About The Harbour
People in Bristol and the surrounding areas have a safe space to talk and be listened to as they face death, dying and bereavement
Our story
We’ve been helping people cope with grief and loss since 1992. Our counsellors are uniquely experienced in dealing with experiences relating to life-threatening illness.
Through counselling, our clients confront their most uncomfortable emotions about death, dying and bereavement, feelings that can be difficult to share with family and friends.
We work with individuals, couples and groups. But we always remember that everyone who comes through our door is different and experiences loss or imminent death in their own way.
Community Outreach
Over the past 3 years we have worked hard to facilitate access to our service to adults that are not traditional users of therapy services and would not be able to afford non-NHS fee-paying counselling providers.
Through outreach we are working in communities where unmet support needs and barriers to access are greatest. We take a ‘biopsychosocial’ approach, recognising how physical health, psychological wellbeing, and social circumstances interact, helping us understand the complexity of people’s lives.
As part of this programme of development we now offer our counselling services from community hubs in South and North Bristol, with further provision in the East of the City planned for 2026.
Grief education workplace support
When it comes to death, dying and grief, many of us struggle to talk. Grief education helps build emotional resilience, supports wellbeing, and creates space for compassionate conversations in the workplace. We work closely with you to identify your team’s needs and provide tailored training and support.
“It struck me that death is a part of everyone’s journey, and yet however close and collaborative we are in the day to day at work, when it comes to death we don’t know what to say. This partnership has helped us start talking” (Barratt Homes Bristol)
For more information fill out the form below. We’ll then get in touch to talk about your team’s needs.
What clients have said
You have helped me find a path forward in my life, which felt totally impossible only a few months ago.
I understand it is not just the person diagnosed with cancer suffering it also has a tsunami affect on the family members too. The space allows me to express my darkest fears, which alleviates much of the weight, pain and my reluctance to look at death. I can’t imagine what I would do without the sessions.
I feel that I may have just got what is left of my life back. Many, many thanks. My counsellor was brilliant, really helped me work through stuff.
The Harbour was founded in 1992 by Jill Brown to work with people diagnosed with HIV and Aids, at a time when this was likely to be life limiting.
“The thing about counselling is everyone is unique, and their experience of grief is shaped by their own history and capacity to express feelings. Even their willingness to face the facts about death. But if they can talk about it, it doesn’t just help them by reducing the fear, it helps their family and everyone else around them. Breaking the silence around death can help countless people.” (Jill Brown, founder of The Harbour.)