Gary Gedall (Author · Psychologist From Switzerland)

Most of the people at the Guildhall work with cards, energy or the spoken word. Gary Gedall works with the page. He’s a British-born psychologist and psychotherapist who has spent his career in Switzerland, and alongside the clinical work he’s written a long shelf of books, some about psychology and self-help, some novels and stories that come at the same questions from a gentler angle.

He’ll be at the weekend in September with his writing, and he’s worth seeking out if you like your spiritual and personal-development ideas grounded in something a trained therapist would actually stand behind.

A therapist who writes

Gary trained and practises as a psychologist and psychotherapist, and that background sits underneath everything he publishes. Rather than keep the clinical work and the writing in separate boxes, he’s spent years turning what he’s learnt in the consulting room into books ordinary readers can pick up without a psychology degree. If you’ve ever found self-help either too vague or too clinical, his aim is the ground in between: real ideas, plainly put.

The books

He’s a prolific author, with titles in both English and French. Some are straightforwardly practical, like The Zen Approach to Modern Living, which looks at the everyday business of family, friends and getting along with people. Others are more personal and reflective, such as Emotional Rescue, a collection of prose, poems, songs and stories written, in his words, to and from the heart.

He’s also written fiction that carries the same themes lightly. The Island of Serenity books follow a story rather than set out a method, so the ideas arrive through character and situation instead of a checklist. It’s a useful way in for anyone who bristles at being told what to do but will happily follow a good tale.

There’s a longer self-help series too, Living in Harmony with the Real World, which works through the ordinary difficulties most of us meet at some point: relationships, work, loss. The through-line across all of it is the same. Small, workable ideas for living a bit more calmly, drawn from someone who does this for a living. He writes in both English and French, and moves easily between practical guides and stories, so there’s usually a way in whatever you tend to reach for on a shelf.

Who his writing suits

If you like the wellbeing side of the weekend but want something you can take home and sit with, his books are a good fit. They suit readers who want depth without jargon, and who’d rather be given a way of thinking than a set of rules. You don’t need any background in psychology to get something from them, and you don’t have to accept any particular belief system either. Take what’s useful and leave the rest.

It’s also worth saying what his work isn’t. It doesn’t promise to fix anything overnight, and it isn’t a substitute for seeing a professional if you’re genuinely struggling. It’s closer to a thoughtful conversation with someone who has spent a long time thinking about how people cope, and how they might cope a little better.

Something to try this week

Here’s a small writing habit in the spirit of his work. At the end of the day, write down one thing that unsettled you and one thing that steadied you. Just a line each, no analysis. Do it for a week and you’ll start to notice a pattern in what pulls you off balance and what brings you back. Putting it on paper does something that turning it over in your head doesn’t, which is roughly the whole idea behind writing this kind of book in the first place.

Gary Gedall is one of over 70 readers, healers and stallholders at the Mind Body Spirit & Wellness Weekend, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026, at Stockport Masonic Guildhall. His stall, like every session across the weekend, is included with entry.

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