Philippa Perry

Philippa Perry was born in Warrington, Cheshire. Her mother's family owned a cotton mill and her father inherited an engineering company and a farm. She was educated at Abbots Bromley School for Girls[3] and at a Swiss finishing school.[4]

She worked as a litigation clerk, an enquiry agent, and a McDonald's employee. She went to Middlesex Polytechnic where she gained a degree in Fine Art as a mature student.[5]

In 1985 she trained and volunteered for the Samaritans, after which she trained as a psychotherapist. Perry worked in the mental health field for 20 years, ten in private practice, before being published.[4] In 2010 she joined the faculty of the School of Life.[6]

She had a regular column about psychotherapy in Psychologies Magazine[7] for two years; in September 2013 she became Red Magazine's agony aunt.[8] She also works as a freelance journalist specialising in psychology and was an occasional presenter for The Culture Show on BBC Two.

Perry has presented various documentaries including: Sex Lies and Lovebites: The Agony Aunt Story (BBC Four);[9] Being BiPolar (Channel 4);[10] The Truth About Children Who Lie (BBC Radio 4);[11] and The Great British Sex Survey (Channel 4).[12]

In 2010 the academic publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, published Perry's book, Couch Fiction: a Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy.[1] 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 magazine.[8]

In April 2016 Perry announced her support for the Women's Equality Party.[13]

She is married to artist Grayson Perry, and they have a daughter, 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".[16] When asked the same question by a Buckingham Palace Press Officer when the Perrys went to a reception there in 2005, she said, "As obsessions go, it's better than football".[17]