Paul Atkinson is a psychotherapist in independent practice in East London. He has been navigating the intersection of psychotherapy and political activism since the early 1970s, with many spells of apathy, despair and watching telly. He has chaired two psychoanalytic training organizations, helped found the Free Psychotherapy Network and the campaign for Universal Access to Counselling and Psychotherapy (uACT). He provides free open-ended psychotherapy at his local community centre in Poplar and is a convener of Mental Health Action. He has six grandchildren.