Dr James Costello

Qualifications:

BSc(Hons), PGDip Counselling, MSc (Psychotherapy), PhD, CChem, Registered Member MBACP (Accredited), BACP Senior Accredited Supervisor (Groups)

Position:

Senior Lecturer

Department:

College of Health, Science and SocietyHAS - Applied Sciences

Telephone:

+441173282490

Email:

James.Costello@uwe.ac.uk

Social media:

About me

I am a Senior Lecturer, researcher, author and accredited psychotherapist working across philosophy, psychotherapy, health sciences and professional practice. My research explores lived experience, human understanding, professional judgement and care, particularly where established explanatory frameworks encounter their limits.

Originally trained as a chemist, I completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Professor Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, who went on to receive the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I subsequently undertook research at the University of Oxford and was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, held at UWE Bristol. My scientific research has encompassed organic and organometallic chemistry, sustainable aviation fuels and industrial innovation, resulting in peer-reviewed publications, patented technology and collaborative research partnerships.

My research and innovation portfolio encompasses ca. £880,000 in funding across academic and industrial projects, including support from EPSRC, Innovate UK and HEFCE. This includes an EPSRC-supported collaboration between UWE Bristol, Airbus and the University of Bristol.

Current research in philosophy and psychotherapy draws on phenomenology, hermeneutics and relational approaches to human experience. I am author of Workplace Wellbeing: A Relational Approach (Routledge, 2020) and Philosophical Foundations of Psychotherapy: Radical Relationality (Routledge, 2025). My third monograph, Entwined Selves: Relational Encounter in Psychotherapy, co-authored with Niall Keane, is in press with Routledge.

Current collaborative research with Niall Keane examines therapeutic encounter, the limits of reflective self-understanding and the ethical significance of responsibility and care. Our article, When Reflection Is Not Enough: Rogers’ Conditions and the Discipline of Therapeutic Encounter, is accepted for publication in Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies. A further paper, When Structural Intelligibility Is Not Enough, is under revision at the International Journal of Philosophical Studies.

I lead a HEIF-funded qualitative study investigating the lived experience of chronic insomnia. This research forms part of a broader interest in bringing philosophical and empirical approaches into dialogue to understand health, wellbeing and lived experience.

For many years, I have contributed to the education, training and supervision of counselling and psychotherapy practitioners, including teaching and programme leadership on the MA Counselling and Psychotherapy and contributions to doctoral-level professional education. This longstanding involvement in professional formation is complemented by more than two decades of clinical, supervisory and organisational practice across NHS services, the voluntary sector, private practice and higher education. I am a BACP-accredited psychotherapist with specialist accreditation in clinical supervision, having originally been awarded Senior Accreditation in Group Supervision in 2019.

My professional experience also extends to organisational consultancy and the facilitation of reflective practice for practitioners and teams working in complex and demanding environments, including the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the UK COVID-19 Inquiry. These experiences continue to inform my teaching, research and philosophical engagement with the practical, ethical and relational demands of professional life.

I am Programme Leader for UWE Bristol's new BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science, leading the development of an interdisciplinary curriculum integrating applied science, movement, health and wellbeing across the lifespan.

Across my research, teaching and professional practice, I seek to connect scientific, philosophical and experiential approaches to deepen understanding of human experience, professional responsibility and care.

For further reflections on philosophy, psychotherapy and professional life, alongside my publications, current projects and consultancy, visit jamescostello.uk.

Area of expertise

Philosophy, Phenomenology and Hermeneutics

• Relational philosophy, philosophical hermeneutics and phenomenological inquiry
• Philosophy of psychotherapy, therapeutic encounter and human understanding
• Professional ethics, responsibility, care and judgement under uncertainty

Qualitative and Interdisciplinary Research

• Phenomenologically informed interviewing and interpretive qualitative analysis
• Lived experience of insomnia, health and wellbeing
• Integration of philosophical, empirical and practice-based inquiry
• Interdisciplinary research design and knowledge exchange

Psychotherapy and Professional Practice

• Counselling and psychotherapy, clinical practice and therapeutic relationships
• Specialist clinical supervision, individual and group supervision, and reflective practice
• Postgraduate counselling and psychotherapy education, professional training and practitioner development
• Organisational wellbeing, leadership and professional judgement
• Consultancy and reflective practice in complex institutional settings, including UK Government inquiries

Scientific Research and Innovation

• Organic and organometallic chemistry, stereochemistry and conformational analysis
• Sustainable aviation fuels, fuel additives and industrial innovation
• Externally funded research and academic–industry collaboration

Academic and Programme Leadership

• Postgraduate professional education, curriculum development and programme leadership
• Interdisciplinary curriculum design integrating scientific, philosophical and practice-based approaches
• Sport and exercise science, movement, preventative health and wellbeing
• Research-informed teaching, professional formation and the development of reflective practitioners

Publications

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