David Linaker
Private Mentoring
For people who need a serious, unhurried place to think, speak, and tell the truth about their lives.
Where the real conversation
can finally happen
Something has shifted. Or broken. Or quietly stopped working.
You may not be able to name it precisely.
You are functioning, perhaps even well, by most measures.
But there is something you have been carrying for a long time, something that has not found the right container. Therapy has helped, or helped to a point.
Religion may have once offered a framework, but it no longer fits,
or perhaps it never quite did.
The people closest to you love you, but this particular thing is not something you can easily put into words with them.
You are not in crisis. But you are not fully alive to your own life either.
That is often where this work begins.
Who I Work With? - For Those Standing at a Crossroads
My clients are thoughtful people in midlife who have been through something significant: a bereavement, a rupture, a loss of faith, a marriage that ended, a version of themselves they can no longer sustain.
Many have been the strong ones, the capable ones, the ones others lean on. Until something shifted and the old self no longer held.
Most arrive having already done some work on themselves. They are not beginners.
What they need is not more techniques or frameworks, but a serious, sustained conversation with someone who will listen without flinching and speak without flattering.
What This Is
This is private mentoring for thoughtful adults who have outgrown the usual forms of support. It is not therapy, coaching, spiritual direction, or consultancy. It is sustained, confidential conversation with someone who will take your inner life seriously and speak to it honestly.
The work is unhurried, rigorous, and entirely focused on you.
How the Work Works
Containment before insight
We slow things down so honesty becomes possible.
Listening that clarifies
I reflect back what’s true, not what’s convenient.
Language that names things
We put words to what’s been circling for years.
Gentle, firm challenge
Truth without shame; clarity without cruelty.
Continuity
The work deepens as we hold the threads over time.
The Structure
One-to-one, confidential sessions are usually monthly or fortnightly
A six-month minimum is required; not as a commercial condition,
but because serious conversations take time to find their depth.
I work with a small number of people at any one time.
Not every enquiry is accepted. This matters to me, and I think it will matter to you too.
What Clients Say
“David was fundamental in helping me unpick the overwhelming grief and shame surrounding a traumatic same sex parent bond. His support, empathy and kindness were critical factors in me being able to understand and process the damage, and to move forward in life with compassion and strength. He has helped me carve an open, loving path for the future that acknowledges yet closes the door on the trauma, leaving it in the past where it belongs. I feel very lucky to have found David and cannot recommend him highly enough." - Penny
“Working with David is the safe place I need to actually stop and look at issues. Here, I feel safe enough to say what I think. Often, that is a garbled mess. David's ability to really listen, to ask the right questions and unscramble the mess is sometimes uncanny. He is able to put into words what has been running around in my head, sometimes for years. His patience is amazing, his humour funny and well placed, and I just love that I can put my mental luggage down for an hour and look at what is really worth keeping. I love the trust, the gentleness of his approach, and the right-between-the-eyes moments when he calls BS what it is and then helps me regroup and get on with it. He is such a wealth of knowledge and experience with a very kind heart and the genuine desire to make my world and the world in general a better place. Thank you, David, for keeping me sane, allowing my tears and the laughter and for kicking my butt when I need it - always in a kind way. Looking forward to more discoveries.” - Carina