About Carl Stephens

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About Me

I'm Carl Stephens, a Transactional Analysis psychotherapist in advanced training, offering weekly psychotherapy in Falmouth, Cornwall, and online across the UK.

I work primarily with men and high performers, particularly those who value independence, responsibility, and self reliance, yet find themselves at a point where familiar ways of coping are no longer enough.

My approach is relational, collaborative, and grounded in the belief that many of the ways we learn to survive difficult experiences are creative adaptations rather than signs of pathology. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with you?", therapy invites us to ask, "What happened, and how did you learn to survive it?

My Background

Before training as a psychotherapist, my life revolved around rugby and sports coaching. A career ending shoulder injury disrupted that path and eventually led me first into teaching Physical Education, and later into psychotherapy.

Seeking therapy myself during that period became a significant turning point. I needed space to make sense of change, loss, and identity. Those experiences continue to shape how I work today.

Having lived within high performance environments, I understand from the inside the drive, discipline, self reliance, and sense of responsibility they often demand. I also understand how difficult it can be to slow down, ask for help, or reconsider long established ways of coping when identity has become closely tied to capability, achievement, or resilience.

I believe this allows me to meet clients with realism, respect, and emotional accuracy rather than assumption.

Outside of therapy, I spend much of my time outdoors in Cornwall with my two dogs. Time in nature, movement, and physical challenge remain important parts of my own life and continue to shape how I think about psychological health, particularly for people who find meaning more readily through experience and action than through words alone.

I have completed extensive Master's level (Level 7) psychotherapy training and am in the final stages of registration with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). I am also a member of UKATA’s Training and Accreditation Standards Committee (TASC), which sets and monitors the standards for Transactional Analysis training across the UK. Alongside private practice, I remain committed to ongoing professional development, clinical supervision, and reflective practice.

Specialist Areas

While much of my work focuses on men and high performers, I also work with women and couples.

Areas I commonly support include:

• Men's mental health, emotional withdrawal, and identity difficulties

• Athletes and high performers facing injury, retirement, or major life transitions

• Performance anxiety, burnout, and chronic stress

• The psychological impact of concussion and brain injury

• Identity reconstruction beyond achievement, performance, or role

• Relationship difficulties, intimacy, and emotional resilience

Across all of this work, therapy remains relational, collaborative, and adult to adult. The aim is not to fix you, but to understand what has shaped you and create greater freedom in how you live and relate now.

Why Work With Me

My work is shaped by three things: my background in sport, my own experience of significant life change, and years of psychotherapy training.

Together, these experiences have taught me that lasting psychological change rarely comes through advice, analysis, or being told what to do. More often, it develops through relationship, reflection, and the opportunity to understand ourselves more fully.

Looking Ahead

Training and accreditation in this field is an ongoing process, and I remain committed to continuing mine. I am working towards Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (TSTA) status, and alongside my clinical practice, I sit on UKATA's Training and Accreditation Standards Committee (TASC), which sets and monitors the standards for TA training across the UK.

I am glad to contribute to training where appropriate supervision is in place, including workshops at Recognised Training Establishments observed by a PTSTA or TSTA, and I welcome conversations with training providers, podcasts, or others interested in relational approaches to men's psychotherapy, personality adaptations, or sport and performance work.

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How I can help

Psychotherapy for men

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Psychotherapy for all

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Psychotherapy for athletes