About Me

Hello! I’m Robert Russell

Licensed Hypnotherapist

PhD HPD MastHyp MastNLP MastCBP DipStressMan CertEnPsych SQHP GHR(Reg) MNCH(Acc) EMDR(Fully Accredited)

If personal development, business development or sport psychology training is to be successful, a professional relationship needs to be created where trust exists on both sides. This is called Therapeutic Alliance. Positive outcomes will invariably require any therapist or trainer to be aware of the client’s relevant personal history, so that appropriate effective support and solutions can be given. The client however has to feel comfortable about divulging this, often intimate, information and will only do so if therapeutic alliance exists.

As a result of the client offering up that trust, Robert feels it is fair, and indeed helpful, for them to know a little bit about his personal history. A therapeutic trade off so to speak, that will help to build on the alliance that is so vital for successful outcomes.

Robert was born in Malaysia, due to his father taking up work and living in that country. His mother unfortunately died in a car accident over there when he was just 4 years old, but aside from the initial devastation and upset of this loss, Robert’s early years allowed him to focus on other exciting and new experiences that a young boy of this age tends to absorb in life, and so gradually he was able to move on from this tragic event.

Robert continued to live in the Far East until the age of 8 years when, as was the custom for expat children overseas, he was sent off to boarding school in England, returning initially only for the summer vacation, spending the remaining holidays with family and friends either in the UK, or sometimes in the USA. It seems that boarding schools can either make or break you, however apart from a natural sense of homesickness for the initial few days of his first term, Robert really enjoyed his time at school, making new friends and learning and absorbing the new culture in which he found himself .

At 13 years Robert moved to a senior boarding school. By this time he was able to return to Malaysia for every school holiday. There he would meet up with old friends who similarly flew backward and forward from different schools around the world. In essence it created two secure but totally disparate lives, where he would have close friendships with various people in two different countries, but because these two sets of social communities never came together he would have to oscillate between the two cultures. Robert finally finished his secondary schooling at 19 years, having taken and passed his A Levels.

These parallel lives, along with the diverse cultures and experiences that shaped Robert’s world, created within him a wide comprehension and acceptance that life, backgrounds and attitudes come in many varied forms. He learnt understanding and tolerance, as well as a respect for different values. Although he was not to go straight into personal development work, Robert’s life so far had created an ideal foundation for the career that was yet to come.

After leaving school Robert wanted to travel the world, and did so for several years, going to Europe, USA, Asia and Australia, taking up numerous part-time jobs along the way on farms, in activity centres, doing bar work, ski-boat driving and various other casual employment positions to fund himself. At 23 years he finally embarked on tertiary education undertaking a 3 year course in Rural Estate Management at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, UKwith a view to joining the family tea growing business in Malaysia, BOH Plantations,  when he had completed the course.
 
Upon graduating Robert decided to work in Singapore instead, joining international real estate company Jones Lang Wootton, now known as Jones Lang LaSalle. He married in 1984 and returned to the UK in 1985. Robert started a family and continued in property until the 1989 crash. At this stage he thought he could either ride the storm or consider a completely new career. He chose the latter after having become more and more interested during the preceding 5 years in studying, reading and attending seminars covering the field of personal development.

Stress Management in Derby, which now ceases to exist under that name, as it has merged into other educational establishments over time. During his 2 year period of training, Robert worked as a financial advisor in the evenings for Allied Dunbar, which was subsequently acquired by Zurich. This allowed him to attend lectures and study during the day and thus helped provide an income for his family. During the latter part of his course, Robert took on occasional practice clients as a student therapist. He finally commenced working full-time as a professionally qualified personal development consultant by end-1991, initially under his own trading name of Robert Russell, offering Hypnotherapy, NLP, CBT, Stress Management and EMDR.

At this stage Robert had three young daughters and a new career, which although was totally absorbing, also needed to prove successful so that he could continue to look after his family. He quickly threw himself into his new passion and started taking further relevant courses, particularly certified courses in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), in order to advance his knowledge and ability to help clients. By 1995 Robert was lecturing students in Hypnotherapy, NLP, CBT, Stress Management and EMDR.

After taking on numerous celebrity clients, Robert managed to showcase and discuss his work in the media through TV, newspapers and magazines. It was a busy and rewarding time but placed a strain on his marriage and unfortunately he divorced in 2001. In moving forward Robert still maintains a closeness with his children and is now remarried.

Robert then expanded his business further and in doing so set up Mindset Synergy to promote Hypnotherapy, NLP, CBT, Stress Management and EMDR, along with Business Motivation and Development, Goal Setting, Team Building and Sport Psychology. He progressed his career through contracts with several companies, of which Flight Centre was one of the main clients of Mindset Synergy, offering them bespoke corporate programmes on motivation, goal setting, presentation skills, team building and business development. He still sees individual clients and supports them on personal issues and continues to undertake student lecturing.

As Robert’s work has progressed, he has set up Training Alliance Group (TAG) along with two other experienced personal development trainers. TAG offers 2 brands. TAG Academy provides excellence in Hypnotherapy, NLP, CBT and Personal Development training for those wishing to study to become therapists through professionally recognised and accredited courses. TAG Corporate provides a broad range of Professional Development and Business Coaching courses designed to meet the specific needs of corporate organisations.

Through his various personal development ventures, Robert is enthusiastic about his work and his future in the years ahead, along with the support he can bring to others aided by his life experiences and training. As such, Robert really welcomes helping you move forward on any issue where you have reached a road block.