Philippa, Lady Perry ( Fairclough; born 1957), is a British

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

and author. She has written the graphic novel ''Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy'' (2010), ''How to Stay Sane'' (2012), and ''The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did)'' (2019).

Early life

Lady Perry was born in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. Her mother's family owned a cotton mill and her father inherited a civil engineering company and a farm. She suffered from

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

and was educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls and at a Swiss

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wit ...

where she learnt to ski. She worked as a litigation clerk, an enquiry agent, and a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

employee. She went to Middlesex Polytechnic where she gained a degree in

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

as a mature student.

Work

In 1985 she trained and volunteered for the

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; he, שומרונים, translit=Šōmrōnīm, lit=; ar, السامريون, translit=as-Sāmiriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group who originate from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samarit ...

, after which she trained as a psychotherapist. Perry worked in the mental health field for 20 years, 10 in private practice, before being published. From 2010 she spent time on the faculty of

The School of Life The School of Life is an educational company that offers advice on life issues. It was founded in 2008 and has branches in London (headquarters), Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul, Paris, São Paulo, and Taipei. The company offers a variety of educ ...

, but she has subsequently discontinued this. She had a regular column about psychotherapy in '' Psychologies Magazine'' for two years; in September 2013 she became ''Red Magazines

agony aunt An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

. She also works as a freelance journalist specialising in psychology and was an occasional presenter for ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...

'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. Perry has presented various documentaries including: ''Sex Lies and Lovebites: The Agony Aunt Story'' (

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

); ''Being Bipolar'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

); ''The Truth About Children Who Lie'' (

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

); and ''The Great British Sex Survey'' (

). In 2010 the academic publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, published Perry's book, ''Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy''. 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 Andrew Samuels (born 19 January 1949) is a British psychotherapist and writer on political and social themes from a psychological viewpoint. He has worked with politicians, political organisations, activist groups and members of the public in Eu ...

. Perry is a monthly Agony Aunt for ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'' magazine, and since Sunday 20 June 2021, for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

''.

Politics

In April 2016 Perry announced her support for the Women's Equality Party.

Publications

Books

*''Couch Fiction: a Graphic Tale of psychotherapy.'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. With an afterword by

. *''How to Stay Sane.'' The School of Life Self Help Series. Pan Macmillan, 2012. Edited by

Alain de Botton Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993), w ...

. *''The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did).'' London:

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

, 2019.

Articles

*
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* * * *

Personal life

She is married to the artist Sir Grayson Perry, and they have a daughter,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, 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". 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".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Philippa Living people 1957 births British psychotherapists British graphic novelists British comics artists English writers Psychology writers People educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls Alumni of Middlesex University English women novelists The School of Life people Women's Equality Party people British female comics artists Female comics writers British advice columnists British women columnists Wives of knights