Your journey starts here
01
Reflect
From the initial exchange of information, we work together to discover your key areas of need. We explore what a good outcome for you might look like and plan how to achieve that outcome.
02
Rethink
We work collaboratively during each session addressing each of your areas of need. We engage with each other openly and honestly to talk about thought processes, strategies, or solutions that need a rethink.
03
Resolve
Through reflection and rethinking, we reach a place of resolution. A place where you can release the things that hold you back and take your freedom steps towards a brighter life; the new you.
Hello, I’m Gemma
Counsellor and Coach for Grief through Bereavement & Life Loss
I created Brighterlife because, during my own experiences of grief, bereavement, and loss, I struggled to find someone who truly specialised in supporting people through those challenges. Despite my training and years of professional experience, navigating my own grief was incredibly hard. I had to learn—often alone—how to process the pain of losing loved ones and the impact of significant life changes.
Through trial, learning, and lived experience, I discovered methods and strategies that helped me survive, rebuild, and eventually thrive. Those tools allowed me to grow into a stronger, more resilient version of myself. Yet I know that if I had been able to find someone understanding, supportive, and non judgemental—someone who wouldn’t tell me to “just get over it”—my journey through grief could have been gentler. Brighterlife exists because I want to offer others the kind of support I once needed.
Grief can feel overwhelming. Whether we are mourning the death of a partner, sibling, close friend, or cherished pet, the pain can affect us physically and emotionally. Our hearts can feel shattered, and life can seem permanently altered. But grief is not only tied to death; the same intense emotions can emerge when we face significant life losses—such as the end of a relationship, a broken friendship, redundancy, or losing a sense of purpose or identity. These experiences can leave us feeling adrift, distressed, and out of control.
In my work as a grief and bereavement counsellor and as a life coach and mentor, I’ve learned that sometimes we can navigate life’s challenges on our own. But when grief has its grip on us, we can feel lost, alone, and unable to see a way forward. That is the moment when support can make a profound difference.
I work with people who are experiencing grief through both bereavement and life changes. I encourage anyone in that place to reach out when they feel ready—when they want help making sense of what they are going through, rebuilding their self-worth, strengthening their resilience, and developing coping strategies that will support them for a lifetime.
We all need space to reflect, rethink and resolve.
Creating a safe space
based at The Chill Out Centre
Other Locations Available
Online Sessions
We now offer online sessions making moving forwards even easier
Testimonials
check-out some of our recent reviews
Sally S, Colchester
“Gemma helped me see how my past was holding me back and stopping me from making positive or useful choices in the here and now.”
Annie P, Witham
“ I was referred to Gemma when I was suffering from anxiety and stress following a major relationship break up. She was amazing at supporting me to take back the control in my life that I thought I had lost forever.”
Thomas G, Colchester
“I had four bereavements in two years, and my grief felt like it was weighing me down. I felt stuck and unable to deal with the normal stuff in my life because of it. I worked with Gemma over six sessions and explored how my grief had become a ‘shield’ to protect myself against my fear of forgetting my loved ones.”
