Matthew Bushell: A Natural Inclusion
Matthew Bushell: A Natural Inclusion
I've walked through fire and learned to help others navigate their own. Living with bipolar disorder taught me what resilience actually means—finding your shape again, discovering who you become through challenge.
My path has taken me from the structured discipline of the Royal Signals to the vulnerable, uncertain work of helping people recover from brain injury. From building tech startups to facilitating peer support groups. From the archives of Northamptonshire's history to the international stage of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and International Society of Bipolar Disorders.
What connects it all is this: I care about the space between , within and around people. The relationships that hold us. The emotional and social fitness that lets us show up honestly in our lives. As a Therapeutic Coach, I work with individuals living with bipolar disorder to build stability, meaning, and confidence in their recovery.
As UK Representative for 5th Place, I'm bringing relational approaches to emotional well-being into workplaces, schools, and communities and I work deeply within the heart of Northamptonshire Communities, where I live and play, as well as across the world supporting others to do the same.
Mental Health Northants Collaboration | December 2025–Present
Research happens in rooms most people never enter. Clinical trials. Academic studies. Policy development. And yet the people most affected by these decisions—patients, families, communities—are often absent from the conversation. I'm working to change that. As a Research Champion, I bridge the gap between researchers and the communities they're meant to serve, especially those who've been historically excluded from research. I help researchers understand what it's actually like to participate in a study when you're managing bipolar disorder, when you're part of an underserved community, when the healthcare system has already failed you once. This isn't abstract consultation—it's about making sure lived experience shapes the questions we ask and the solutions we design.
International Society for Bipolar Disorders | November 2025–Present
There's a particular kind of expertise that comes from living with a condition, not just studying it. The Lived Experience Council is the first formal recognition by the ISBD that people with bipolar disorder belong at the table where research priorities are set, clinical guidelines are written, and educational programs are designed. I'm bringing what I know from years of managing my own mental health, coaching others through theirs, and building communities of care. This work is international in scope but deeply personal in purpose: improving the lives of people with bipolar disorder by ensuring our voices aren't just heard, but integrated into the foundations of research and care.
5th Place | January 2025–Present
Emotional fitness isn't about controlling your feelings—it's about developing the capacity to meet them. To notice what's happening in your body. To understand what your emotions are telling you. To respond rather than react. Through 5th Place, I'm introducing the Shape of Emotion™ and Emotional Fitness Model™ to organizations, schools, and communities across the UK and Europe. This framework reimagines wellbeing as something that emerges through relationship, not individual achievement. It's grounded in the science of interoception and co-regulation, recognizing that we feel our way into health through connection with others. I work with leaders, educators, and policymakers who are ready to move beyond resilience workshops and wellness apps toward something more foundational: relational cultures where emotional fitness is part of the architecture, not an add-on.
Private Practice | April 2022–Present
Bipolar disorder isn't a problem to solve—it's a way of being that requires understanding, skill, and support. I work one-on-one with people who have a diagnosis, helping them build emotional stability, recognize their patterns, and develop practical strategies for managing mood. My approach blends therapeutic coaching with trauma-informed care and systems thinking. I've been where my clients are: in the chaos of mania, the paralysis of depression, the exhausting work of trying to appear 'normal' when your brain won't cooperate. I don't offer platitudes or quick fixes. I offer genuine partnership in the work of recovery. My clients come to me when they're ready to stop fighting themselves and start understanding how they're built. Together, we find the stability that makes everything else possible.
Northamptonshire Mind | June 2025–Present
Mental health services are fragmented. Programs end before people are ready. Funding runs out. Staff turn over. People fall through the cracks. At Northamptonshire Mind, I'm working to change that—designing and delivering projects that actually meet people where they are. This means coordinating with NHS partners, community organizations, and lived experience advocates to create pathways of care that make sense. It means listening to what people need, not just what funders want to pay for. My role is equal parts project management, relationship building, and advocacy. I'm making sure the programs we design are informed by the reality of living with mental health conditions, not just what looks good in a grant application.
Action for Happiness Northamptonshire | June 2024–Present
Happiness isn't frivolous. It's foundational. When communities have spaces to connect, share, and support each other, mental health improves. Isolation decreases. People find their way back to meaning. I coordinate the Northamptonshire hub of Action for Happiness, facilitating groups, training volunteers, and creating opportunities for people to practice the skills of wellbeing together. This work sits at the intersection of positive psychology, community organizing, and grassroots mental health support. I'm not interested in toxic positivity or surface-level self-help. I'm interested in the real work: building relationships, creating belonging, and giving people the tools to navigate difficulty with grace.
Every role I've held has taught me something essential about how people work, how systems work, and how to bridge the gap between the two. Here's the story:
The Royal Corps of Signals | February 2000–January 2004
The military taught me discipline, precision, and the importance of systems that work under pressure. As a Royal Signals Systems Operator, I maintained critical communication networks for military operations—managing encrypted data, secure links between units and headquarters, and the infrastructure that keeps command functioning in the field. I was part of the pioneering Cormorant project, testing advanced mobile radio relay systems for early-entry deployed headquarters. This wasn't just technical work—it was about reliability when lives depended on it. I learned how to troubleshoot complex systems, work under stress, and operate with a level of attention to detail that became foundational to everything I did afterward. The Leadership Award for Best Recruit in Trade Training recognized what I already knew: I could learn hard things and do them well.
Intouch Monitoring Limited | February 2004–August 2008
After leaving the military, I brought my systems expertise into the private sector, designing and maintaining production monitoring networks across the UK, Europe, and the USA. The technical work was familiar—configuring hardware, implementing protocols, ensuring secure and reliable data transmission. But the new challenge was teaching others how to use these systems. I trained stakeholders, consulted with senior leaders, and learned how to translate complex technical concepts into language that made sense to people who weren't engineers. This was my first real experience of what would become central to my later work: meeting people where they are and helping them understand something new.
St Andrew's Healthcare | June 2011–November 2013
This work changed me. I left the world of data and networks and entered the world of bodies and trauma. As a Neuro-Physiotherapy Assistant, I supported people recovering from traumatic brain injury and severe mental health conditions. I helped them find movement again—literally and metaphorically. We worked on balance, coordination, strength. We celebrated tiny victories: standing unassisted, walking ten steps, holding a cup. I was part of a research project exploring how activity monitors could support behavior change in people with TBI and mental health conditions. I facilitated Mental Health and Physical Wellbeing programs with multidisciplinary teams. This was my introduction to the somatic reality of recovery—the understanding that healing happens in the body, not just the mind. It was also when I realized that my own mental health challenges weren't something to hide or overcome—they were part of what made me effective in this work.
University of Northampton | January 2009–May 2011
While studying Creative Writing at university, I created ArtBlast—a student-led volunteer project that brought creative arts into the community. We ran workshops, exhibitions, and collaborative events that connected the university with the wider Northampton community. The project won the 2012 Best Volunteer-Led Student Project Award and secured a £20,000 grant from the Vinspired Students Project Grant Programme. I was awarded the Volunteering England Gold Award for Leadership. But the real value wasn't the awards—it was learning how to build something from nothing. How to mobilize people around a shared vision. How to make art accessible and meaningful. This project taught me that narrative shapes reality, and that creative expression is a legitimate form of care.
Bipolar UK | July 2015–June 2017
By this point, I'd been living with bipolar disorder for years. I'd navigated breakdowns, hospitalizations, and the slow work of finding stability. When I started co-facilitating peer support groups for Bipolar UK, I finally had a place where my lived experience mattered. These groups weren't therapy—they were spaces where people with the same diagnosis could talk honestly about what it's like to live in a brain that doesn't behave predictably. I learned how to hold space for others while managing my own emotional responses. I learned that being vulnerable in front of others isn't weakness—it's leadership. This was where I discovered I could do this work professionally. Not despite my mental health challenges, but because of them.
Multiple Companies | 2016–2023
Between 2016 and 2023, I worked across several companies in business development, coaching, and customer success roles. At Don Smith Blinds, I led cultural transformation initiatives and managed a company-wide rebrand. At BlindMatrix and Sqale, I worked in the fast-paced world of tech startups—scaling platforms, building partnerships, coaching emerging business professionals in open business practices. These roles taught me how organizations work, how to navigate change, and how to build relationships that sustain growth. I learned that business is fundamentally about people: understanding what they need, communicating clearly, and building trust. These skills translated directly into my coaching practice.
Minderful | March 2022–August 2024
At Minderful, I moved fully into the intersection of mental health, coaching, and systems change. As Head of Partnerships, I built relationships with private businesses, charities, healthcare providers, and community organizations across Northamptonshire to expand access to workplace mental health support. As a Wellbeing Coach, I delivered one-on-one sessions, group workshops, and training programs. I learned how to work at scale without losing the human element—how to design interventions that actually help people while navigating the bureaucracy of organizational change. This role confirmed what I already knew: my future was in this work.
Bipolar Now LLC | September 2020–October 2023
I spent three years collaborating with Mike Lardi, an online coach and bipolar strategist based in California, creating content and community for people living with bipolar disorder. We published 150 podcast episodes and built an online peer support community of 900 members on Facebook. At our peak, we had 7,000 Apple podcast downloads a month. This work was global in reach but deeply intimate in practice. We talked about the real stuff: medication side effects, relationship struggles, managing work, dealing with stigma. I learned how to create content that serves people, not algorithms. How to build community in digital spaces. How to scale support without losing authenticity.
I'm a lifelong learner. Formal education gave me frameworks, but lived experience gave me wisdom. Here's what I've studied:
Fusion Therapeutic Coaching Professional Diploma | The Integrated Coaching Academy | 2022–2024
Level 3 Fusion Master Coach Training | Integrated Coaching Academy | 2024
Diploma in Positive Psychology | Integrated Coaching Academy | 2023
Diploma in Human Behaviour | Alison | 2025
Making Every Contact Count Certification | NHS England | 2023
BA in Creative Writing | University of Northampton | 2008–2011
Beyond credentials and job titles, here's what I actually offer:
Lived experience with bipolar disorder — I've navigated the full spectrum of this condition. I know what it's like to rebuild your life after everything falls apart. This isn't theoretical knowledge—it's lived.
Trauma-informed care — I understand how trauma shapes our nervous systems, our relationships, and our capacity to heal. I work with people's survival responses, not against them.
Systems thinking — From my years as a systems engineer to my work in organizational development, I see how parts relate to wholes. I understand that individual struggles often reflect systemic failures.
Relational awareness — Emotional health isn't something we achieve alone. It emerges through connection, co-regulation, and authentic relationship. I work from this foundation.
Communication that builds trust — Whether I'm facilitating a peer support group, presenting to the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, or coaching a client in crisis, I meet people with empathy and honesty.
Creative practice — I believe in the power of storytelling, art, and creative expression as tools for understanding and healing. My background in Creative Writing and work with ArtBlast inform how I help people make sense of their lives.
I'm writing Wholeless, a book about living with bipolar disorder and finding emotional fitness in a world that pathologizes difference. It's part memoir, part guide, part manifesto for a different approach to mental health—one that honors the complexity of the human experience.
I'm also deepening my work with Natural Inclusion—a framework developed by Alan Rayner that reimagines our relationship with space, boundaries, and flow. This work is challenging me to think differently about mental health, identity, and belonging. I facilitate discussions, write about it, and explore how it intersects with therapeutic practice through my involvement with OCCURRITY.
If you're looking for someone who understands the terrain of mental health from the inside out, who can work with individuals and organizations, who brings both professional expertise and genuine lived experience—I'm here.
I'm currently accepting new coaching clients, consulting opportunities, and speaking engagements.