Philippa Perry: “I could not wait to grow up.”

Before she became one of Britain’s most trusted psychotherapists and writers, Philippa Perry had already lived many different lives: boarding school child, dyslexic misfit, debt collector, McDonald’s manager, art student, Samaritan volunteer and a blooming therapist.

In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with Philippa to trace the winding path behind her public voice on relationships, parenting and emotional life - from a childhood shaped by emotional restraint, class anxiety and the sense of never quite being seen, to the books, ideas and experiences that helped her begin to understand herself.

Philippa reflects on growing up in a materially comfortable but emotionally limited world, being sent away to boarding school, and the long-lasting effects of feeling misunderstood both at home and at school. She describes how reading, work and sheer curiosity opened up new ways of seeing people- and how her early jobs, from tracing debtors in Oxford to managing staff at McDonald’s, taught her as much about human nature as any formal training.

They discuss class, confidence and social mobility; the hidden damage of criticism and the transformative power of kindness; why so many therapists are trying to make sense of their own lives; and how motherhood changed Philippa’s understanding of what a child needs in order to feel safe, known and loved.

Funny, searching and deeply moving, this is a conversation about childhood, reinvention, emotional survival and the lifelong work of becoming yourself.

Find out more about Shrink Solves Murder by Philippa Perry here

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