Welcome

This site is dedicated to providing you with useful information about life, death and dying, palliative care, grief and loss, spirituality, meaning, complementary therapies and the arts. An eclectic mix of subjects that motivate and inspire me... I hope they inspire you! Read on to find out more.

About Molly Carlile

Molly has had an extensive career in health, specialising in palliative care. As a registered nurse, an accredited counsellor, educator and university lecturer she has provided clinical care and grief and bereavement support for clients of all ages, in addition to providing extensive education programs for health professionals, schools and community organisations.

Molly has worked in a range of environments from acute metropolitan health services to inpatient palliative care units and the community, both rural and regional. Her senior leadership and management roles have enabled Molly to establish a process of supervision, self care and clinical support for staff members from a range of disciplines. Molly has a firm commitment to the philosophy of holistic care for clients and holistic self care for health professionals.

Molly is currently Manager of the North and West Metropolitan Region Palliative Care Consortium. Comprising nine member organisations, the consortium facilitates palliative care provision for the largest and most diverse region in Victoria.

Molly’s private consultancy practice has seen her provide consultancy, education and project management for a wide range of clients including Victoria and Monash Universities, Victorian Department of Human Services, Palliative Care Victoria and numerous metropolitan and regional palliative care consortia. She regularly conducts one and two day seminar programs for a variety of organisations including Ausmed and Royal District Nursing Service.

As a Reiki Master/ Teacher in addition to her health and education qualifications, Molly has demonstrated her eagerness to embrace both conventional and complementary approaches to her work. Molly has a firm commitment to the “compassionate workplace” concept and actively promotes this approach both in the health and corporate sectors, in her regular speaking engagements. Molly has written a number of book chapters, regularly contributes articles to a variety of professional and mainstream publications and is currently working on her second book, due for publication mid 2010. Her first children’s book, “Jelly Bean’s Secret” tells the story of a family experiencing the death of their much loved Grandma and was published in 2005 by Innovative Resources.

Molly has been a frequent guest on radio and television, addressing issues of death, grief and community connection. She helps people develop strategies to have senstive conversations with children about death, before they are faced with the death of someone they love.

Molly has embraced the arts as a vehicle for awakening people to the need for death to be normalised as part of life, for de-mystifiying dying and for empowering people to talk about death with their kids as they would sex, drugs and all of the other elements of life that kids need to learn about. Winner of a 2008 Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship, Molly travelled to the U.S, U.K and Ireland in 2009 to explore how others are using the arts to address issues of health and wellness. Her project "Using the arts to encourage community conversations about death and grief" saw her invited to speak at a number of international organisations.

Molly collaborated with celebrated actor and playwright, Alan Hopgood in the production of “Four Funerals in One Day” a play that explores the role of storytelling in the lives of dying patients and their carers. “Four Funerals in One Day” premiered to great acclaim at the 9th National Palliative Care Conference in Melbourne on August 29th 2007 and has been touring nationally ever since. This performance piece challenges the audience to think about death, relationships, the burden of caring and euthanasia. She is currently working on a number of arts based projects that will be launched in 2010.

Molly is a passionate and entertaining speaker who challenges her audiences to explore their personal values, their views on life and death and their understanding of altruism and empathy. In her public speaking role, Molly promotes personal reflection, empowerment and compassion as essential tools to developing rewarding personal and professional relationships and ultimately to contributing positively to humanity.

Winner of the inaugural Arts and Health Australia Award for Health Promotion in November 2009, Molly plans to expand her participation in the international arts and health movement in 2010.

Fellow Royal College of Nursing Australia
Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD)
Associate Fellow Australian College of Health Service Executives (ACHSE)
Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC)
Accredited Counsellor, Supervisor, Member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA)
Accredited Grief and Loss Counsellor, Educator and Supervisor with the National Association for Loss and Grief (NALAG)
Accredited Reiki Master/Teacher (ARC Inc.)

Board Member Quay Initiatives Australia (encouraging selfless living)
Board member Chaplains without Borders
Past Member of the Board of Management of Palliative Care Victoria (PCV)
Past Board member Altruism Australia (formerly Australian Altruism Foundation)
Past Board member Bass Coast Regional Health
Judge Australian Turtle Awards (Australian Altruism Foundation)
Judge Australian Humanitarian Awards (AAF)

Churchill Fellow 2008