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Penarth-based stress management consultant and psychotherapist Jonathan Bockelmann-Evans tells us about his ambition to speak fluent German and to be whisked away to the French Riviera.
THE LAST WORD
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Jonathan Bockelmann- Evans, my company is called JBE Consultants and I do two things - I provide high quality stress management training courses for businesses, hospitals, colleges and schools across the UK and, secondly, I treat people with a wide range of emotionally distressing conditions from my private practice.
What do you like about Cardiff?
Even though I live in Penarth, I was born and brought up in Cardiff and I love the fact that Cardiff punches above its weight. As cities go, it’s modest in size but, because it’s a European capital, it benefits from small town friendliness and accessibility, married to big city facilities and ambitions.
What is your favourite meal?
My wife’s fish pie.
Favourite drink?
We spent our honeymoon in South Africa where I developed a taste for Pinotage red wine – just a sip sends me right back there to the safari camp!
Who would your ideal dinner companion be?
The author Lee Child – anyone who can came up with a character like Jack Reacher has got to have something interesting to say.
What do you do to relax?
Simple things usually – time with family and friends, walking the dog, playing the piano, enjoying some good food.
If you think about it, we’re under a lot of pressure to constantly plan our futures, career moves, holidays, improving our homes, investing for retirement – which is fine up to a point, but don’t underestimate the benefits of enjoying the small things in life as they happen to you, otherwise you run the risk of constantly planning your life, without actually living it.
Favourite venue in Cardiff?
Wales Millennium Centre – a world class venue in a world class location.
What annual event in Cardiff is an absolute must?
It has to be the Six Nations Rugby Championship – nothing else comes close to generating that amount of passion for so many people at the same time.
Favourite music and why?
There’s a guitarist called Pat Metheny who makes some of the most beautiful, moving and inspirational music I’ve ever heard. Try his album Beyond the Missouri Sky for a touch of heaven.
What gadget would you not be without and why?
My Remington nose and ear hair trimmer – it’s the gadget no man over forty should be without!
If you weren’t a psychotherapist, what would you be doing?
I’d like to think I’d be writing film scores. I love the way a good soundtrack can bring a film to life - John Barry, Dave Grusin, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer – pure genius.
Any lifelong ambition?
To speak fluent German, so that my wife (who is German) and my son can’t talk about me behind my back.
The most surprising thing that happened to you was…
Playing with my band, live on Blue Peter in 1989 to 12 million viewers.
I wish more people would take more notice of…
What their bodies are telling them. So many of my patients have ignored the warning signs when they’ve been pushing themselves too hard. It’s only when the wheel finally comes off the wagon that they do something about it, of course by then it’s a bigger problem to fix.
A phrase I use far too often is…
I believe that I’m repetitive-phrase free, although you’d have to check that with my family and friends!
I’m very good at…
Planning to do some gardening.
I’m very bad at…
Actually doing some gardening.
My ideal night out would be…
Starting as a quiet night out and then unexpectedly bumping into old friends who have, quite fortuitously become filthy rich, so they fly us all down, in a private jet of course, to their superyacht on the Riviera where a top French chef has conjured up a fantastic supper, oh and they happen to have Pat Metheny staying on board as well and he’s not happy unless he plays his whole back catalogue before he goes to bed every night – all washed down with a drop of good Pinotage!
In moments of weakness I…
Dig out my West Wing DVDs and fantasise about being as clever as those guys are.
The best age to be is…
Two years old. That’s the age our son is and I’m guessing that he’ll never get more wonder, joy and entertainment from the simple things in life (like a cardboard box) as he’s getting now.
In a nutshell my philosophy is…
It’s more important to know the person who has the problem than it is to know the problem the person has.
What I learned most in 2008 was…
That when they say “The value of investments can go down as well as up…” they actually mean it!
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