Philippa Perry is a psychotherapist and writer who has written for the Guardian, the Observer, Time Out and Healthy Living magazine and has a column in Psychologies. In 2010 she wrote the graphic novel Couch Fiction, in an attempt to demystify psychotherapy. She is the author of bestselling The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did). She lives in London and Sussex with her husband, the artist Grayson Perry, and enjoys gardening, cooking, parties, walking, tweeting and watching telly.

The School of Life is a London-based enterprise that is dedicated to the most useful ideas relevant to the dilemmas of everyday life. We consider questions like: How can we fulfil our potential? Can work be inspiring? Why does community matter? Can relationships last a lifetime? We don’t have all the answers, but we will direct you towards a variety of useful ideas – from philosophy to literature, psychology to the visual arts – that are guaranteed to stimulate, provoke, nourish and console.