Founder of Heal For Life
Liz is a survivor of childhood trauma and child abuse. She originally founded ASCA (now Blue Knot Foundation) followed by the Heal For Life Foundation (Mayumarri) in 1999 – utilising her innate knowledge as a survivor of child abuse to formulate a program to empower others to heal themselves from child abuse.
Liz Mullinar
AM, B.Th, M.Couns Founder & Facilitator
Liz Mullinar has authored four books “Breaking The Silence”, “The Liz Mullinar Story” , “Heal For Life” a guidebook detailing her knowledge from over 20 years of supporting survivors of childhood trauma to heal. Most recently the book “Encouragement to heal”
She was awarded an order of Australia in 1997, A Centenary Medal in 2000 and honoured on “This is Your Life” in 2001. She was awarded the first Humanitarian Award in 2003 and in 2009 she was named NSW Volunteer of the Year. In 2010 Liz was a NSW finalist for the Australian of the Year – Local Hero. Liz has 2 sons, 3 step-daughters and six grandchildren.
Healing Program Facilitators
Our experienced Healing Program Facilitators are survivors of childhood trauma and have tertiary level qualifications or equivalent in relevant fields, as well as training in our 12-month internal certification program for Peer Support Volunteers.
Bernie Broughton
Facilitator of Adult Programs, Dip Couns, Dip Welfare
Bernie is a proud Maori woman who has been living in Australia for over 30 years. She is an experienced counsellor with additional qualifications in welfare studies. It was at Heal for Life that Bernie learned what she needed to function in her life. This gave her the knowledge of the areas she had missed out on in her childhood and helped her understand what personal work she needed to do. She loves witnessing the transformation that happens within each guest, and seeing them when they realise they really do have the power to heal themselves, once they have the right knowledge and tools.
Jenny Mazotta
Facilitator of Adult Programs
Jenny has trained as a counsellor and is a facilitator on our Adult Healing Programs and has been a Peer Support Volunteer since 2016. Jenny’s most important role in life is as a mother and grandmother as her children and grandchildren have inspired her personal healing journey. Jenny finds deep reward in holding space for guests and seeing them finally realise their true needs, understand what is happening to them, and meet and bond with other people who have shared similar experiences. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband – singing and watching live bands.
Nic Phillips
Dip. Couns.
Registrations
Program Coordinator
Facilitator of Youth Programs
Nic is the first friendly voice you are likely to hear when you make an enquiry to Heal For Life. As well as being our registrations coordinator, Nic has facilitated over 80 youth programs at Heal For Life since 2010. He is passionate about working with youth and increasing the reach of Heal For Life programs and support for young people. Nic’s main goal in life is to be happy, healthy and family-orientated and when he’s not working, you’ll likely find him bushwalking or travelling abroad. Nic holds a Diploma of Counselling and has completed his PSV and facilitation training at Heal for Life.
Kim Taylor
Facilitator of Adult Programs
Kim is a counsellor and facilitator on our Adult Healing Programs. Her counselling training includes over 30 years of supporting people with their concerns. She has worked in women’s health, community outreach counselling, and with women housed in a refuge fleeing domestic violence. In private practice Kim has been educating and counselling parents of troubled teenagers and offering workshops. Kim lives in Sydney and has been married for over 22 years. She is mother to four children and a grandmother.
Psychologists
Our experienced psychologists are either survivors of childhood trauma or have been trained in our survivor-led model.
Sharon Smith
B.Psych Hon
Sharon has specialized working with individuals of all ages who have experienced varying forms, degrees and complexities associated with developmental and/or complex trauma. Sharon worked in the human services industry for majority of her career, in diverse areas and roles including disability, mental health, domestic violence and aged care. Most recently, Sharon has worked in the Out of Home Care system providing therapeutic and behaviour support to children and their carers experiencing a variety of issues associated with developmental trauma such as grief and loss, bullying, stress, anxiety, depression and emotion dysregulation.
Training Facilitators
Our experienced Training Facilitators are survivors of childhood trauma and have tertiary level qualifications in relevant fields of study.
Gloria Cartmel
Dip. Prac Mgmt, Educator & Training Facilitator
Gloria is a counsellor, trainer and speaker with over thirty years experience in welfare, education and health, in both the public and private sectors. Highly attuned to the human condition, Gloria has deep knowledge of the impact of personal and relationship issues on health, learning and interaction in the family, workplace and community. She is a published author in the area of stress and its relationship to psychosomatic disease. She currently provides training to our new staff, facilitators and peer support workers at Heal For Life in NSW. She has delivered training in trauma-informed practice to service providers in Bunbury, Fitzroy Crossing and Balgo, a remote indigenous community, in Western Australia.
Nic Phillips
Dip. Couns.
Educator & Training Facilitator
Nic is the first friendly voice you are likely to hear when you make an enquiry to Heal For Life. As well as being our registrations coordinator, Nic has facilitated over 80 youth programs at Heal For Life since 2010. He is passionate about working with youth and increasing the reach of Heal For Life programs and support for young people. Nic’s main goal in life is to be happy, healthy and family-orientated and when he’s not working, you’ll likely find him bushwalking or travelling abroad. Nic holds a Diploma of Counselling and has completed his PSV and facilitation training at Heal for Life.
International Facilitators
Our International Facilitators run Heal For Life programs across Asia and Europe.
Lucy Huntington
Facilitator - UK
Lucy’s first contact with Heal For Life was as their Landscape and Garden Design Consultant when back in 1997 she prepared the landscape drawings for the Healing Centre in NSW. Since then she has committed a part of her time each year as a volunteer with the Heal For Life Foundation programme. Lucy is a survivor of extreme childhood trauma and has undertaken Counsellor training in the UK followed by a Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Counselling at St John’s College Nottingham, UK. In Australia she has been trained as a peer support volunteer and more recently as a facilitator for the HFL programme. She is now a part of the team who run healing weeks in the UK.
Joy Laverentino
Facilitator - Phillippines
