JULIAN BOWERS-BROWN

Compassion Focused Coach

Welcome. I specialise in supporting people coming to terms with grief and loss, using Compassion-Focused Coaching.I work with individual private clients navigating their sense of loss resulting from life-limiting illness, and those grieving the death of a loved one.I also work as a Buddhist Hospice Chaplain, offering pastoral care and counselling to patients and those important to them, whatever their beliefs or backgrounds.I take pride in helping people who have not found the help they need previously. In all my work, my approach brings tenderness, non-judgement, calm and courage, to help distressed adults to make sense of their shattered expectations and painful experiences. Together, we uncover compassionate ways to understand yourself and your sense of loss, so that you can feel a greater sense of ease and safeness within, enabling you to navigate the uncertainty of new life circumstances.As well as my direct work with individuals, I will be writing a new online column How to Live with Loss for those seeking to better understand their sense of loss and grief.Get in touch

About me and how I work

I am a professionally trained and accredited Compassion-Focused Coach, with many years of experience working alongside people facing serious illness and those grieving the loss of a loved one. My priority is always to create a calm and safe space that supports my client’s needs to be heard and understood, in the mist of stress, distress or sadness. I listen, without judgement, to difficult, sometimes uncomfortable or embarrassing thoughts or feelings, which may not have been front of mind or felt safe enough to articulate before.This is not a quick fix set of solutions but a process that requires genuineness and patience to remove the mask and distractions that we often employ to ward off our fears. As such, it can be life-changing to be 'heard' in this way, and to feel that our grief and our selves are deeply acknowledged and understood. Over a relatively short time, it can bring about profound change in how you are able to live, relate to your sense of loss, and feel about the meaning and purpose of your life.I am focussed in two areas of adult experience that often feel so isolating and difficult; people facing loss of their ability and identity as a result of illness, and those navigating feelings of grief and loss for a loved one.I have my own deep experiences of loss and grief, both health and death related, that set me on the path to this vocation. Since then, I have accumulated numerous years of experience in supporting the dying and their bereaved loved ones. I have trained extensively and been accredited though the International Coaching Federation. In developing this specialism, I have trained further in Compassion Focused Therapy, with a particular emphasis on Grief and Loss applications. Additionally, I trained with The Samaritans and CRUSE Bereavement in supporting people through distress and grief.Alongside being a professional coach, I have worked for a number of years as a Buddhist Healthcare Chaplain in major teaching hospitals and hospice, and bring this experience as a way of being calmly present with and serving a person’s individual needs, from whatever background.The contemplation of our own vulnerability or mortality, or the bereavement of someone close to us are often shattering and profoundly life-altering experiences. I work with these sensitively and compassionately to help you understand and come to terms with the very deep and often overwhelming emotions and distress that can accompany these experiences.It can feel impossible to find the words to express the depth of loss and sadness we feel, for the individual who is dying or has died, but also our own sense of who we really are and the altered relationship that still continues. This calls for a particular kind of deep listening and care. Contemplating illness, death and dying or experiencing grief and loss are unique to the individual, whatever similarities or many models that offer broad explanation. I work alongside you, with regard to your individual circumstances and relationships, and have been witness to the relief and resilience that can result from straightforward but compassionate accompaniment.I am based in the UK and work in person, outdoors in nature, and also online, wherever you are in the world. Most of my clients come to me through referral, but please get in touch if you would like to explore working together and to check availability.Get in touch

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