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About
Hi, I’m Darrell
Pregnancy Loss, Grief,
Trauma & Relationship Counsellor
I'm glad you've found me!
Before I became a counsellor, I was a grieving mother trying to make sense of a loss that had changed everything. The experiences that shaped my life are also the experiences that shaped my practice.
This is my story.
When Life Changes In An Instant
You may be carrying emotions you're afraid to say out loud.
Perhaps you're living with a shock so profound that it feels impossible to think clearly, or an anguish that catches you off guard when the world seems to expect you to be moving forward.
You may be wrestling with fears that life will never feel safe again, guilt that whispers you should have done something differently, even when you know you couldn't have, or anger that this happened at all.
You may feel as though your body has betrayed you.
You may feel disconnected from friends and family who simply don't understand.
You may wonder why everyone else seems to have moved forward while you remain stuck in a moment that changed everything.
I know these feelings because I've lived them too.
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The Grief Leaves You Feeling Alone
You might feel lonely despite being surrounded by people who care, exhausted from pretending you're coping when, underneath, you're struggling to make sense of what has happened.
Grief can place enormous strain on relationships, especially when partners grieve in different ways, and it can leave you questioning your body, your future, and sometimes even yourself.
Amid all of this, there is often a quiet question that keeps returning:
"Will I ever feel okay again?"
If any of this feels familiar, you're not alone.
This all makes perfect sense to me.
The Loss That Changed My Life
There was a time when I knew exactly what it felt like to have the future suddenly disappear.
In 2003, I arrived in Australia from the UK with my husband, excited about the new life we were building together. We were preparing to welcome our first child and embracing all the possibilities that lay ahead. Then, in 2004, our daughter, Elizabeth, was stillborn at full term - nothing could have prepared me for that loss - and the future I had envisioned was gone in a moment.
Like many bereaved parents, I found myself trying to navigate overwhelming grief while searching for answers to questions that simply had no answers. I desperately wanted someone who could understand what I was experiencing without trying to fix it, explain it away, or rush me through it.
What I needed most was compassion, understanding, and the reassurance that I was not alone.
The Lasting Impact Of Loss
The death of our daughter changed everything. It wasn't only the loss of her, but the loss of the motherhood I had imagined, the future I had expected, and the certainty I once felt about who I was becoming.
As I navigated grief, further miscarriages, and the challenges of raising our two living children, I was also adjusting to life in a new country without the support of family or an established community. Through those years, I came to understand that grief doesn't simply end. It changes us.
Yet I also discovered that it is possible to continue loving deeply, building a connected family, and creating a meaningful life while carrying loss alongside you.
Discovering The Importance Of Support
As time passed, I started to notice something important. Grief doesn’t ever fully go away, but processing of emotions can begin when we feel truly seen, heard, and understood.
In my own darkest moments, it wasn’t easy to find someone who could really sit with me in my pain, and that experience shaped how I began to support others. So about eighteen months after Elizabeth’s death, I started volunteering as a peer mentor and telephone support worker for other bereaved parents.
That experience changed me.
Being alongside people in their most vulnerable moments showed me that healing isn’t about having the right words. It’s about creating a space where people feel safe enough to share what they’re really going through, without fear of judgement.
Those years quietly planted the seed that would eventually lead me into counselling.
Learning Through Life and Loss
My husband and I continued to navigate family and married life while carrying the ongoing impact of loss. These experiences deepened my understanding of grief, uncertainty, hope, and resilience.
Throughout it all, the desire to become a counsellor
remained with me. Over time, that calling became a profession.
How I Help Today
Today, I work as a counsellor and couples therapist supporting individuals, couples, and families experiencing pregnancy loss, stillbirth, miscarriage, reproductive grief, infertility, trauma, relationship challenges, and life’s many unexpected transitions.
Through this work, I’ve learned that every experience of pregnancy loss is different. Each person’s story, their relationships, and their way of grieving are unique, and there is no single “right” way to feel or respond. At the same time, a loss is still a loss, regardless of when it occurs as grief cannot be defined solely by gestation, how visible the pregnancy was to others, or how much preparation had taken place. People form attachments, hopes, and dreams in deeply personal ways.
Because of this, many people come to me with a range of emotions, often feeling overwhelmed, stuck, disconnected, or unsure how to move forward. Some are in the middle of fresh grief, while others are carrying losses from years ago that still feel close. Others are beginning to think forward again, planning and hoping for the future while still holding their memories close.
What You Can Expect
My role isn’t to tell you how you should feel. Instead, I offer a space where your individual experience is respected - where you can talk things through, make sense of what you’re experiencing, and begin to understand yourself in new ways.
Together, we can work through grief and trauma, strengthen relationships, and help you find a way to carry your loss without it carrying you.
Grief may always be part of your story, but it doesn’t have to be the whole story.
I combine lived experience with professional training and evidence-based approaches to support you through grief, loss, and related challenges. I also work with childhood trauma, PTSD, and complex trauma.
My approach is integrative, compassionate, and confidential.
I believe that even after profound heartbreak, it is possible to find a way forward
and begin to feel grounded and supported.
So, If your experience of pregnancy or motherhood hasn’t been what you hoped, I’m here to listen, understand, and support you as you move toward growth and meaning.
Darrell
Qualifications
I am an ACA Level 4 Accredited Counsellor and Accredited Supervisor with a Bachelor Degree in Counselling and Postgraduate qualifications in Family and Relationship Therapy.
My professional training includes Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 2, Gottman Treating Affairs and Trauma, Somatic Foundations Practitioner training, and ongoing professional development in trauma-informed practice and relationship therapy.
Commencing Eye Movement Desensitisation Processing (EMDR) training in July 2026, I look forward to adding this evidence-based psychotherapy to my practice. EMDR helps people process traumatic and distressing life experiences, reducing the emotional impact they continue to have on daily life.
I have supported individuals, couples, and families through grief, trauma, relationship challenges, and life transitions for more than 20 years, and as a professional counsellor since 2020.
Based in Mandurah, Western Australia, I provide face-to-face counselling for clients in Mandurah and the Peel region, as well as online counselling for individuals and couples across Perth, regional Western Australia, and throughout Australia.
