Russell Stubbs
International Health Coach & Therapist
Who I typically work with
I help high performers from across the world to significantly reduce their stress levels and break the burnout cycle.
The story behind the approach
I first got involved in therapy and personal development back in the late 90’s. Prior to that I’d been in business, had become quite successful, but at the height of that success, when years of hard work was starting to pay off, I just lost interest and found myself being drawn to the world of therapy and self-development. So, you could say it was some sort of calling, something I couldn’t ignore.
Those last successful years in business provided me with the time to refocus and the resources needed to retrain as a Therapist and Health coach. I retrained and things developed quickly, I went from learning and practising some physical therapy to training in more emotionally-based approaches.
I found working with clients in this way unlocked a strong intuitive sense within me, something I hadn’t really been aware of up until this point, but something I felt very much at home with, so the work didn’t feel so much like work, I knew I was on a good path for me, and heading in the right direction.
I went on to train in more psychologically-based approaches and added these tools to my practice.
I used the tools myself
As well as sharing this knowledge and these tools and techniques with my clients, I was also applying everything I learnt to myself and my own life, as I’d brought with me my own stresses and issues, after years of business pressure along with the recent break-up of a long-term relationship.
Along with helping my situation, by using all of these tools, I knew with certainty whether an approach was effective or not. This personal experience and knowledge of these issues, I know now has been an invaluable part of my training and development, it’s not just a concept of theory that I teach, I’ve been there myself, experienced high levels of stress and have been burnt out.
I attracted people who’d already tried everything else
As time went by I found myself working with a number of clients who were struggling with stress and burnout related issues. These were people who’d been stuck over time to the point where their condition had become chronic.
Typically these people had already tried pretty much every other approach out there without success, so I knew we had to look at things in a different way. I started to combine the tools I’d learnt from a number of different sources.
Along my learning path, I’d noticed that so many people become fixed on one approach, remaining a purist in their chosen path, and somehow discounting other techniques as inferior or insignificant.
We needed something completely different
I knew that for the clients I was working with at the time, we needed a completely different approach, so at that point I decided to combine the most effective tools into one approach. I knew that different techniques were strong in some areas and not in others.
When I started to use and teach this new combined approach, that’s when everything changed, people who’d been stuck for years or even decades were making good solid progress, This was the early stages of my P.E.P. Approach.
The word spread fast!
The word began to spread and I was approached by more and more people with similar conditions. At first I worked with people from across the UK, but I soon realised that the work was just as effective over a distance, so I started to attract clients from many different countries.
Some doctors and specialists, after seeing some of their most entrenched patients make recoveries, started to recommend my work.
These types of stress related conditions are seen by many as difficult to treat. I even found myself working with some medical doctors from the UK, Norway and Germany and helping them to resolve their stress and burnout related issues.
Common character traits
Over the years of working with hundreds of people with similar conditions, I’ve noticed a lot of common ground in their character. I’m always dealing with intelligent, creative, ambitious people, with lots of activity in the mind, usually with some form of perfectionist pattern in place, along with being analytical or overly analytical, these people also tend to have a relatively sensitive nature.
I’ve noticed that ironically, those same character traits that can help a person to accomplish a lot, when things get out of balance, can also dig that person deeper into the stress and burnout cycle, to the point of keeping them completely entrenched.
That’s probably why I was drawn to this area, or it to me, I would say that I’m in the same category and can relate to those qualities or character traits, along with the patterns that can develop when things go out of balance.
Helping high performers
Along the way, as well as working with many people who’d gone to this advanced stage, I’ve also worked with many who haven’t been quite so far down the burnout path.
These are usually high performing, busy professionals who are trying to juggle family/home life along with busy and demanding careers. These are typically people living lives very similar to those of my burnout clients, before the crash!
I’ve found that using that same combined P.E.P Approach, these people tend to respond much more quickly than when we’re trying to recondition a burned-out system.
So this has become my focus, helping people to do all that they can in an attempt to significantly reduce their stress levels and prevent burnout. Because of the nature of this approach, through doing the necessary work, my clients consistently report feeling calmer, happier, more present, more appreciative, more energetic, along with being able to sleep more effectively.
Positively impacting all areas of life
It’s often quite a surprise for someone embarking on this journey, as no matter what reason they originally arrived with, looking for help, after going through the process, these positive changes typically show up in the 4 main areas of life, Health, Relationships, Career and Well-being.
The way that I work has developed and evolved over the years. I currently offer this unique combined P.E.P. Approach along with the personal therapy, coaching and mentoring through my 90 day Influence Programme.