Pets and People

Grace Har­wood

BSocSc (Pas­toral Coun­selling), BTheol, Qual­i­fied Mem­ber of the Aus­tralian Coun­selling Asso­ci­a­tion, Mem­ber of the Fed­er­a­tion of Psy­chother­a­pists and Coun­sel­lors Qld, and a Grad­u­ate Mem­ber of the Chris­t­ian Coun­selling Asso­ci­a­tion of Australia.

Grace has worked in a vari­ety of coun­selling and sup­port roles in com­mu­nity cen­tres, schools and churches for 18 years. She is a group facil­i­ta­tor for Loss and Grief pro­grams at Hilda’s House (An ini­tia­tive of Ipswich Hos­pice Care). Grace is expe­ri­enced in work­ing with chil­dren and adults, and also trains peo­ple to pro­vide pas­toral care to those who are sick or dying. In coun­selling, Grace brings both her pro­fes­sional skills and her per­sonal expe­ri­ences as the owner of mul­ti­ple pets.

“When I mar­ried my hus­band, I felt like I had mar­ried Dr Doolit­tle and hav­ing never had a pet, it was a steep learn­ing curve. Ani­mals have brought such a rich­ness to our fam­ily life that the loss of each one is keenly felt. Horses, dogs, cats, birds, fish, guinea pigs….. the ani­mals out­num­ber the peo­ple in the Har­wood fam­ily (I’ve drawn a line in the sand at the sug­ges­tion of camels and emus!).  Every time we have expe­ri­enced the loss of one of these beau­ti­ful com­pan­ions, we have felt the pain of loss, sought out ways to rit­u­alise their pass­ing and ways to remem­ber them.”

Con­tact details: (07) 3282 1888

0409 524 283

grace@dragonflyministries.net.au

Gwen Win­ter­scheidt

Grad. Cert. Coun­selling (GANQ)

Grad. Cert. Grief and Loss (UQ)

Gwen is mar­ried with a grown up fam­ily of four mar­ried chil­dren and six grand­chil­dren. She has a pas­sion for ani­mals and the impor­tance they play in fam­ily life. Gwen believes ani­mals become a real fam­ily mem­ber and when a fam­ily pet dies there often needs to be a griev­ing process.

Gwen com­mented on the death of their lit­tle shi­atsu, Lily. “Our adult chil­dren, my hus­band and I actu­ally had a lit­tle rit­ual and shared our sto­ries of Lily at the time we buried her”.

Gwen has been spe­cial­is­ing in Pas­toral Care and Coun­selling for over twenty five years. Her expe­ri­ence has been grief and loss pas­toral coun­selling at the Mater Hos­pi­tal. Gwen has also been involved in parish pro­grams that sup­port peo­ple who have suf­fered a sig­nif­i­cant loss in their life. Gwen is a qual­i­fied counsellor.

Con­tact details: 0466 278 355