Our Business Lead Team

Christine Richardson

Community Services, Corporate Training and Professional Development

For 15 years Christine coordinated one of the longest running Personal Development Programs in the Education Department in Western Australia. Within both her public and private practices the diversity of Christine’s client group, ranges from professors and surgeons, medical professionals, domestic violence perpetrators and victims to armed forces personnel, hairdressers, factory workers and clerical staff. This diverse work has given her the opportunity to design programs and work on projects that change lives by introducing and developing emotional competency and self-management skills. Christine has also worked extensively within the prison system with outstanding results. In 2018 Christine became a founding Board Member of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Consumer Community Coalition (AODCCC), a newly incorporated, independent coalition created to provide stronger representation, advocacy and engagement, not only for consumers of alcohol and other drugs but for their families and supporters.

Kathryn Budzinska

Head of Counselling & Support Services

Kath has been involved at the Grief Centre of WA since December 2015 initially as a specialist grief counsellor and support group facilitator, and more recently as a member of the Management Committee, and now the GCWA Advisory Board. Kath has 4 decades of experience as a Registered Comprehensive Nurse specialising in midwifery. As a result, Kath has worked across the birth, life, and death spectrum. In addition to continuing with her nursing career, Kath completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology in order to offer grief support for the parents of baby-death. Kath regularly runs Professional Development seminars for health professionals so they have opportunities to acknowledge and attend to their grief outside of the workplace.

Danielle Mettam

Business Development Manager

Danielle is an experienced strategic business development professional, with lived experience in grief. Her passion grew to bridge the gaps for individuals and families trying to navigate this journey. She believes these gaps appear in the information and resources provided within communities, work life, education, health and support work. However, through educating and guiding society Danielle believes we can reduce some of the pain by creating a holistic resource centre for grief. Caring and supporting her Mum after the loss of her Dad, then later in life with a terminal illness, prompted her to seek more information around what support services and information is available to individuals and families experiencing end of life circumstances. Trying to navigate through the legalities, advanced health systems, documentation and simply trying to find support was incredibly overwhelming and the information provided was inconsistent from so many sources. This frustration led her to change industries and work with the Grief Centre, so she can utilise her knowledge to help reduce the stress and confusion for others.