Joshua Fletcher

This week, we are catching up with former student, Joshua Fletcher, who has recently launched his new book ‘And How Does That Make You Feel? Everything You (N)ever Wanted To Know About Therapy’.

Now a successful psychotherapist, ‘anxietyjosh’ has a huge following on social media, the book has already made Amazon’s Top 100, and he has been featured on the front page of The Times and had a piece in the Guardian and The Mail on Sunday. Joshua has also been a guest on Richard Hammond’s podcast and will soon be on Dr Alex George’s Stompcast.

Never forgetting his roots, Josh, who also attended Westleigh High School, contacted college to tell us more about his journey to success and to reach out to current students.

Josh said:

‘I was a student at Winstanley from 2005-2007 (wow that's a long time ago) and I loved my time there. I studied for A-levels in Economics, Drama and Maths before progressing to Bath Spa University where I completed a degree in Education Studies and Drama.

It was from there I decided to move into psychology and focus on building a carer in therapy and helping others. Events in my past and my own anxieties through life were also inspiration for taking this route. I studied for an MSc in Counselling Psychology at Keele University and that started me on the path to where I am today.

I work as a therapist in my practice in Manchester, and offer online therapy through my website www.schoolofanxiety.com.  I have also been very busy the past few months working on my book, which is going really well.

Joshua’s advice to students thinking ahead to the future is: ‘Strike the right balance between encouraging yourself to do well, but going easy on yourself when you need a break. You are not defined by your grades, but your intentions and effort. I loved my time at Winstanley and made lifelong friends during my time there.’