Begin
Tell Damien what is happening.
Make contact by telephone or email. A short explanation, your general location and your preferred way to be contacted are enough for the first enquiry.
How The Death Guide works
Start with what is happening. We can work out what comes next.
You do not need to choose the perfect service or arrive with everything organised. A first enquiry helps Damien understand the situation, what would be useful and whether The Death Guide is the right place to help.
Brief introductory calls and email enquiries are free. Before any paid work begins, the role, format, time involved and fee are explained and agreed.
From enquiry to support
A clear process that can still adapt to the person.
Not every enquiry becomes an appointment, and not every person needs ongoing support. The process is designed to establish what is useful without creating an unnecessary commitment.
Clarify
Work out what kind of help may fit.
Damien will ask enough to understand the immediate concern, who is involved and whether support is needed before, during or after a death—or across several stages.
Agree
Set the role, format and cost.
If paid work may be useful, the proposed service, responsibilities, location or technology, time involved, travel, fee and any important limits are explained before a booking is confirmed.
Meet or act
Use the support in the way agreed.
The work may be a conversation, counselling session, family meeting, practical task, attendance at an appointment, defined period of advocacy or coordination, vigil, workshop or another agreed form of support.
Continue or finish
Decide what is useful from there.
Some needs are resolved in one contact. Others benefit from another session or a longer block of support. There is no requirement to commit to ongoing appointments, and another professional may be recommended when appropriate.
Different reasons for making contact
The starting pathway depends on who needs help.
Individual or family
Begin with the person, family situation or practical concern. You may be planning ahead, supporting somebody who is dying, dealing with a recent death or carrying grief from years ago.
Begin a personal enquiryOrganisation or workshop
Include the organisation, audience, purpose, topic, preferred format, approximate group size, location and any timing already known. A scoping conversation helps shape a proposal and fixed quote.
Explore workshops and educationFuneral enquiry
Where funeral arrangements, transfer or care of the person who has died are required locally, the enquiry follows the Macquarie Valley Funerals pathway explained below.
Understand the funeral pathwayAppointments and locations
Support can be shaped around how people are able to meet.
Appointments may take place by telephone, video call or in person, depending on the work, privacy, safety, location, timing and Damien's availability.
In-person support may be in a home, a local café or another suitable agreed setting. Work with children, families or groups is planned around who should be involved and what environment will be most appropriate.
Damien is based in the Central West and may travel across the region and greater NSW. Travel requirements and any related cost are agreed beforehand.
Fees and time
Know the arrangement before the work begins.
Brief introductory calls and email enquiries are free. This first contact helps identify the need; it is not a full counselling session, detailed consultation or substantial piece of work.
Paid support may be arranged as one session, one defined task, an agreed period of attendance or coordination, or a longer block of support. The scope, expected time and fee are explained before anything is booked.
Prices are not published as one fixed list because the work can vary considerably. Nobody is required to continue beyond what has been agreed.
Privacy and communication
Personal conversations are treated as personal.
Before counselling or ongoing personal support begins, Damien will explain confidentiality, record keeping, contact arrangements, safety responsibilities and the limits that apply.
Information from counselling and personal support is kept separately from general enquiries, marketing contacts and Macquarie Valley Funerals records. Information is not shared with family members, doctors, palliative-care services, aged-care providers, funeral directors, legal advisers or community services without permission unless disclosure is required by law or needed because of a serious safety or child-protection concern.
Where another professional needs to be involved, Damien can help clarify the question or prepare for contact, but medical, legal, funeral and other specialist decisions remain with the appropriately responsible people.
Macquarie Valley Funerals
Funeral care follows a clear local pathway.
Across the Central West and surrounding communities, Damien works with families as General Manager of Macquarie Valley Funerals and Monuments.
Funeral arrangements, transfer and care of the person who has died, legal funeral documentation, burial or cremation and related funeral services are provided through Macquarie Valley Funerals—not sold independently through The Death Guide. Damien's support and expertise within that arrangement are not charged again through The Death Guide.
The Death Guide may provide support before a death, alongside care, or long after the funeral. Further afield, Damien may also provide agreed planning, writing, coordination or family support while working alongside the family's chosen funeral director, with roles and responsibilities kept clear.
Common questions
A few things people often want to know first.
Do I need a referral?
No referral is normally needed. You can contact The Death Guide directly for yourself, a child or young person, your family, a group or an organisation.
Is the first call free?
A brief introductory telephone call or email enquiry is free. A longer consultation, counselling session, detailed advice or practical work is paid and agreed before it begins.
Do I have to commit to ongoing sessions?
No. Support may be one conversation, one practical task, an agreed block of work or ongoing appointments where that is genuinely useful.
Can we meet in person?
Often, yes. In-person availability depends on the location, timing, kind of service, privacy, safety and travel involved. Telephone and video appointments are also available where appropriate.
Can Damien speak with another service for me?
With appropriate permission, Damien may help prepare for or communicate with doctors, palliative-care teams, aged-care services, funeral directors, legal professionals and community services. Their specialist responsibilities remain their own.
What if The Death Guide is not the right service?
Damien will say so. Where possible, he can suggest the type of professional, organisation or service that may be more appropriate.
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).
Begin with a few words
You do not need to know exactly what to ask for.
Tell Damien what is happening, who is involved and what feels difficult. That is enough to begin working out the next useful step.
Telephone enquiries: 10am–3pm Monday–Friday. Email enquiries may be sent at any time.