“Together, by talking about death, we can change the happily never after, to happily ever after”

Shelley shares a powerful message about the grieving processes of young people and adults, reframing thinking about the way we grieve and giving people permission to grieve in a much better way than undertaken in our society.

Shelley Gilbert was orphaned as a child, losing both her parents at a young age. This experience gave her a personal insight into the issues facing bereaved children.

Dr. Shelley Gilbert MBE, BA (Hons) PGDPM, MBACP worked full time at Kentish Town Citizens Advice Bureau and then re-trained as a counsellor more than fifteen years ago. She has a Post Graduate qualification in Counseling and is a senior accredited Member of the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy. She joined the Jewish Bereavement Counseling Service, where she trained others and initiated schemes to expand her area as a specialist bereavement counsellor for children. Shelley was a volunteer for Place to Be, an organization that provides emotional and therapeutic support for children in primary schools. She completed her Doctorate in 2016.

13 years ago, Shelley set up Grief Encounter offering bereaved children and young people (from 4-18) a safe space to grieve and talk about their feelings following the death of a parent or sibling. As Professor Tanya Byron said, “To lose a parent at any age is sad but to lose a parent when you are young is unimaginable”.
She wanted to ensure that today’s bereaved children have somewhere to turn when they feel NOBODY else understands. When a child loses a parent they are unlikely to open up to their left parent in fear of upsetting them and they are often sent back to school and expected to carry on like nothing has happened. Shelley has created a safe and fun place for children to help them deal with their grief and to meet other children who have also lost someone close so they realize there are other people who understand and are in the same situation as them.

She is the author of a unique children’s book entitled Grief Encounter Workbook, which was published in 2004. The book encourages conversations about loss between children and adults and all the proceeds are donated to charity. It quickly became a best seller for bereaved children