Dr Linda Machin trained and worked as a Medical Social Worker. She went on to conduct pioneering bereavement work for the Anglican Diocese of Lichfield and established a bereavement counselling and support service in 1984, in North Staffordshire (UK) before going on to take up an academic post teaching social work and counselling in 1990 at Keele University, Staffordshire, England.

Linda developed the Range of Response to Loss model (RRL) as a framework for conceptualising grief and an associated measure for exploring diverse grief reactions, the Adult Attitude to Grief scale (AAG). These ideas are developed fully in her book ‘Working with Loss and Grief’ (second edition 2014; Sage).

Linda is an Honorary Research Fellow of Keele University and an Honorary Researcher at the International Observatory on End-of-Life Care at Lancaster University where she is working on the validation of a pre-bereavement measure based on the RRL concepts and the AAG format, the Attitude to Health Change (AHC for patients and carers).

Linda works as a freelance trainer and is Honorary Clinical Advisor to Cruse, Bereavement Care. She is currently collaborating with developments at Sue Ryder Care, piloting an RRL based Grief Map for use as a triage tool, and with Winston’s Wish to develop the Children’s Attitude to Grief scale (CAG).