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- 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
