Dr James Costello

• Qualifications:BSc(Hons), PGDip Counselling, MSc (Counselling & Psychotherapy), Doctor of Philosophy, Registered Member MBACP (Accredited), BACP Senior Accredited Supervisor (Groups)
• Position:Senior Lecturer
• Telephone:+4411732 82490
• Email:James.Costello@uwe.ac.uk

About me

I am a psychotherapy practitioner, supervisor, author, scholar, and consultant.  I started-out in the natural sciences with a PhD contributing to the 2016 Chemistry Nobel Prize. This was followed by Research Fellowships at the University of Oxford, and the Leverhulme Trust.

I am a Registered Accredited member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, and a Senior Accredited Supervisor specialising in Groups.

I am proud of my research into carer's experiences of perinatal depression – for which I was awarded an MSc – because it significantly enhanced local NHS mental health provision.

I had the privilege of working with the safeguarding team on the historic Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

I am currently directed by the Cabinet Office in a similar role with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

My previous book: Workplace Wellbeing - A Relational Approach (Routledge 2020) is, put simply:

"a must for anyone interested in workplace wellbeing" (Therapy Today, Feb 2021).

My next book….

Philosophical Foundations of Counselling & Psychotherapy – A Relational Approach

Will be published next year as part of the Routledge: Advances in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology series.

Area of expertise

My expertise as a therapist working one-to-one and with groups comes from over twenty years practice across a range of settings:

• Private (I am co-founder of the mental health consultancy Born Human);
• Third (i.e., Bluebell Care, Dementia Care Trust, and Kinergy), along with
• Public (i.e., The Home Office, The Cabinet Office, HEIs, and NHS Counselling Services) sectors.

Having spent over a decade as a Trade Union Case Worker, I actively promoted workplace wellbeing through the practice of embedded counselling skills culminating in the recent publication of my book: Workplace Wellbeing.

To find out more, read my interview with BACP Workplace, check-out my podcast with Dr Rachel Morris about gaslighting, or watch me on ITV's flagship documentary Tonight (Series 24 Episode 20). 

I am an extremely experienced teacher, trainer and research supervisor contributing to all levels of Counselling & Psychotherapy as well as having a diverse, stimulating and often complementary portfolio in the natural sciences.

My leadership experience in education spans both FE (Head of Department), and HE.  I am a University Teaching Fellow and an experienced external examiner, having been awarded numerous teaching awards from the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a HEFC STEM Teaching Fellowship.

Publications

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