Founder

RGN, RPN, FRCNA (HON), FCN (NSW), GRAD DIP AD ED (SYD), CT (ADEC USA).

One of Australia’s best known and respected bereavement counsellors and educators.  Mal was a Certified Thanatologist with the Association of Death Education and Counselling (USA).  He was the first Australian to be elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement.  He began his career in the health field in 1965 and in 1975 was appointed as the first full time bereavement counsellor with the NSW Department of Health.

A founding member of the National Association for Loss and Grief, Mal was state chairperson of the Association from 1980-1982, and the National President from 1982-1985. He has studied and taught in Israel, Canada, the United States of America, Greece, Hong Kong and New Zealand as well as being an invited presenter at international conferences and in overseas community settings.

For over forty years Mal has taught bereavement counselling skills throughout Australia and internationally and has received wide acclaim for his innovative therapeutic interventions, particularly with bereaved children. He has acted as grief and bereavement consultant to a number of Government departments and community organisations, including The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, and his book ‘Coping with Grief’ (currently in its fifth edition) has been an invaluable resource for people experiencing loss. In addition, Mal has co-authored other books on grief and loss issues, as well as a variety of articles on death, dying and bereavement published in professional journals.