Phillip Hodson (born April 1946 in Bedfordshire) 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 ...

, broadcaster and author who popularised ‘phone-in’ therapy in his role as Britain's first 'agony uncle'. His afternoon and evening counselling programmes ran on

LBC Radio LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

in London for nearly 20 years. Thereafter he worked on

Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

and with Jimmy Young on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

Television

He was a regular children's counsellor on BBC1 for six years with ''

Saturday Superstore ''Saturday Superstore'' is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1982 to 18 April 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin, and John Craven. The ...

'' and ''

Going Live! ''Going Live!'' was a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 26 September 1987 to 17 April 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Annabel Giles, Phillip ...

'' presented by

Sarah Greene Elizabeth Sarah Greene (born 24 October 1957) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented ''Blue Peter'' from May 1980 until June 1983, and hosted the Saturday-morning series '' Saturday Superstore'' and ''Going Live!''. E ...

and

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holl ...

, where he was noted for addressing serious juvenile concerns not normally treated on children's television, and for his fine line in chunky knitted jumpers bearing animal designs. Hodson also worked on BBC1 Daytime with Dr Miriam Stoppard for three years dealing with problem phone calls besides psycho-analysing celebrities. He also filled the agony slots in the first years of both TV-Am and GMTV. Hodson co-presented TV South's afternoon ''

Problem Page An advice column is a Column (periodical), 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. ...

'' for five years and was subsequently given his own interview chat show '' Hodson Confidential''. This ran for three series, and was networked several times. He has also made several documentaries including films for Newsnight on subjects ranging from scandal-prone politicians to whether therapy is replacing religion.

Journalism

"Hodson is one of the few regular contributors to The Times who has also written extensively for the popular press including agony pages for Reveille, The Daily Star, Today and the News of the World. His column also appeared in She Magazine, Woman's World, Cosmopolitan, First Magazine (USA), Family Circle, Fast Forward, TV Quick, Oklahoma Magazine, Woman and Home and Woman's Journal. Hodson won a ‘columnist of the year’ in 1984. He has been an outspoken critic of the ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude of male conservatism - clashing, amongst others, with the sociologist Frank Furedi.

Books, academic and psychotherapy work

Hodson has written 13 books mainly on sex and relationships but also covering the operas of Wagner. His most important is probably ''Men: An Investigation into the Emotional Male'', which accompanied a BBC TV series in one of the first male engagements with the challenges of feminism. He has also taught psychology at graduate level and made training films for Video Arts Ltd about using counselling techniques in the workplace, also winning several industry awards. In addition to his psychotherapy practice, Hodson has been chief spokesperson for the

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) is a professional body for counsellors and psychotherapists practising in the United Kingdom. History Originally founded in 1977 as the British Association for Counselling, aide ...

since 2000. Phillip Hodson has been ‘happily unmarried’ to

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

Anne Hooper Anne Hooper (born 1941) is a British sex therapist and author, who pioneered therapy groups for women with sex problems in the 1970s and 1980s and who wrote UK newspaper columns on the subject of human sexuality in the 1990s. Books Since be ...

for over 30 years with whom he has a son Alex Hooper-Hodson and two stepsons, Barnaby and Joel Levy. All three work in the media, Alex being author of teen guide to life 'The Boy Files' published by Wayland Books as well as the weekly columnist for the ''Daily Records 'Teen Talk'. Alex was also the agony uncle of ''Sugar'' magazine for six years until the magazine's cancellation in 2010, as well as writing ''Sex Talk With Alex'' - also for the '' Daily Record''.

Notes

External links

''Debrett's People of Today''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodson, Phillip 1946 births Living people People from Bedfordshire British columnists British psychotherapists