SOPEOPLE
CORTherapy
Psychotherapy for executives, founders, and People professionals.
This isn't coaching and it doesn't produce action plans or performance goals. What it gives you is a private, confidential space to look at what's actually going on - in how you work, how you lead, how you relate to people, and what you're carrying that you might not have had the space to put down.
You don't have to be in crisis to seek therapy; many clients come because something isn't quite right and they want to understand it properly, not just manage around it.
WHO I WORK WITH
I work with people in demanding roles, typically executives, partners, founders, senior directors and senior people professionals. What they tend to have in common isn't a problem, per se; it's more often a level of pressure, complexity and visibility that most support structures aren't designed for. It's also often a recognition that the things getting in the way aren't about skill or knowledge, they're about something underneath that. This work takes varying amounts of time, depends on consistency, and requires a different pace to the norm.
If you want structured development with clear outputs, coaching is probably the more appropriate choice. If you want to actually understand something, CORTherapy might be.
People come for two quite different reasons and both are equally valid.
Mental Maintenance
Some people use therapy the way others use regular exercise. Not because something is 'broken', but perhaps because staying well takes active effort and they've decided to take that seriously.
For people carrying significant responsibility, having a private space to think clearly and be honest without consequence is genuinely useful.
Therapy used this way tends to be long-term and open-ended.
Working something through
Others come with something specific.
A transition that's harder than expected. A relationship at work or at home that keeps not going the way they want it to. A pattern they keep noticing in themselves. A period of burnout or strain they want to understand, not just recover from. A significant change - in role, in circumstances, in identity - that needs more than a few coaching sessions to process.
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
All sessions are fifty minutes, held weekly. The right length of engagement depends on what you're bringing.
Short-term work
Usually between 6 and 12 sessions working through some defined or semi-defined focus areas. Useful when you're navigating something specific (a significant transition, a particular relationship, a period of strain) and want structured support over a bounded timeframe.
We'd agree a focus at the outset and review at the end.
Short-term therapy doesn't always go as deep as long-term work, but it can be genuinely useful and some people find it's exactly what they need.
Long-term work
Typically 20 sessions and more.
Open-ended work without a fixed endpoint, essentially.
This is where the deeper patterns become visible and where lasting change tends to happen. Long-term therapy works well both for people who are working through something substantial and for people who use it as an ongoing resource - the maintenance model described above. The ending is agreed collaboratively when the time feels right, not imposed by a fixed contract.
Whichever mode you choose to engage initially, we'd start with a single, free introductory conversation of around 30 minutes before committing to anything. The point of that is for both of us to get a sense of whether this is the right fit. It usually becomes clear fairly quickly.
Sessions are held online or in person, depending on availability; we'd agree that at the outset. I work in London and see in-person clients in and around central London and West London (Ealing/Brentford).
CONFIDENTIALITY GUARANTEE
I am very aware of the discretion needed in many people's cases and confidentiality is core to my practice. Everything said in sessions is confidential. There are no reports, no outputs, and nothing is shared - including with any organisation that might be funding the work. For ethical and legal reasons some disclosures may be necessary; we will discuss this as part of our contracting process at the start of any engagement.
CLINICAL QUALITY GUARANTEE
Sessions may occasionally be recorded for training, clinical quality and supervision purposes, as is required under my professional ongoing training and development. I will always ask for your explicit consent before recording and you are free to decline or withdraw consent at any time. Any recordings are used only within my clinical supervision relationship and are stored and deleted securely.
All my client work is conducted under regular clinical supervision with an impressively experienced and knowledgeable clinician. This is an ethical requirement of my training and professional body registration, and it means there is always an experienced, qualified practitioner overseeing the quality of my work.
PROFESSIONAL REGULATION
I am a Trainee Registered member of the UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy), completing my MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy in 2028. My practice is conducted within UKCP's ethical framework and professional guidelines throughout my training period.
YOUR INVESTMENT
Your financial investment will be £70, reflecting both my professional background and the high quality of my training. I am currently unable to accept insurance policy payments.
I am deeply committed to making mental health support accessible, so if the listed investment is not possible for you, we may be able to discuss ways to seek funding (e.g. through your employer) and I do have a select number of lower-cost sessions. I also accept pay-it-forward arrangements, subject to terms and conditions.
_edited.jpg)
Hi, I’m Dean.
For most of my career, I worked with leaders in their professional worlds. Over time, I noticed something important; the challenges that appeared organisational on the surface were often deeply personal underneath. Anxiety was often hiding underneath perfectionism or micromanagement, achievement was often masking uncertainty, and success was being accompanied by disconnection.
Leaders who could navigate extraordinary complexity at work, were finding themselves asking difficult questions about meaning, identity, relationships, or who they were beyond the role they occupied.
CORTherapy by SOPEOPLE was born from that observation. Alongside my work as a Coaching Psychologist, Fractional CPO and organisational/People consultant, I am a practice-approved integrative psychotherapist-in-training, registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy. My practice is designed specifically for leaders, founders, executives, and high performers who require a space that sits entirely outside the demands of their professional lives. It is also built for those working in the People profession; I know how hard the fight can be to do great work while keeping your emotional wellbeing in balance.
This is not coaching with a clinical label. Psychotherapy offers a confidential, reflective space where we explore the patterns, experiences, relationships, assumptions, and emotional realities that shape how you lead, live, and relate to yourself and others. The work is thoughtful, rigorous, and can be uncomfortable in the ways meaningful change tends to be.
My clients are not looking for optimisation, they save that for my coaching practice. When we work out that Executive Therapy is more appropriate for them, it's usually because they're looking for true understanding.
Beneath every role, title, achievement, and responsibility sits a person, and sometimes that person deserves a room of their own.