About me
Matt Thomas, Private Crisis Specialist & EMCC Accredited Coach
On the outside, you probably look fine. You are still turning up, still delivering, and still the one everyone leans on. But the coming-apart is happening in the gaps: at 3 AM, on your days off, and in the private spaces where you finally drop the mask. By the time most people call me, they have already tried the standard routes - EAP referrals, a few counseling sessions, a quiet word from HR. If none of that landed, it is because those models treat the performance on top, rather than the actual pressure sitting underneath it.
I provide holistic coaching for people in high-stakes roles who cannot simply step away when things get difficult. The tour does not stop, the season does not pause, and the board still meets on Tuesday. Most coaching assumes a stable person who wants to get a bit better at their job. I work with those who are in the middle of a crisis, or just coming out of one, where the person themselves is the thing under threat.
My practice is built for leaders, artists, athletes, and neurodivergent professionals (Addiction ADHD, OCD) carrying responsibilities they cannot put down. I help you move a layer down, working on the operating system itself: executive function, boundaries, and what you do with the big feelings. We look at the relational layer, how you are with a board, a co-founder, or your team, because that is where the energy goes fastest. We identify patterns like over-functioning or people-pleasing in real-time, giving you a safe place to try doing it differently before the bill for those "yeses" comes due.
I also specialise in the transition back to high-pressure work after a breakdown. Clinical treatment stabilises the urgent bit, but it does not rebuild the day-to-day scaffolding you need to carry the job again without going straight back under. I run alongside you to help put that structure back, including the early warning signs and boundaries that buy you time to make a different call.
I hold two roles, and I know exactly which one a situation needs. I am an EMCC accredited coach, but when addiction or substance use becomes the main risk, the work shifts to crisis management. At that point, I step in to ensure you have the right clinical referrals and the right team around you immediately. I will not coach you through something that requires medical treatment, and I will not pretend a line isn't there when it is. That honesty is half the reason to have me in the room.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It is entirely confidential and a chance to see if this feels right for you. I aim to respond to all inquiries within 24 hours.
Contact: WhatsApp: +44 7968 626 987 or Email.
If you are in immediate danger or require emergency medical assistance, please contact 999 or your local emergency services directly.
Training, qualifications & experience
Accreditation and registration
- EMCC Accredited Coach
- Holistic Coaching Practitioner, trained in Psychosynthesis
- Registered Addiction Professional
Experience
A decade of frontline addiction and mental health work: coaching, case management and crisis intervention for individuals, couples and families. Before that, and alongside it, thirty years in the music industry, which is where I learned what pressure actually does to people.
Co-founder of Music Support, the UK charity providing mental health and addiction support to people working in music, where I chair the board.
I've written on addiction and mental health for The Guardian and Music Business Worldwide, been featured in Vogue and the Evening Standard, and worked as a duty-of-care consultant for broadcasters including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
Areas of coaching I deal with
My specialisms
All areas
Other areas of coaching I deal with
Addiction / Recovery
Fees
Additional information
I provide blocks of 6 on a sliding scale depending on income.
Further information
I build my own tools. Off-the-shelf approaches weren't good enough for the people I work with, so I developed my own instruments and programmes:
ADHD self-mapping. A bespoke 75-question instrument I designed, "What Flavour Is Your ADHD", that maps how ADHD actually shows up in your life across seven areas, rather than handing you a label and a leaflet. There's no such thing as standard ADHD; this shows you yours.
Couples and communication. "Who's Talking To Who", a structured workshop for couples where communication has broken down, built from years of working with relationships under real strain.
Relapse prevention. "Your Recovery Sun", an individualised programme for people in recovery: what keeps your recovery alive, what threatens it, and what to do when it's threatened.
I work with executives, artists, parents and partners; people who are usually the ones holding everything together. Sessions online or in person by arrangement. Everything is confidential from the first message, and the first conversation costs nothing. It's just to see whether I'm the right person to help.
