Ruth Archer originally trained in general nursing and midwifery. After working in Papua New Guinea for ten years, she returned to the United Kingdom and worked in the NHS before retraining as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist at the Westminster Pastoral Foundation, Kensington. She is registered with UKCP and was formerly Head of Counselling and Psychotherapy Services at the WPF. She is an Honorary member of the Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling, a Fellow of BACP, and a BACP-accredited supervisor. She is now semi-retired and lives in Dorset.