Counselling
A private and non-judgemental place to talk about dying, caring, loss, grief and the changes surrounding them.
Counselling and guidance
Grief counselling and guidance in Mudgee and across NSW.
Death, dying and grief do not arrive in one form, and neither should support.
Damien Hudson offers grief counselling, bereavement support and practical guidance from the Mudgee region. He works with individuals, children, families and groups before, during and long after a death. Appointments can be arranged in person across the Central West, or by phone or video across NSW. You do not need to know exactly what kind of help to ask for before making contact.
You do not have to choose the right service first
Begin with what is happening.
Counselling, information and practical guidance often overlap. Damien can help work out whether you need somewhere private to talk, reliable information, practical assistance, a supported family conversation or another service altogether.
Guidance
A focused conversation to understand the situation, sort through information, prepare questions and identify possible next steps.
Family and group support
A supported space to share information, hear one another, understand different responses and approach difficult conversations together.
Practical support
Help with planning, organising, writing, communicating, creating tributes and coordinating what needs to happen.
Reasons people reach out
There does not need to be a crisis.
People contact The Death Guide while preparing for death, living alongside it or carrying what has happened afterwards.
- Living with a serious, life-limiting or terminal diagnosis.
- Supporting or caring for someone who is ill or approaching death.
- Experiencing anticipatory grief before a death.
- Trying to understand end-of-life, palliative-care or voluntary assisted dying conversations.
- Grieving a recent death or a death from many years ago.
- Affected by a sudden, traumatic, accidental or suicide death.
- Adjusting after a long period of caring has ended.
- Supporting a child or young person through illness, dying or bereavement.
- Finding that family members are communicating, coping or making decisions differently.
- Facing funeral, memorial, ashes, belongings or other practical decisions.
- Approaching an anniversary, birthday, holiday or family milestone.
- Returning to work or ordinary responsibilities after a death.
If your situation is not listed, that does not mean Damien cannot help. A brief initial conversation can establish whether The Death Guide is a suitable place to begin.
Counselling
A place to speak without having to protect everyone else.
Family and friends can be deeply supportive, but they may be grieving too. You may find yourself minimising what you feel, avoiding a subject that upsets other people or trying to remain strong because others depend on you.
Conversations may include:
- Sadness, longing, anger, guilt, relief, numbness or confusion.
- Fear about dying or about somebody else's death.
- Regret, unfinished conversations and things that cannot now be changed.
- The emotional and physical demands of caring.
- A difficult or complicated relationship with the person who died.
- Changes in identity, purpose, family roles or future plans.
- Grief that has become stronger or returned unexpectedly.
- The particular questions and isolation that can follow suicide.
- Mixed feelings before or after voluntary assisted dying.
- Practical pressures that are making grief harder to carry.
There is no requirement to tell the whole story in one sitting. One conversation may be enough, or support can continue by agreement while it remains useful.
Guidance
When information and decisions feel overwhelming.
Guidance may help you understand what is happening, sort reliable information from conflicting advice, prepare questions for other professionals and identify what needs attention now and what can wait.
It is not about telling you what to choose. It is about helping you understand your choices and make decisions that belong to you and the people involved.
Flexible ways to meet
In-person grief support in the Central West, and remote appointments across NSW.
Conversations may take place by telephone, video call or in person. Depending on privacy, safety and the purpose of the conversation, this may be in your home, a private room or another mutually agreed location.
An informal public setting may sometimes suit a general guidance conversation, but it cannot offer the same privacy as a private space.
Children and young people
Clear, honest support shaped around the child.
Damien regularly works with children and families around death and grief. Support is shaped around the child's age, understanding, personality and circumstances. It may involve talking directly with the child, helping a parent or carer prepare for conversations, or working with the family together.
- Understanding illness, dying and death in clear, age-appropriate language.
- Making space for questions that may return over time.
- Preparing for a visit, funeral, memorial or significant anniversary.
- Responding to feelings or behaviour that have changed around a death.
- Remembering the person who died.
- Helping parents, carers, schools and other trusted adults respond consistently.
- Recognising when another form of specialist support is needed.
Privacy and its limits are explained in a way the child and their parent or carer can understand. Consent, what may be shared and what must happen if there is a serious safety or child-protection concern are clarified before support begins.
Families and groups
People do not have to respond in the same way.
One person may need to talk while another wants quiet. Someone may want decisions made immediately while somebody else needs time. Family history, culture, faith, roles and relationships can all shape what happens next.
Damien can support conversations involving caring responsibilities, end-of-life wishes, children, funeral or memorial decisions, belongings, changed family roles, strained communication, sudden death, suicide or voluntary assisted dying.
The purpose is not to declare one person right or make everybody feel the same. It is to help people communicate more clearly, understand what matters and look for a workable way forward.
Support is also available for groups, communities and workplaces affected by the same death or repeatedly exposed to death and grief. The need may involve a supported conversation, grief support, education, postvention or referral.
In a group, Damien will treat information carefully and establish clear expectations, but cannot guarantee that every participant will keep what others share confidential. Where legal advice, formal dispute resolution, family-violence support or another specialist service is required, he will help identify the appropriate pathway.
Explore advocacy and family supportThe first conversation
You do not need to prepare a complete history.
The first paid conversation usually begins with what is happening now and what prompted you to make contact. Damien will explain his role, how privacy and confidentiality work and what you can expect.
You can talk about what has happened, ask questions or begin with the practical problem that brought you there. Together, you can identify what feels most important and what kind of support may be useful next.
There is no obligation to disclose everything, commit to regular appointments or continue if the support does not feel right. If another person or service would be more suitable, Damien will explain that honestly and help identify a possible pathway.
Brief initial enquiries by telephone or email are free. Their purpose is to understand what you are looking for and whether an appointment or another next step may help. They are not free counselling sessions.
Experience that joins the pieces
The emotional conversation and the practical reality belong together.
Damien Hudson, BPsySc, is a thanatologist whose work centres on death, dying, grief and bereavement. The term describes the field connecting his counselling experience, psychological knowledge, funeral-care work and practical understanding of what individuals and families encounter around death.
Damien has spent years providing counselling and support around death, grief, suicide and trauma through several organisations, including volunteer work. He also brings extensive experience in funeral directing, funeral management and funeral and memorial ceremonies.
His approach is calm, direct, respectful and non-judgemental. He will not tell you how to grieve, what decision to make or what meaning you should find in what has happened.
The aim is to meet you where you are, understand what you need and help in a way that is genuinely useful.
Privacy and confidentiality
Private conversations are treated carefully.
Counselling conversations are treated as private and confidential.
Information is only shared with your permission, when required or authorised by law, or when reasonably necessary in response to a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety. This can include child-protection requirements and lawful court or tribunal processes.
The limits of confidentiality will be explained before support begins. If information ever needs to be shared for a legal or safety reason, Damien will only share what is reasonably necessary and will involve you where it is safe and lawful to do so.
For children, families and groups, Damien will also explain what privacy means when more than one person is involved and what information may be shared between participants or with a parent or carer.
Counselling and support arranged through The Death Guide are kept separate from Macquarie Valley Funerals and are not shared with funeral-home staff simply because Damien works in both settings.
If another kind of help is needed
Finding the right support matters.
The Death Guide focuses on death, dying, caring, grief and bereavement. It does not replace medical care, emergency assistance, psychology, psychiatry, legal advice or another specialist service.
If another professional is better placed to help, Damien will say so and, where possible, help you understand the referral and prepare for the next conversation.
Macquarie Valley Funerals
Two complementary roles, kept clear.
Damien is General Manager of Macquarie Valley Funerals and Monuments. Families arranging a funeral there receive his guidance, practical knowledge and support as part of that funeral service during normal business hours, without an additional charge for that support.
Private counselling or extended support through The Death Guide is a separate service with its own purpose, agreement and confidentiality. Outside Macquarie Valley Funerals' service area, The Death Guide may work alongside a family's chosen funeral director and other professionals.
Fees and appointments
Clear arrangements before paid work begins.
Brief initial telephone calls and email enquiries are free. Private support is generally arranged in one-hour blocks.
The scope, fee and any travel or extended-support arrangements are explained and agreed before an appointment or paid work begins. There is no requirement for a long-term commitment.
Damien is based in the Central West and regularly travels throughout Mudgee, Rylstone, Kandos, Gulgong, Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Lithgow, Coolah, Dunedoo and beyond. Support may also be available across greater NSW, including remotely where appropriate.
Telephone enquiries are welcome between 10am and 3pm, Monday to Friday. Email enquiries may be sent at any time, and appointments may sometimes be available outside telephone hours by arrangement.
If urgent help is needed
The Death Guide is not an emergency or 24-hour crisis service.
If life is in danger, someone may act on thoughts of suicide or urgent medical assistance is needed, call Triple Zero (000).
You can begin without having the right words
Tell Damien what is happening.
You may be looking for somewhere to talk, one clear answer, help supporting a child, a family conversation or practical support. Together, you can work out what kind of help may be useful.
Telephone enquiries: 10am–3pm Monday–Friday. Email enquiries may be sent at any time. Appointments may be available outside telephone hours by arrangement.