“That’s how we live our life. What bad luck...lets feel that sadness, but then what good luck ...all these wonderful things that can come out of a terrible situation”
Lilly Markovic, Yarra Ranges resident & survivor of the June 2021 storms

On the 9th and 10th of June 2021 an extreme storm struck one of Victoria’s most picturesque areas – the Dandenong Ranges. The effects were devastating both to the natural bushland and its human inhabitants. More than 25,000 trees crashed to the ground. 177 properties were damaged leaving 76 homes uninhabitable. There are many stories of terror as residents cowered in their homes while trees crashed to the ground …or through their house. Tales of accidents, near misses, and fears of loved ones lost abound. Miraculously, and thankfully, no one was killed.

One such story of near tragedy is that of our guests Lilly Markovic and Lee Burgess. Lilly and Lee bravely share their story of that traumatic night when a huge tree crashed through their home threatening their own lives and those of their four children. In this heartfelt and vulnerable interview, the couple share their experiences of trauma, loss and grief and discuss their response to the first anniversary, while expressing a sense of gratitude for the positives they've found out of such a desperate situation.

We also speak with guest expert Rob Gordon PhD, one of Australia’s pre-eminent disaster recovery specialists who gives a fascinating explanation of trauma in three forms, and its distinction from loss and grief. Rob explores the importance of ritual, marking anniversaries and re-telling our disaster stories so that they become our history.

Thanks to

Lilly Markovic & Lee Burgess, Kalarama, Victoria

Rob Gordon, PhD, FAPS, FCCLP
Clinical Psychologist
Rob Gordon PhD is a clinical psychologist and a consultant for the Victorian Departments of Families, Fairness and Housing, Education and Training and Bushfire Recovery Victoria and Red Cross Emergency Services, he has worked with people and communities after traumatic events for over 30 years throughout Australia and New Zealand such as the 1983 Ash Wednesday and 2009 Black Saturday and Black Summer 2020 bushfires, Cyclones Larry and Yarsi, and the 2011 floods in Victoria and Queensland and Christchurch earthquake; and events such as Port Arthur Shootings, the Victoria recovery from Bali bombings, 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and many smaller events. He is president of the Australasian Confederation of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies and Director of Training for the Australian Association of Group Psychotherapists. He conducts a psychotherapy practice in Box Hill Victoria.

Co-Hosts - Louisa Smith and Amanda Trotter
Audio Engineer - Daryl Missen, Vinilo www.vinilo.com.au
Original Music - Tilly Vickers-Willis, https://soundcloud.com/tillyvw
Creative Producer - Amanda Trotter

Released to witness the loss and grief of those affected by floods, with a focus on the 2011 Queensland floods, and the 2022 NSW and Queensland floods. In 2011 Queensland was hit by floods that left 97 communities flooded or isolated and cost 36 people their lives. 2.5 million people were impacted with damages costing more than $5 billion dollars. It was said to be a 1 in 100 year flood but in 2022 it happened all over again when record rains and flooding smashed communities in Queensland and NSW. Insurance claims amount to $2.3 billion dollars (May 2022), there are reports of 23 people lost and around 30,000 homes and businesses flooded, at least once, if not twice or three times over.

Our candid conversation with multiple flood survivor Linda Godley, explores the experience of traumatic grief and re-traumatisation. While our in-depth interview with revered grief and loss academic Dr Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, examines the possibility of tragedy and transformation going hand in hand.

Dr Neimeyer has published more than 30 books and currently directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, while his theories on meaning reconstruction and continuing bonds have partly informed the Griefline approach to grief adaptation. With his profound understanding and experience of grief, Robert provides us with an illuminative explanation of traumatic grief, including the connection between grief and trauma, how anger plays a part in our grief response, coping with re-traumatisation and the purpose of meaning reconstruction. His suggestions for extricating ourselves from 'sticky grief' include mindfulness and rituals.

Linda Godley is an everyday Aussie who adores and fiercely protects her family. A dressmaker and proud matriarch of three adult children and two grand-children, she lives in Grantham, Queensland, a town that has been decimated by multiple floods. Their first experience was on the afternoon of 10 January 2011, when a deadly torrent ravaged the town, tragically killing 13 community members. Like so many other residents, the Godley family lost all their possessions and experienced traumatic grief, particularly Linda’s daughter Katherine, who at only 14 years old, witnessed the drowning of 3 community members and her beloved horses. Only 11 years later the town was wiped out all over again, leaving the family re-traumatised and fearful this could happen yet again. Though the foundations of Linda’s life have been rocked, and her sense of hope shaken to the core, her fighting spirit shines through in this raw and very real interview.

Thanks to

Linda & Katherine Godley
Facebook @lindagodley

Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD
www.portlandinstitute.org
Facebook @PortlandInstitute / Twitter @PortlandLoss
New Techniques of Grief Therapy (Series in Death, Dying, and Bereavement), 2021
Death studies through Taylor & Francis

Amanda Gearing, Author & Interviewer of Katherine Godley, 2011
The Torrent: A true story of heroism and survival, 2nd edition. (2017, January 29). UQP. https://www.uqp.com.au/books/the-torrent-a-true-story-of-heroism-and-survival-2nd-edition

Co-Hosts - Louisa Smith and Amanda Peppard
Audio Engineer - Daryl Missen, Purple Wax www.purplewax.com.au
Original Music - Tilly Vickers-Willis, https://soundcloud.com/tillyvw
Creative Producer - Amanda Peppard

Released to mark the Anniversary of the 2019/20 summer bushfires which impacted communities across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, ACT, Western Australia and South Australia. With an official death toll of 33 people including 9 firefighters and a further 450 people later dying from summer smoke. The fires destroyed more than 3000 human homes and razed an estimated 17 million hectares with over one billion precious creatures lost.

Through conversations with bushfire survivors Katherine Boland and Jenifer James we learn about their lived experience of Climate Grief - a grief presentation on the rise as the world witnesses the toll of ecological losses. Our conversation with world renowned grief expert David Kessler provides us with an understanding of micro and macro griefs and discusses the futility of grief comparison. He also shares his own experience of profound losses and how these led him on a search for meaning and later his book; Finding Meaning-The Sixth Stage of Grief .

Katherine Boland is an award-winning artist and writer who lives on the southeast coast of Australia. On January 4, 2020, Katherine found herself fearing for her life as the fires came roaring into Merimbula - forcing her to take shelter along with her 95-year-old mother. In the aftermath of the fires, she was selected to participate in OUTPUT: ART AFTER FIRE with one of her works selected for a digital art competition held at the United Nations COP conference in Glasgow.

For Jenifer James, the bushfires forced her to take on a new identity. Formerly a respected palliative care nurse and educator, Jenifer relinquished her lifelong devotion to humans to become a wildlife warrior. In the days following the fires, Jenifer organised a 120-strong team of volunteers who risked their lives to take food and water out to desperate animals. Jenifer is part of the 2021 – 2022 cohort of Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA).

The episode also features excerpts from Andrew Kaneider’s film Mourning Country
and the perspective of Noel Butler – a Budawang elder from the Yuin Nation, who
lost his home and the aboriginal cultural centre he founded with his wife Trish in the same bushfires. For Noel the loss is much greater than shelter. It’s the unimaginable loss of flora and fauna that he was so connected to… having witnessed decades of disregard for the natural world. The film was made on the country of the Dhurga language group known as Yuin. Griefline pays its respects to the people, culture and values of the land that has been nurtured by Elders of the past and present for thousands of years.

David Kessler;
www.grief.com
www.AboutGrief.com
Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief ;
www.grief.com/sixth-stage-of-grief
Mourning Country;
https://www.nowness.com/story/mourning-country-new-south-wales-bushfire
Katherine Boland;
www.katherineboland.com.au
www.griefline.org.au
Instagram: @grieflineorganisation
Facebook: @grieflineservices
Linked-In: griefline-org-au

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