Larry Culliford trained in medicine at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and Guy’s Hospital, London, worked in hospital medicine and general practice in UK, New Zealand and Australia, and later qualified as a psychiatrist, working until retirement in the UK National Health Service. Fascinated by the vital question, ‘What is mental health?’ he began thinking and writing on the subject in the late 1970s, eventually publishing books and articles on happiness, psychology and spirituality under his name and a pseudonym Patrick Whiteside The Little Book of Happiness: Your Guide to a Better Life was an international bestseller and remains a seminal book in the category.

Conscious that spirituality transcends all religious boundaries, working with patients and colleagues from all the world faiths and none, Larry became aware that a widely-acceptable non-denominational language of spirituality was required, in order fully to explore this vital aspect of physical, mental and social health. Spirituality is an essential element of human and social psychology, a crucial – if largely invisible and significantly under-estimated – factor in everyday life.