Philippa Perry

Philippa, Lady Perry
Born
Philippa Fairclough

(1957-11-01) 1 November 1957 (age 66)
Warrington, Cheshire, England
Alma materMiddlesex Polytechnic
Occupation(s)Psychotherapy, journalism
WorksHow to Stay Sane
SpouseSir Grayson Perry
ChildrenFlo Perry

Philippa, Lady Perry (née Fairclough; born 1 November 1957), is a British integrative psychotherapist and author.

She has written the graphic novel Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy (2010),[1] How to Stay Sane (2012),[2] The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) (2019). The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read *(and maybe a few you don't) (2023).

Early life

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Lady Perry was born in Warrington, Cheshire. Her mother's family owned a cotton mill and her father inherited a civil engineering company and a farm. She was educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls[3] and at a Swiss finishing school where she learnt to ski.[4][5]

She worked as a litigation clerk, an enquiry agent, and a McDonald's employee. She went to Middlesex Polytechnic where she gained a degree in Fine Art as a mature student.[6]

Work

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In 1985 she trained and volunteered for the Samaritans, after which she trained as a psychotherapist, and was a member of the UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners. Perry worked in the mental health field for 20 years, 10 in private practice, before being published.[4] From 2010 she spent time on the faculty of The School of Life, but she has subsequently discontinued this.[7][8]

She had a regular column about psychotherapy in Psychologies Magazine[9] for two years; in September 2013 she became Red Magazine's agony aunt.[10] She also works as a freelance journalist specialising in psychology and was an occasional presenter for The Culture Show on BBC Two.

Perry has presented various documentaries including: Sex, Lies and Lovebites: The Agony Aunt Story (BBC Four);[11] Being Bipolar (Channel 4);[12] The Truth About Children Who Lie (BBC Radio 4);[13] and The Great British Sex Survey (Channel 4).[14]

In 2010 the academic publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, published Perry's book, Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy.[1] It is a graphic novel that tells a tale of a psychotherapist and her client, from both their perspectives. Underneath the graphic novel boxes, Perry takes the position of commentator and provides footnotes on what might be going on between them and what theories the therapist is drawing on or should be drawing on. There is an afterword by Andrew Samuels.

Perry is a monthly agony aunt for Red magazine[10] and, since June 2021, for The Observer.[15] She appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in November 2019. Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A swarm of fruit flies".[16]

Politics

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Publications

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Books

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  • Couch Fiction: a Graphic Tale of psychotherapy. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. With an afterword by Andrew Samuels.
  • How to Stay Sane. The School of Life Self Help Series. Pan Macmillan, 2012. Edited by Alain de Botton.[2][17]
  • The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did). London: Penguin, 2019.[18]
  • The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read *and maybe a few don't Cornerstone Press, 2023.
Dr Lady Philippa Perry

Articles

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  • Perry, Philippa (2007). "Working with dissociation". The British Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 4 (2). Palgrave Macmillan: 29–42. ISSN 1759-0000. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Preview.
  • Perry, Philippa (2009). "Relational marketing?". The British Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 6 (2). Palgrave Macmillan: 47–51. ISSN 1759-0000. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Preview.
  • Perry, Philippa (18 January 2011). "How to be happy: a psychotherapst's view". The Guardian.
  • Perry, Philippa (2 May 2010). "Ideas for modern living: chemistry". The Guardian.
  • Perry, Philippa (23 February 2012). "Gender and the tyranny of the normal". The Guardian.
  • Perry, Philippa (3 April 2012). "Why children kill their parents". The Guardian.

Personal life

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She is married to the artist Sir Grayson Perry, and they have a daughter, Florence, born in 1992. The Perrys live in London. She has often been asked what it is like being married to a transvestite and says, "Being the wife of a trannie is great, he always makes me look fantastic".[19] When asked the same question by a Buckingham Palace press officer when the Perrys went to a reception there in 2005, she said, "As obsessions go, it's better than football".[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b Perry, Philippa (2010). Couch fiction: a graphic tale of psychotherapy. Junko Gratt (illustrator). Hampshire, England New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230366220.
  2. ^ a b Perry, Philippa (2013). How to stay sane. New York: Picador. ISBN 9781250030641.
  3. ^ Facebook page, accessed 9 November 2020
  4. ^ a b Cooke, Rachel (18 April 2010). "I love Susie Orbach and Harvey Pekar comics – so I wrote Couch Fiction, a comic book about psychotherapy". The Observer. London. p. 13.
  5. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live, Philippa Perry". BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  6. ^ Randall, L. (30 April 2010). "Interview: Philippa Perry - Writer". The Scotsman. Edinburgh.
  7. ^ "About us". theschooloflife.com. School of Life. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  8. ^ "Faculty". The School of Life Global. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  9. ^ Perry, Philippa (16 May 2012). "Twitter chat: your mother and you". Psychologies Magazine. Lagardère Active.
  10. ^ a b Gilchrist, Hannah (2 September 2013). "Tell us your dilemmas". Red (magazine). Hearst.
  11. ^ Philippa Perry (presenter) (6 May 2016). Sex Lies and Lovebites (Television). BBC Four. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  12. ^ Philippa Perry (presenter) (4 March 2015). Being BiPolar (Television). Channel 4. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  13. ^ Philippa Perry (presenter) (23 August 2016). The Truth About Children Who Lie (Television). BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  14. ^ Philippa Perry (presenter) and Goedele Liekens (presenter) (25 February 2016). The Great British Sex Survey (Television). Channel 4. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  15. ^ Perry, Philippa. "Ask Philippa: meet the Observer's brilliant new agony aunt". Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Gallery 14 - Room Six". qi.com. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  17. ^ Page, Benedicte (6 April 2011). "Alain de Botton launches series of 'philosophical' self-help books". The Guardian. London.
  18. ^ "Philippa Perry: The most important thing for parents to know". Financial Times. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  19. ^ Wynne Jones, Ros (13 December 2003). "Grayson Perry on cross dressing and happiness as "Britain's pre-eminent transvestite"". Daily Mirror.
  20. ^ Macdonald, Marianne (16 February 2005). "Just a sweet transvestite". Daily Telegraph. London.
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