About Me
Our stories bring us together so let me tell you mine
About Me
Our stories bring us together so let me tell you mine
Who I Am & How I Think
At the heart of my work is a simple reality:
Mental health challenges are often the result of prolonged pressure.
When pressure builds, mental capacity drops, and over time, that starts to affect how you think, feel, and function.
My role is to help you or your organisation understand and manage that pressure, not just when things break down, but before they do.
This isn’t just professional — it’s personal.
In 2014, while working in a senior leadership role, I was managing multiple significant life and work pressures at once. Over time, that led to burnout, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and a noticeable reduction in my ability to think, cope and function as I normally would.
Stepping away from work gave me the space to reflect on what had happened, recognise my own neurodivergence, and better understand my interest in structured ways of understanding pressure, complexity and human functioning.
During this period, I began mapping the pressures affecting different areas of my life and how they were collectively impacting my capacity to cope and function effectively. That reflection ultimately became the foundation for developing the 8Wise®️ Method.
Who I Am & How I Think
At the heart of my work is a simple reality:
Mental health challenges are often the result of prolonged pressure.
When pressure builds, mental capacity drops, and over time, that starts to affect how you think, feel, and function.
My role is to help you or your organisation understand and manage that pressure, not just when things break down, but before they do.
This isn’t just professional — it’s personal.
In 2014, while working in a senior leadership role, I was managing multiple significant life and work pressures at once. Over time, that led to burnout, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and a noticeable reduction in my ability to think, cope and function as I normally would.
Stepping away from work gave me the space to reflect on what had happened, recognise my own neurodivergence, and better understand my interest in structured ways of understanding pressure, complexity and human functioning.
During this period, I began mapping the pressures affecting different areas of my life and how they were collectively impacting my capacity to cope and function effectively. That reflection ultimately became the foundation for developing the 8Wise®️ Method.
Experience & Perspective
I have over 20 years’ experience across mental health, personal development, and organisational wellbeing.
I’ve worked in corporate environments, education, and health and social care, and I’ve operated at senior management level.
I now run my own business, so I understand first-hand the realities of responsibility, pressure, and decision-making.
This means I don’t just look at symptoms.
I look at how pressure is building across your life and work, and how that’s affecting your ability to think clearly, perform, and function.
Transformation One
After leaving the West Country I started to bloom as my life, confidence and self-esteem blossomed. I graduated from the University of Liverpool and carved out a thriving career in people development working within Social Welfare organisations, such as: Education, Skills and Employability, Health and Social Care and Charities. My career led me internationally supporting with new business projects and ventures in Australia, China, Poland and the UAE. But the limiting beliefs that plagued me as a child continued to drive my ambition in unsustainable ways, impacting my psychological wellbeing negatively.
Experience & Perspective
I have over 20 years’ experience across organisational, leadership, people development and mental health and wellbeing.
I’ve worked across corporate environments, education, employability, housing, and health and social care, including operating at senior leadership and management level.
I now run my two businesses; Dalton Wise Consultancy and the 8Wise Project CIC, so I understand first-hand the realities of responsibility, pressure, leadership, decision-making and sustaining performance over time.
This means I don’t just focus on symptoms. I take a wider view, looking at how life, work, leadership, relationships and responsibility interact, and how those pressures influence a person’s capacity, performance, decision-making and ability to function sustainably.
My Mission
I believe that everyone deserves to feel mentally steady, emotionally supported, and safe in their own mind. My mission is simple: to make mental health understandable, approachable, and something people can genuinely work on in real, everyday life.
Through therapy, coaching, and guided support, I help individuals and organisations build emotional resilience, strengthen self-awareness, and create environments — at home and at work — where wellbeing is prioritised and people feel able to thrive.
Transformation One
After leaving the West Country I started to bloom as my life, confidence and self-esteem blossomed. I graduated from the University of Liverpool and carved out a thriving career in people development working within Social Welfare organisations, such as: Education, Skills and Employability, Health and Social Care and Charities. My career led me internationally supporting with new business projects and ventures in Australia, China, Poland and the UAE. But the limiting beliefs that plagued me as a child continued to drive my ambition in unsustainable ways, impacting my psychological wellbeing negatively.
Experience & Perspective
I have over 20 years’ experience across mental health, personal development, and organisational wellbeing.
I’ve worked in corporate environments, education, and health and social care, and I’ve operated at senior management level.
I now run my own business, so I understand first-hand the realities of responsibility, pressure, and decision-making.
This means I don’t just look at symptoms.
I look at how pressure is building across your life and work, and how that’s affecting your ability to think clearly, perform, and function.
Experience & Perspective
I have over 20 years’ experience across mental health, personal development, and organisational wellbeing.
I’ve worked in corporate environments, education, and health and social care, and I’ve operated at senior management level.
I now run my own business, so I understand first-hand the realities of responsibility, pressure, and decision-making.
This means I don’t just look at symptoms.
I look at how pressure is building across your life and work, and how that’s affecting your ability to think clearly, perform, and function.
Experience & Perspective
I have over 20 years’ experience across organisational, leadership, people development and mental health and wellbeing.
I’ve worked across corporate environments, education, employability, housing, and health and social care, including operating at senior leadership and management level.
I now run my two businesses; Dalton Wise Consultancy and the 8Wise Project CIC, so I understand first-hand the realities of responsibility, pressure, leadership, decision-making and sustaining performance over time.
This means I don’t just focus on symptoms
I take a wider view, looking at how life, work, leadership, relationships and responsibility interact, and how those pressures influence a person’s capacity, performance, decision-making and ability to function sustainably.
How I Work
Most people don’t need fixing, they need the space for developing understanding and structured support that leads to clarity and stability.
By using the 8Wise® Method, I help you and your teams:
Understand what’s actually happening beneath the surface
Identify where pressure is building across life and work
Recognise patterns, behaviours and pressures keeping things stuck
Create a clear, practical and sustainable way forward
I provide a structured, psychology-led approach, not open-ended conversations with generic advice. You can expect me to be:
Direct
Honest
Practical
If you’re managing ongoing pressure and life, leadership or work are starting to feel harder than they should, this is where we start.
How I Work
Most people don’t need fixing, they need the space for developing understanding and structured support that leads to clarity and stability.
By using the 8Wise® Method, I help you and your teams:
Understand what’s actually happening beneath the surface
Identify where pressure is building across life and work
Recognise patterns, behaviours and pressures keeping things stuck
Create a clear, practical and sustainable way forward
I provide a structured, psychology-led approach, not open-ended conversations with generic advice.
You can expect me to be:
Direct
Honest
Practical
If you’re managing ongoing pressure and life, leadership or work are starting to feel harder than they should, this is where we start.
Next Steps
Everything I do is grounded in the 8Wise® Method, giving you a clear, structured way to manage the challenges of life and reduce their impact in your mental health and wellbeing
Next Steps
Everything I do is grounded in the 8Wise® Method, giving you a clear, structured way to manage the challenges of life and reduce their impact in your mental health and wellbeing
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© 2026 Kim Rutherford Official. Part of Dalton Wise Consultancy Ltd. Registered in England & Wales: 08355495
8Wise® is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.
Transformation Two
I transitioned once again, this time from corporate leader to self-employed Psychotherapist and Coach, only this time with a thriving mind thanks to developing optimal psychological wellbeing with my 8Wise method. With my new healthier happier mind, I founded two companies, as well as published four books and hosted a global podcast, all based on my signature methodology, 8Wise™, which I firmly believe is the blueprint for developing optimal mental health and wellbeing and a happier healthy life.
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Kim Rutherford is a registered member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS)
Sign up to the 8Wise newsletter
© 2026 Kim Rutherford Official. Part of Dalton Wise Consultancy Ltd. Registered in England & Wales: 08355495
8Wise® is a registered trademark. All rights reserved.