Dr Shelley Gilbert MBE PhD PGDPM UKCP(Reg), PGD in Counselling & Psychotherapy, Senior Accredited MBACP is a leading child & young person bereavement counsellor. She founded The Children’s Grief Charity in 2004, now a leading UK child bereavement charity. Shelley led The Children’s Grief Charity’s Clinical Services as a Trustee until March 2022 and in 2024 took a step back from her duties. Recognising her achievements over the last 20 years, she has been honoured as The Children’s Grief Charity’s Lifetime President.
Prior to founding The Children’s Grief Charity, Shelley worked full time as an Advice worker and Bureau Manager at an inner London Citizens Advice Bureau and re-trained as a psychotherapist. She joined the Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service, where she trained others and initiated schemes to expand her area as a specialist bereavement counsellor for children. Shelley was also a clinical therapist volunteer for Place2Be for many years, an organisation that provides emotional and therapeutic support for children in primary schools.
Losing both her parents by the age of 9, Shelley has unique first-hand experience of childhood bereavement, and a passion for providing children and young people with a safe space for early intervention following a bereavement.
