How can we accompany another person with presence, compassion and discernment when we cannot change what they are facing?
Your Facilitators
Join an experienced multidisciplinary team bringing together decades of experience across medicine, palliative and end-of-life care, psychology, counselling, community work, facilitation and spiritual care.
Dr Dave Misso
Counselling Psychologist
More than four decades of experience across clinical practice, psychotherapy, training and experiential group work, with particular interest in relational patterns, emotional processes and supporting people through complex life experiences.
Donna Kerr-Misso
Community Development Practitioner
Donna brings extensive experience in community, relational and experiential work, with a longstanding interest in how people make meaning through relationships, spiritual experience and significant life transitions. For more than 27 years, she has also facilitated Breathwork, supporting people in deeply personal and reflective processes. Her approach is grounded in presence, sensitivity and respect for each person’s individual experience.
Dr Terry Nash
Emergency Physician and CAREPACT Clinical Lead
Terry is an experienced Emergency Physician and clinical leader with a strong background in aeromedical retrieval, international medical repatriation, and tertiary emergency care. Terry also leads CAREPACT, a specialised Brisbane-based medical service that provides emergency-level care to residents of aged care facilities.
Alex Chuc
Coordinator of Chaplaincy Services RBWH and Stars
Alex brings more than 15 years’ experience in spiritual companionship across community and Queensland Health settings, supporting people through serious illness, dying and end-of-life care. Her own experience of life-threatening illness and a near-death experience deeply shaped her commitment to this work. Alex’s approach is grounded in compassionate presence, meeting people where they are and accompanying them with sensitivity through profound life transitions.
Rather than focusing on having the “right” words or answers, we explore what it means to remain present, grounded and discerning when another person faces circumstances we may not be able to change.
Accompanying at the Threshold is a reflective and experiential weekend for those seeking to deepen their capacity to accompany others through some of life’s most vulnerable and significant transitions.
The workshop is open to people supporting a family member, friend or loved one, as well as carers, health professionals, counsellors, psychologists, community workers, pastoral and spiritual-care practitioners, and others who may find themselves alongside someone facing ageing, dementia, serious illness, dying or end-of-life care.
Participants will be invited to explore the emotional, relational, psychological and spiritual dimensions of accompaniment, while developing a deeper awareness of their own responses to loss, uncertainty, vulnerability and mortality.
What We Will Explore
Across the weekend, the program will combine facilitated discussion, reflective exercises, experiential processes and opportunities for shared learning.
- What it means to accompany rather than fix
- Developing the capacity to remain present in the face of uncertainty
- Understanding our own responses to ageing, illness, dementia, dying and loss
- Listening beyond words and responding to emotional and relational needs
- The role of boundaries, self-awareness and discernment in caring relationships
- Supporting a loved one living with dementia
- The experience of anticipatory grief and changing relationships
- Making space for meaning, spirituality and existential questions without imposing beliefs
- Recognising when presence may be more important than advice
- Caring for ourselves while accompanying another person
- Bringing professional knowledge and personal presence together in end-of-life care
The Experiential Component
Breathwork will form the central experiential component of the weekend, providing an opportunity to explore vulnerability, trust, presence and the experience of accompanying another person.
Participants will work in pairs, with one person in the breathing role and the other in the sitter/witness role. The sitter role is an important part of the learning, inviting participants to consider what it means to remain alongside another person without unnecessarily directing, fixing or taking over their experience.
Participants will receive information about the process beforehand and will have the opportunity to discuss suitability for the Breathwork component with the facilitators.
About the Weekend
The workshop is not designed to provide a particular philosophy of death or dying.
Rather, it creates a space in which participants can consider how they want to be with another person at the threshold of significant change.
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is open to:
- Family members, friends and carers;
- People supporting someone through ageing or dementia;
- People accompanying someone with serious or life-limiting illness;
- Health and helping professionals;
- Counsellors and psychologists;
- Community, pastoral and spiritual-care practitioners; and
- Others who may find themselves alongside someone during significant change
Date
19–21 February 2027
Times
Friday: 6.00 pm–9.00 pm
Saturday: 8.30 am–9.30 pm
Sunday: 8.30 am–12.30 pm
Registration
Early Bird: $968 incl. GST
Register by 31 December 2026
Full Fee: $1,078 incl. GST
From 1 January 2027
Venue
Robertson Gardens
Musgrave Room
281 Kessels Road, Nathan, Brisbane QLD 4111
Robertson Gardens is set within ten acres of subtropical gardens approximately 15 minutes from Brisbane CBD. The Musgrave Room has direct outdoor access and an adjoining area for breaks.
Free on-site parking is available.
If you choose to stay on-site, Robertson Gardens has various accommodation options available. Please contact Robertson Gardens directly on +61 7 3875 1999.
Accompanying at the Threshold
Learning to accompany others with presence and discernment through ageing, illness, dementia and end of life.
What's Included
What’s Included
- The full Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning workshop program
- All facilitated and experiential sessions
- Breathwork component for participants who wish to participate and for whom it is suitable
- Workshop materials
- Friday evening: tea and coffee
- Saturday: morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea
- Sunday morning: morning tea
Not included: accommodation, Saturday evening dinner, transport to and from the venue, or other personal expenses.
Program Structure
Weekend Program
Friday 19 February 2027
6.30 pm – 9.30 pm
The Friday evening introduces the themes of the weekend and begins the process of creating a reflective and supportive group environment.
The evening will include:
- Welcome and orientation
- What do we mean by accompanying at the threshold?
- Our personal and professional experiences of caring, loss and transition
- Presence, listening and the impulse to fix
- Preparing for the experiential work of the weekend
Included: Tea and coffee.
Saturday 20 February 2027
8.30 am – 9.30 pm
Saturday is the main experiential day and provides space to explore the themes of accompaniment more deeply.
The day will include facilitated reflection, experiential work, discussion and the Breathwork component.
Participants who choose not to undertake Breathwork may remain present within the room as a sitter or witness, allowing them to participate in the wider experiential process without undertaking Breathwork themselves.
Included:
Morning tea
Lunch
Afternoon tea
Tea and coffee throughout the day
Saturday Evening Dinner
There is a restaurant on site at Robertson Gardens for participants who would like to have dinner together following the Saturday program. Dinner is at participants' own cost.
Gardens Restaurant is open for dinner seven days a week; Robertson Gardens currently lists dinner service from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm, with bookings recommended. Quality Hotel Robertson Gardens
Sunday 21 February 2027
8.30 am – 12.30 pm
Sunday morning focuses on integration and bringing the learning from the weekend into participants' lives, relationships and professional roles.
The morning will include:
- Reflecting on the experiential work
- What have I learned about how I accompany others?
- Presence and discernment in difficult moments
- Recognising personal limits and the importance of support
- Translating the weekend into everyday relationships and practice
- Closing reflections
Breathwork Outline
The Experiential Component
Breathwork will be the workshop's central experiential component on Saturday, offering an opportunity to explore vulnerability, trust, presence, and the experience of accompanying another person.
Participants will work in pairs, with one person in the breathing role and the other in the sitter/witness role. The sitter role is an important part of the learning, inviting participants to consider what it means to remain alongside another person without unnecessarily directing, fixing or taking over their experience.
Participants will receive information about the process beforehand and will have the opportunity to discuss suitability for the breathwork component with the facilitators.
Transport requirements for breathwork on Saturday
For safety, any participant undertaking the breathwork on Saturday must arrange to be dropped off at the venue and collected afterwards. Participants undertaking breathwork should not plan to drive themselves home following the session.
Further information about the breathwork process, preparation and suitability will be provided to registered participants.
