James Withey is a trained counsellor who worked in social care for 20 years. In 2011, James was diagnosed with clinical depression, attempted suicide and spent time in psychiatric hospital and crisis services where he developed the idea for The Recovery Letters. James writes and speaks publicly about depression and has twice featured on BBC Radio 4's 'All in the Mind' programme.Olivia Sagan is Head of Psychology & Sociology at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. A chartered psychologist and former counsellor Olivia is the author of Narratives of Art Practice and Mental Wellbeing: Reparation and Connection (Routledge 2014) and Narratives of Loneliness: Multidisciplinary perspectives from the 21st Century (Routledge, 2017).

• Acknowledgements. Introduction: Why I Started The Recovery Letters, James Withey. Introduction: Writing Letters: A Subtle Therapy, Olivia Sagan. Letters. Afterword: There's Life in Letters, G. Thomas Couser.

Writing or reading a letter strikes at the sense of isolation which is at the root of despair. Read this book, buy it for others, it's rare and powerful medication.

James Withey is a trained counsellor who worked in social care for 20 years. In 2011, James was diagnosed with clinical depression, attempted suicide and spent time in psychiatric hospital and crisis services where he developed the idea for The Recovery Letters. James writes and speaks publicly about depression and has twice featured on BBC Radio 4's 'All in the Mind' programme.Olivia Sagan is Head of Psychology & Sociology at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. A chartered psychologist and former counsellor Olivia is the author of Narratives of Art Practice and Mental Wellbeing: Reparation and Connection (Routledge 2014) and Narratives of Loneliness: Multidisciplinary perspectives from the 21st Century (Routledge, 2017).

• Acknowledgements. Introduction: Why I Started The Recovery Letters, James Withey. Introduction: Writing Letters: A Subtle Therapy, Olivia Sagan. Letters. Afterword: There's Life in Letters, G. Thomas Couser.

Writing or reading a letter strikes at the sense of isolation which is at the root of despair. Read this book, buy it for others, it's rare and powerful medication.

James Withey is a trained counsellor who worked in social care for 20 years. In 2011, James was diagnosed with clinical depression, attempted suicide and spent time in psychiatric hospital and crisis services where he developed the idea for The Recovery Letters. James writes and speaks publicly about depression and has twice featured on BBC Radio 4's 'All in the Mind' programme.Olivia Sagan is Head of Psychology & Sociology at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. A chartered psychologist and former counsellor Olivia is the author of Narratives of Art Practice and Mental Wellbeing: Reparation and Connection (Routledge 2014) and Narratives of Loneliness: Multidisciplinary perspectives from the 21st Century (Routledge, 2017).

• Acknowledgements. Introduction: Why I Started The Recovery Letters, James Withey. Introduction: Writing Letters: A Subtle Therapy, Olivia Sagan. Letters. Afterword: There's Life in Letters, G. Thomas Couser.

Writing or reading a letter strikes at the sense of isolation which is at the root of despair. Read this book, buy it for others, it's rare and powerful medication.