilitator Training from Francis Weller - 2025
Certified Grief Educator - David Kessler Training - 2023
Immersion weekend with Stephen Jenkinson - 2023
Certified Death Doula (Midwifing Death) - Training from Dr Michael Barbato - 2021
Healthy Grieving Program facilitator training - Feel The Magic - 2021
Dying2Learn certificate - Caresearch (Flinders University) - 2021
Palliative Care NSW volunteer training - 2020
Bereavement Support Worker Training - Hammondcare - 2020
Grief Mentor Training - Feel the Magic - 2018
Mental Health First Aid + Basic first Aid and CPR
VIDEO 