It isn’t time that heals grief as much as the actions you take in the time you have.
How it works
I carefully craft my support to most suit you and what will make the biggest difference right now. Quite a few of my clients like to start with specialist support sessions. I guide most people through The Grief Recovery Method® at some point, but that will be up to you. It’s a well established approach to grief recovery and the only evidence-based grief support programme currently in existence.
It’s practical, profound and deeply compassionate - in other words, ‘it works’. My job is to make it fit you and your unique circumstances, not the other way around.
I know grief intimately, and know the steps to guide you through it. Loss isn’t something you simply ‘get over’. But in a safe and structured way, our work together will address the root causes of much of your suffering, so that you’re free to find joy and meaning in life again for the longer term - or as one client recently put it, “hugely turn the volume down on the pain”.
Many people only associate grief with the death of a loved one, and that’s a huge part of it. But we grieve in divorce, heartbreak, pet loss, chronic illness, workplace change, or any of the 40 or more life events that can sometimes be overlooked. This approach is also extremely valuable in working through such losses, and the previous loss events in your life that could be impacting your experience of grief today. While I have clear guidelines about who I can and can’t work with, unresolved grief can often lie behind so many of our wellbeing and mental health challenges. These include addiction, burnout, anxiety, depression, feeling strangely flat, or the feeling that life lacks a sense of purpose or even meaning.
Working with Jess
This is sensitive and powerful work. We can work together 1:1 or in small groups, either online or in-person.
I’m based near Oxford, in the Cotswolds, UK.
I offer a free introductory call. This will help you get a sense of what working with me is like, and what approach might most serve you, whether that’s specialist support sessions for as little or as long as you need, or making a start on The Grief Recovery Method®. The next step is a preliminary session.
When and if this is right for you, The Grief Recovery Method® requires a commitment to 7 sessions (8 for a group), usually weekly. You will need to complete around 1 hour of preparatory work, plus some reading each week. I am contactable for support between sessions, and we agree how this will work for both of us before we begin.
1:1 sessions:
Sessions are planned to last 50-90 mins for deep work that can be completely adapted to your needs.
I take on a set number of clients at a time and create waiting lists when needed. You can read my pricing and inclusion policy here.
Small groups:
We meet weekly in carefully curated groups (limited to 8 people online). This can be a more affordable option, with the added benefit of sharing the experience with others. If you’re apprehensive about sharing in a wider group, much of the work happens in the same set of carefully monitored pairs or groups of three people. I create a safe, relaxed and totally confidential environment for this work.
Next online group starts on Mon 22nd Sept 2025. More info here.
One off workshops:
If you’d like a taster, I offer free introductory workshops on navigating loss and bereavement. This is likely to change how you see grief and offer you some practical insights as to how to better support yourself and others.
Next online introductory workshop is on 14th April 2025. More info here.
How this is different from counselling and therapy
Many people try open-ended psychotherapy and counselling to process their grief. There are wonderful practitioners out there for this.
I’m a bereavement counsellor for a leading charity, and have experienced first-hand how many people find that only talking about their grief isn’t always enough to get them to a new place.
Within my capacity as a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist® I believe there’s a sweet spot when it comes to how I work with clients. I bring the best of my counselling skills and focus on the emotional reality you are navigating. While this isn’t therapy, it is highly therapeutic, with all the benefits of the type of healing relationship counselling can offer. Like therapy, I create a safe and confidential space where you will feel seen, heard and understood.
But I don’t tend to work with people for more than two to three months. Sometimes only three sessions can be enough to make a tremendous difference. Some stay longer, but mostly because they choose to focus on other key relationships and aspects of their lives, once they experience the difference this work can make to their sense of wellbeing.
There are other vital tools I bring, too: the most positive elements of mentoring, coaching, psycho-education and even creativity, as well as my academic background in attachment theory and skills of analysis. However I work with you, The Grief Recovery Method® is likely to inform much of what I do. If you choose to complete the programme with me - and we can get to that point gently, if at all - it’s a tried and tested map, with a clear start and end point, if you’re willing to commit to the full series of sessions to get there.
By the end of our time together, you will feel that you can handle the losses of life with resilience, with the tools we have learned and practised together. Most people who complete their work with me report feeling less emotional pain, much lighter, re-energised and ready to engage with life in a new way.
“I feel very fortunate to have found this programme and I wholeheartedly believe that everyone would benefit from knowing the information and tools it makes available.”
Gemma, London
A bit more about The Grief Recovery Method
There are two keys to a successful outcome. The first is fundamental - the relationship you have with your practitioner. You can get to know a bit more about me here. The second is the model we use together, our map. Together we can work out what way of working will benefit you the most. It may be that you’d prefer to start with other forms of support or a one-off session.
If you are curious, here’s a little more about the 7 session model I find most impactful and love to use.
The Grief Recovery Method® was first created by John W. James, after experiencing completely inadequate grief support following the death of his son in 1977.
He discovered a series of action steps that allowed him to regain a sense of well-being. He paired up with Russell Friedman, who was devastated by his recent divorce, and together they wrote The Grief Recovery Handbook. In time, they both felt confident enough to use the words ‘grief’ and ‘recovery’ in the same sentence. The method has developed over the decades, with input from psychotherapists, mental health professionals and academics. Today it is recognised as a respected answer to the unbearable pain of loss.
We start gently. The first step involves unlearning what you have learned that is not true or helpful when it comes to working with grief. Many of these myths and ways of responding to grief and suffering are deeply ingrained in all of us.
The core part of the programme focuses on the relationship you are grieving. In time, we will get to the roots of what is having the biggest negative impact on your capacity for happiness - right now. Successful completion of the first 7 sessions doesn’t only heal the past, but will give you a toolkit for responding to loss you can keep using for life. I see so much of this as leadership training as much as coaching or therapeutic psycho-education - we are perhaps most disempowered when it comes to grief.
Whatever route you are considering for support, whether your experience involves bereavement, the end of a relationship, or a big change in your life, The Grief Recovery Method® offers a foundational source of deep healing and learning in our response to loss.
If you’re wondering where to start, you can’t go wrong with reading the first 5 chapters of The Grief Recovery Handbook. Our work as Grief Recovery practitioners has evolved far beyond the book these days, but it will give you key insights into your experience of loss and the philosophy I work with.
Licensed Certified Grief Recovery Specialist with the Grief Recovery Institute
A Post Graduate (Cert) in Psychodynamic Studies, University of Oxford
Volunteer Bereavement Counsellor for a leading UK charity
How to take the next step…
If you’ve found yourself here, you may have also found that time doesn’t heal.
Responding to grief asks us to do so with wise, gentle and compassionate action. With the right guidance, it’s the actions you take that will make all the difference. One step at a time.
If you’d like to explore working with me, book a free consultation call below. Write me a quick message in the contact form. I’ll email you back personally to arrange the best time to talk: