Philippa, Lady Perry ( Fairclough; born 1 November 1957), is a British integrative

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

and author. She has written the graphic novel ''Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy'' (2010), ''How to Stay Sane'' (2012), ''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

Lady Perry was born in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. Her mother's family owned a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

and her father inherited a civil engineering company and a farm. She 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 the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

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

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

employee. She went to

Middlesex Polytechnic Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

where she gained a degree in

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

as a mature student.

Work

In 1985 she trained and volunteered for the

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

, 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. From 2010 she spent time on the faculty of The School of Life, 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. She also works as a freelance journalist specialising in psychology and was an occasional presenter for '' The Culture Show'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

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

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

); 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. 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 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

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

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. She appeared on

's ''

The Museum of Curiosity ''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (producer), John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent Unive ...

'' in November 2019. Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A swarm of fruit flies".

Publications

Books

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

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

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

, 2019. *''The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read *and maybe a few don't'' Cornerstone Press, 2023. PhilippaPerry1

Articles

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Personal life

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

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. 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". When asked the same question by a

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

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 Alumni of Middlesex University British advice columnists British comics artists British female comics artists British graphic novelists British psychotherapists British women columnists English women novelists English writers British female comics writers People educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls Psychology writers The School of Life people Wives of knights Women's Equality Party people The Observer people Writers from Warrington