Yorkshire psychotherapist launches new firm inspired by battle with chronic fatigue syndrome

A Yorkshire psychotherapist has launched a new business coaching firm inspired by her years of battling with chronic fatigue syndrome, also called ME.
Michael Crossland
By Michael Crossland
Published 2nd Oct 2023, 16:45 BST
Updated 2nd Oct 2023, 16:45 BST

Gemma Wardell has launched training firm Human Brilliance with the aim of working with individuals and organisations to help them overcome challenges and “unleash their potential”.

Ms Wardell’s ordeal came out of the blue and began with pain, fatigue and other physical symptoms.

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She said: “My illness started with a virus which couldn’t be pinned down easily. It developed through chronic conditions, creating more stress and anxiety because of my inability to do anything about it.

Pictures of Gemma Wardell, who has launched her new business Human Brilliance at The Deep Business Centre in Hull. Picture by Karl Andre Smit.Pictures of Gemma Wardell, who has launched her new business Human Brilliance at The Deep Business Centre in Hull. Picture by Karl Andre Smit.
Pictures of Gemma Wardell, who has launched her new business Human Brilliance at The Deep Business Centre in Hull. Picture by Karl Andre Smit.

“The first couple of years were horrendous and people were telling me I would not recover and would end up in a wheelchair. There were times when I thought that was it and things wouldn’t get any better. The whole journey to recovery was about eight to ten years.”

“Eventually I just completely crashed. I was housebound for about 18 months, I spent time in hospital and in an isolation unit well before Covid. It was thought I had a tropical disease but it was a virus that started to affect my body. Because I’m stubborn and thought I was invincible, I kept pushing and pushing in an attempt to overcome my symptoms, and was eventually diagnosed with ME.”

During her slow recovery Ms Wardell started to study psychology and trained in neurolinguistic programming, therapeutic and health coaching, transactional analysis, counselling, and psychotherapy. She is an accredited psychotherapist with a passion for organisational psychology.

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During her time as a director of a community interest company, Ms Wardell set up and led services which worked with the NHS, local authorities and charities to help people who had similar medical conditions.

Ms Wardell made her first big career move by joining the catering team at The Deep more than 20 years ago has now returned to launch her own business at the adjacent The Deep Business Centre. She spent five years at the award-winning aquarium, where she eventually took a role which would see her take charge of catering.

She added: “I called it Human Brilliance because humans are truly brilliant – through my work, I have witnessed many people overcoming challenges and adversity in the most amazing ways.”

Related topics:YorkshireNHS