A 70-YEAR-OLD bereavement counsellor from Kirkbymoorside has achieved a PhD in the subject after six years of part-time research.

Dr John Wilson, who spent his time researching bereavement counselling at York St John University, was recently awarded his PhD at a ceremony in York Minster.

Dr Wilson said he wanted to thank his colleagues at Saint Catherine’s bereavement support service for their support, as well as the bereaved clients who anonymously allowed their stories to be used in the research.

He said: “It was six years of very hard work, and an awful lot of reading and writing, but without the selfless generosity of clients who trusted me with their tragic stories, none of this would have been achieved.”

John, who is author of a book on bereavement counselling, is continuing to do research at York St John University so that counsellors worldwide are able to provide better support for bereaved people.