Dr Jean Pain has been many things during her long and eventful life including mathematics teacher and a successful retail business owner, but throughout all this, the most important part of her life has been devoted to psychotherapy and helping people to help themselves.
Her doctorate based on Harvey Sacks’ work on Conversation Analysis and the books she has since published have helped many people gain insights into the way the human mind and intentions work in real life situations.
This blog is full of articles written by Dr Pain on most aspects of human life. It also includes her autobiography. To read that, start at the first item in the Early Years section on the top right: Fear of Freedom
SAD NEWS: Dr Jean Pain passed away peacefully in her sleep at 9am on Sunday 14th December 2014 aged 85.
Dr Jean Pain
Cambridge, UK
Obituary by Catherine Pain
Dr. Jean Pain PhD has died at the age of 85. Jean was a truly remarkable woman who lived each and every day to the full and who encouraged everyone around her to do so too.
Jean was born in Hornsey, London in 1929. She was followed by her sister Mary then later their brother Colin. From a small child Jean shone academically. She gained a place in Grammar School and then read Spanish at Liverpool University where she met her husband to be, Bob.
Jean and Bob spent the next 10 years in Venezuela, South America when Bob was working for Shell Oil and it was there that their sons Robin and Quentin were born. The family then returned to England where Catherine (Kate) was born.
Jean was a teacher for a while and then started her own business in Bedford dealing in antiques. Always an avid reader, Jean then changed the business to antiquarian books and the family moved to Cambridge where she and Bob opened a shop in Trinity Street in Cambridge. This was a great success and Jean then moved up the road to open a shop on King’s Parade ‘Jean Pain Gallery’ and another in Princes’ Square in Glasgow.
Everything went well until the crash in the 80s when she narrowly avoided bankruptcy by selling her shops. Jean was left with a credit card and a strong desire to fulfill her ambition to become a psychotherapist.
She travelled the world studying NLP with Richard Bandler in San Diego. She also became a Master Practitioner in Reiki. Upon her return she studied with The National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy. She did her MA with Manchester Metropolitan University. She worked as a psychotherapist for some 15 plus years and the culmination of her studies was studying Conversation Analysis for her PhD at Brunel University which she started at the age of 70 and completed some three years later. Jean had several books published including So You Think You Need Therapy, So You Think You Want To Be A Psychotherapist and Not Just Talking, which was based on the discoveries that she made whilst researching her PhD.
As you can see Jean was a high achiever but she was so much more than all this. Jean was someone who always seemed to know what the right thing to do was. She nursed Bob through his illness and cared for him until he died at home. She was always full of vigour and fun and no matter what problems were brought to her door she always knew how to tackle them and put things into perspective. She was a loving and wonderful mother, a deeply caring and affectionate grandmother and a very good laugh. She was a dear person who was able to understand just about any problem and work out the solution. She was larger than life and a strong force for good.
Jean will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved her. She helped people to open up their lives for themselves. She would know the questions to ask you that enabled you to see things in new and more useful ways. She was the best friend you could ever have and if she is reading this now, over my shoulder, I would just like to say to you now, Jean WE LOVE YOU. THANK YOU.