Dr Anne Augustine MBA (Oxon), MA, AFHEA
process researcher, facilitator, and gestalt psychotherapist
York, and online
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I am an independent process researcher, facilitator, and a psychotherapist in private practice. These roles are informed by feminist pragmatism, critical post humanism, post qualitative inquiry, moral philosophy, and relational gestalt theory and practice. This website foregrounds my work as a researcher and facilitator.
My research interests include the philosophical influences on gestalt therapy and processes of relating and be(com)ing, love and caring in practice, relational dynamics within organisational processes (such as change), ethics and aesthetics in dialogic encounters, inclusive menopause and ageing, climate emotions, belonging and difference.
I am experienced in facilitating reflexive strategy and change conversations with diverse organisational teams and leadership groups, socio-ecological community mobilisation, climate distress and grief tending, and inclusive menopause.
My career has been an ongoing (and often uncomfortable) process of discovering and aligning with my values and purpose, around making a difference. I worked for over 15 years in the IT services industry followed by 10 years in sustainable development. I worked internationally as a consultant, programme manager, vice president, board member, and advisor. My work spanned boundaries, whether they were functional, organisational, sectoral, cultural, or geographic. It was not the trajectory I imagined for myself when I was growing up, but these roles, the people I worked with, and the messy – and sometimes wicked – challenges that were being faced (or not) gave me an enduring excitement for being at the vanguard of disruptive thinking and change.
In 2011 I had a breakdown and spent 15 months away from the world of work. My way of being needed to change, as I could no longer live with the dissonance between my professional personas and the me I felt I was getting lost. After certifying as an executive coach in 2012, I began to follow my interest in working with relational dynamics – in workplaces, in our communities, and in world making. Alongside working in sustainable development, I became an organisational consultant and facilitator, trained in systems-psychodynamic, gestalt, complexity, participatory, and creative action approaches.
In 2018, I began full-time doctoral research in organisation studies. I was also an adjunct faculty member at Strathclyde Business School and Edinburgh Business School, with a focus on leadership and organisational dynamics. From 2022-25 I worked part time as a senior teaching fellow at Strathclyde Business School, alongside building my therapeutic practice.
My research explored caring as a social ethos; as well as disrupting scholarly norms around writing, (im)partiality, and the logic of scientific inquiry. I rekindled a love of philosophical thinking not as an abstract form but in asking questions about what it means to live a good life, a willingness to embrace theory and concepts in ‘agencement’ rather than absolutes, and commitment to the ‘so what?’ in keeping co-creation and practical relevance as a touchstone for impact.
I was one of the guest editors for the journal New Gestalt Voices. In 2024, we published a special issue on the theme of “Love in Gestalt Therapy”, which can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here.
“This Special Edition started as a curiosity where direct references to love in gestalt writing felt absent yet present, ‘taboo’ yet reaching to be spoken out. It felt risky and raw, courageous and vulnerable to step into this ‘experiment’ of calling ‘love’ in... As the topic ‘love’ rarely has a platform, we particularly welcomed contributions from voices that also do not usually have a platformed publishable space, especially those with minoritised or counter-cultural perspectives within therapy.” (“Love in Gestalt Therapy”, New Gestalt Voices, Edition 8, June 2024).
My qualifications include:
- PhD in Social Ethics / Organisation Studies – University of Strathclyde
- Postgraduate Diploma in Relational Gestalt Psychotherapy – SCPTI/UKCP (pending)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods – University of Strathclyde
- Masters in Organisational and Social Dynamics – Tavistock Clinic
- Postgraduate Certificate in Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology – Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
- Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business – University of Cambridge
- MBA – University of Oxford
- BA (Hons) Theology – Oxford Brookes University
- Certified coach, sociodramatist, and group facilitator
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
I see my roles now as researcher, facilitator, and therapist as mutually enriching practices of social activism and soul work. My approach is relational, collaborative, and philosophically grounded. What I am really good at (and enjoy, which makes all the difference for me) is deep listening, asking perceptive questions, thinking beyond boundaries, catalysing personal and relational change, noticing context and who gets to speak, dialogic intimacy, and attending to the potency of intra-connection in the here and now.
When I feel stuck my head – which is often – I try to become more embodied and present through 5Rhythms Dance, Astaunga Yoga, and enjoying the wildness of the Yorkshire, Northumbria, and Scottish coastlines. I am very much a work in progress, leaning into my need for community and connection, as well as learning to tend to my mind-body-soul in this ‘second spring’ phase of life.
Intra-connections is a precursor to working with others. If what I write here speaks to you, get in touch.
intra-connections 