"I am an American, but I have lived most of my life in Britain. For 18 years I was a director of a company manufacturing oil field equipment, with sales offices world-wide. Attendance at a 12-step program unexpectedly triggered a train of events that resulted in me leaving the company, leaving my marriage, and embarking on a journey of intense self-discovery."

James:

"I was enjoying the benefits of being a senior manager in the British telecommunications industry until the day I realised that becoming a more successful businessman was not my life purpose.

" I left business and set off on a year's travel which included joining an expedition to look for undiscovered Mayan temples in the jungle of Belize! To my surprise I discovered a long-hidden sense of my spiritual self.

Penny:

"Our paths crossed in 1991 while studying a form of applied psychology called neuro-linguistic programming and we began a personal and professional partnership. We became psychotherapists registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) through the Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (NLPtCA) in 1993 and established a private practice in London."

James:

"In 1995, Penny's intuition to seek out a therapist called David Grove -- originator of Clean Language and pioneer in the therapeutic use of client-generated metaphor -- was yet another turning point. This started a five-year research project, culminating in the publication of our first book, Metaphors in Mind: Transformation through Symbolic Modelling and the training video, A Strange and Strong Sensation."