About Romi

Understanding why we’re stuck is importantLearning how to move beyond it,is what changes our lives

I’m Dr. Romi Ran, an author, speaker, and coach. My work focuses on how we experience ourselves, and the possibility that things may look different when we learn to see more clearly.

Background & perspective

Grounded in study.
Shaped by life.

I hold a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oxford and worked as a research coordinator at Harvard University. My training gave me a grounding in how we think, feel, and respond to the world, and taught me to ask careful questions about the stories we tell ourselves.

My experience spans clinical, academic, and private settings, working with adults individually and in groups across the UK, Europe, and the Americas. It has taken me into questions of identity, self-worth, relationships, and change. Food and body image are one area of specialism within this wider work, and the subject of my book, Bite Sized Peace.

Alongside this, years of contemplative practice, including extended silent and dark room retreats, have given me another way to investigate and experience the mind: to explore what lies beneath our thoughts, emotions, patterns, and the identities we take ourselves to be. These two ways of learning continue to inform each other.

My experience in end-of-life support brings these questions into a particularly human setting. Sitting with people as they approach death has deepened my attention to how we live: what we hold on to, what matters to us, and how we meet uncertainty.

How I work

I’m intrigued by the gap between understanding a pattern and being able to live differently. We can recognize what we do, even understand why, and still find ourselves doing it again. Much of my work takes place in that gap: helping people move from identifying what is happening to learning how to change their response.

I bring psychological thinking together with contemplative practice and meditation. This means looking at both the stories we tell about our lives and what we experience in the moment—our thoughts, feelings, and the reactions that can be easy to miss until they have already taken over.

My approach is warm and direct. I pay attention to the particulars of a person’s life: where a pattern shows up, what keeps it going, and what matters to them. The work takes shape through that understanding, rather than through a ready-made formula.

Recognizing a pattern creates a starting point. Learning to pause, consider another response, and practise it in everyday situations is how that insight becomes useful. I’m interested in changes that carry into a difficult decision, a relationship, or the way we speak to ourselves.

Continue exploring

Where would you like to go next?

For audiencesSpeaking & workshops↗For youPrivate coaching↗For readersBite Sized Peace↗