Picador triumphs in five-way auction for therapist Cawley’s memoir

Picador has triumphed in a five-way auction for “a fascinating look behind the therapist’s curtain” by counselling psychologist and psychotherapist Dr Natalie Cawley.

World rights, excluding North America and including audio, were acquired by editorial director Andrea Henry from Jennifer Christie at Graham Maw Christie. Just About Coping will be published in hardback in spring 2024. Meg Davis at the Ki Agency is handling TV, film and dramatic rights.

The synopsis reads: “Told through her own story of various life crises and the stories of some of her patients from across a decade of clinical work, Dr Cawley brings understanding to why we do the things we do, feel the way we feel – and how the coping strategies we instinctively employ to get us through the tough times can turn into unhelpful compulsive habits that are hard to shake.

“Funny, moving and bracingly honest, Just About Coping offers the reassuring message that whatever you’re experiencing – from OCD and addiction to personality disorders and catastrophising – you’re not alone. Someone else has experienced it too. And that someone might just be your therapist.”

Cawley is a qualified counselling psychologist and psychotherapist with a PhD in self-harm. She has worked in the public and private sectors, including nine years with the NHS across trusts and populations, and with both adults and children, covering a wide range of health conditions and clinical presentations in the community and within psychiatric hospitals. Her hobbies include stand-up comedy.

She commented: “In times of crisis, a coping mechanism is often your best shot at survival – whether it’s procrastination, social withdrawal or risk taking. But when it stops working for you, it can then become the problem. Through a blend of memorable stories and clinical insights, I hope to normalise people’s inner experiences, contextualising even the oddest behaviours and responses. The book will feel comforting and therapeutic and, by telling my own story so honestly, I hope to remove the sense of aloneness and shame that so many of us feel. I’m so pleased to have found a home for Just About Coping with the team at Picador.”

Henry said: “As interest in mental health management continues to grow, Just About Coping is a brilliant piece of “stealth help”, an invitation behind the scenes of psychotherapy, offering insights into a wide range of recognisable behaviours. What Natalie does brilliantly is balance openness, honesty and an accessible therapeutic knowledge, all delivered with deep compassion. The aim is that readers will draw insights from a compelling narrative that’s building on the ongoing conversation around normalising mental health issues. We’re delighted to be working with Natalie at Picador.”