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Phillip Hodson (born 1946) is a British psychotherapist, broadcaster and author who popularised ‘phone-in’ therapy in his role as Britain's first 'agony uncle'. His afternoon and evening counselling programmes ran on LBC Radio in London for nearly 20 years. Thereafter he worked on Talk Radio and with Jimmy Young on BBC Radio 2.

Television

He was a regular children’s counsellor on BBC1 for six years with Saturday Superstore and Going Live! presented by Sarah Greene and Philip Schofield, where he was noted for addressing serious juvenile concerns not normally treated on children’s television, and for his fine line in chunky knitted jumpers bearing animal designs. Hodson also worked on BBC1 Daytime with Dr Miriam Stoppard for three years dealing with problem phone calls besides psycho-analysing celebrities. He also filled the agony slots in the first years of both TV-Am and GMTV.

Hodson co-presented TV South’s afternoon Problem Page for five years and was subsequently given his own interview chat show Hodson Confidential. This ran for three series, and was networked several times. He has also made several documentaries including films for Newsnight on subjects ranging from scandal-prone politicians to whether therapy is replacing religion.

Fourm Magazine

I shared an office with Anna Raeburn and my editor was Phillip Hodson both of whom went on to carve out successful careers in therapy, writing and broadcasting. It was here for the first time I came to know and work closely with Phillip  - the then Editor,  

Cast your mind back 26 years to the early seventies [OK so you were just a twinkle in someone's eye - but if that's the case, they might have created you because of what you are about to read!!!....] and zoom into the top shelf of the newsagents where, nestled amongst the 'men's' magazines, lay a small A5 publication called Forum. The year was 1974 and Forum was already several years old. Amid public outcry Forum became the first informative and educational magazine devoted to sex ever published in the UK. At the time, Forum was probably the most significant and innovative publication to hit the newstands. And I worked there as Assistant Editor with Phillip Hodson, who is now one of the UK's most renowned relationship authors, an eminent psychotherapist, visiting university lecturer, one-time agony uncle and seasoned broadcaster.

Forum was the first magazine that openly discussed sex in realistic, down to earth terms. The forum section of the magazine was devoted to reader's letters about their sex lives and another section the advisor offered free advice for personal problems from top psychiatrists, medical professionals and counsellors.

Forum was the first magazine that openly accepted AND publicised the fact that not everyone does it in the missionary position with their spouse once a week on Saturday night! In fact whether you were married, single, gay, lesbian, bisexual, into fetish, transvestism, coprophilia, [look it up in the dictionary] S&M or whatever, the single most significant message that Forum had was as long as you are doing this with consenting adults and not hurting anyone against their will, it's OK. We probably saved countless people from nervous breakdowns, shame and depression just by acknowledging that they were not alone and they were not freaks!

A close friend reminded me how she and her husband spiced up their sex life by reading articles in Forum. They are still married 30 years later!

In a converted pork-pie factory in Fulham, some of the UK's finest writers, therapists and counsellors came together [well it was the 70's!!] to create a new way of thinking. The Forum press gave voice to and celebrated the hidden and till now heavily repressed sexuality of the nation.

Of course it was condemned and slated - people didn't want to face their own desires or accept that not everyone was as boring as they were! But that didn't stop us and it didn't stop such notables as Alistair Campbell, Rosie Boycott, Phillip Hodson, Dr Chad Varah [founder of the Samaritans] Jane Firbank [top psychologist] Anne Hooper [Britain's best selling sex author] Anna Raeburn [broadcaster, writer and agony aunt, and a host of other talented writers, medical professionals and therapists contributing their talents to this innovative magazine!

In 1974 I started working at the Forum offices as secretary to the Publishing Editor, Al Freeman. Within a couple of months, I had managed to wangle my way into the fascinating and eminently more suitable post of Assistant Editor. I spent my days scouring the tabloids for stories on sex and rewriting them for a news column. When I wasn't doing that I was answering telephone enquiries on premature ejaculation, writing to readers or helping Anna Raeburn to run the Forum Clinic.

Journalism

Hodson is one of the few regular contributors to The Times who has also written extensively for the popular press including agony pages for Reveille, The Daily Star, Today and the News of the World. His column also appeared in She Magazine, Woman’s World, Cosmopolitan, First Magazine (USA), Family Circle, Fast Forward, TV Quick, OK Magazine, Woman and Home and Woman’s Journal. Hodson won a ‘columnist of the year’ in 1984. He has been an outspoken critic of the ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude of male conservatism - clashing, amongst others, with the sociologist Frank Furedi.

http://www.flirtzone.com/pr.htm

Books, academic and psychotherapy work

Hodson has written 13 books mainly on sex and relationships but also covering the operas of Wagner. His most important is probably “Men: An Investigation into the Emotional Male” which accompanied a BBC TV series in one of the first male engagements with the challenges of feminism. He has also taught psychology at graduate level and made training films for Video Arts Ltd about using counselling techniques in the workplace, also winning several industry awards. In addition to his psychotherapy practice, Hodson has been chief spokesperson for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy since 2000.

Phillip Hodson has been ‘happily unmarried’ to author and psychotherapist Anne Hooper for over 30 years with whom he has a son Alex Hooper-Hodson and two stepsons, Barnaby and Joel Levy. All three work in the media, Alex having been agony uncle of Sugar magazine for four years, as well as writing a weekly sex column for the Scottish newspaper the Daily Record.