WHO ARE WE & WHY

The Grief Ocean is a grief counselling service owned and operated by Christie Collard.

Previously known as Helping Hearts Heal, in 2022 Christie deepened her own journey with grief and through this

discovered that what she was actually doing was not helping hearts heal at all.

Rather, she was sitting in the depths, the darkness, the despair of grief with her clients.

Riding the waves of grief with them, knowing how to navigate the deepest of pain and the darkest of days because she had been riding them personally for 8 years.

The Grief Ocean is currently open to all forms of grief counselling.

CHRISTIE COLLARD

Christie is registered with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and has a Diploma of Counselling, Bachelor of Social Science, Post Graduate Certificate in Grief Loss and Trauma Counselling and has been working in Community services supporting vulnerable young people and families for approximately 20 years. Christie has also personally experienced the intense pain of grief losing cherished family members and loved ones. It was the loss of her daughter Emme who was stillborn in 2014 that inspired her unique journey to discovering The Grief Ocean.

EMME'S STORY

On September 27, 2014, Christie with her husband Brad went to the hospital in labour with the intention of meeting and bringing home their greatly anticipated 3rd child. Tragically Emme was unexpectedly stillborn which began a period of overwhelming and intense sadness. Through this experience Christie learned firsthand that grief can be an incredibly lonely and isolating experience that can be difficult to see your way through, even with a supportive family and friends. It was this experience that started Christie’s passion to support others who are grieving, knowing it is such an isolating and overwhelming experience that no person can possibly prepare for or truly understand until it has happened to them.