Reimagining later life
with purpose, joy, and reflection.
About Dr. Denise Taylor
I am a Chartered Psychologist, author, and researcher writing and working from inside later life.
After more than five decades in full-time work, including a doctorate completed in my sixties, I chose a different rhythm. One shaped by reflection, meaning, and attention to what matters now.
My work focuses on how people navigate the long, complex years beyond midlife. Not as a period of decline or endless leisure, but as a psychologically distinct phase that asks new questions about identity, contribution, health, and purpose.
I created ThriveSpan to hold this work. ThriveSpan charts a more conscious path through later life, where wellbeing, purpose, and reflection meet. It brings together research, lived experience, and years of listening to people at turning points in their lives.
Today, my work spans strategic consultancy with organisations, reflective one-to-one conversations, and immersive experiences in nature. From short, focused online sessions to longer days in the woodland, I help people step out of inherited scripts and into ways of living that feel more honest, grounded, and sustainable.
Trusted to provide expertise to
Award-winning research
In 2024, Dr Denise Taylor received the UK Career Development Award for Research by a Career Development Professional for her doctoral study into meaning and identity after full-time work. Her research explored the psychological factors that support a fulfilling and grounded later life.
Shaping later-life strategy
I work with organisations and the media to support more thoughtful, psychologically grounded approaches to ageing and later life. My work helps leaders, policymakers, and commentators move beyond narrow productivity or longevity narratives, towards strategies that recognise identity change, contribution, and wellbeing across longer lives.
Organisational strategy
Working with organisations to design later-life and extended-career strategies that reflect real lives, not outdated assumptions or one-size-fits-all models.
Media & Public Commentary
Trusted commentary on ageing, careers, and later life for press, podcasts, and public discussion, grounded in research and lived experience.
Speaking & thought leadership
Talks and contributions that invite more nuanced conversations about ageing, purpose, identity, and what it means to live well in later life.
Personal guidance for later life
I work with individuals navigating turning points in later life, including stepping away from work, rethinking identity, and finding new sources of meaning and stability. Using the ThriveSpan approach, I support people to move beyond inherited labels and make choices that feel grounded, realistic, and self-directed.
Later-life coaching (ThriveSpan)
One-to-one work for people navigating later-life transitions, offering space to reflect, regain clarity, and shape what comes next with intention.
Mentoring & teaching
Support for coaches and professionals who want to deepen their understanding of midlife and later-life transitions, drawing on psychology, practice, and reflection.
Deep Imagery
Guided inner work using deep imagery to support reflection, emotional insight, and connection with what is emerging beneath the surface.
Reflective work in nature
Time in nature creates a different quality of reflection. From a single day in the woods to a longer Vision Quest, these experiences offer space to step away from noise, listen more deeply, and return with greater clarity.
Woodland days
A single, gently guided day in the woods, offering psychologically informed space to reflect, reset, and think clearly about what matters now.
Nature retreats
Longer, immersive time in nature for those who need distance from everyday demands and space for insight to unfold gradually.
Vision Quest
A traditional rite of passage held in wild nature, offering deep reflection at times of transition, loss, or significant life change.
Books by Dr Denise Taylor on careers, ageing, and navigating life transitions
Dr Denise Taylor is the author of several books on careers, ageing, and life transitions. Her writing explores work, identity, and meaning across longer lives, and is widely used by individuals, practitioners, and organisations navigating change.
Media
Featured in the media
Denise’s expertise regularly sees her contribute to newspapers, articles, magazines, and radio interviews, providing insight on a range of topics.
Ready to begin your journey?
Book a 30-minute session to explore how I can support you.
Whether you’re navigating a transition, seeking deeper purpose, or drawn to nature for renewal, this is a space to begin. Together we’ll look at what matters now and how to shape the next stage of your life with clarity and intention.