Peter Dunn

I currently have availability for on-line sessions on Thursday evenings; and in-person sessions at The Eaves Counselling and Psychological Services, Guildford, on Wednesday afternoons. There may be some availability at other times.

While most of us can find solutions to our problems ourselves, when things are very difficult it can feel impossible to resolve what is so troubling without skilled help. Or sometimes, we might just need someone to talk things through with. I will listen to you carefully, and I will not make assumptions about you or judge you. Using a person-centred approach combined with my natural warmth and empathy, I can gently enable you to unpack the issues you are struggling with. As an integrative counsellor, I combine person-centred methods with psychodynamic insights to help you understand where problems might have originated and how they can be eased. I also use Gestalt, transactional analysis and cognitive-behavioural techniques to help you manage difficult emotions. Some people continue to use these skills long after counselling has ended. 

I offer 50 minute sessions either at The Eaves in Guildford, or on-line using Zoom or MS Teams. I am willing to see clients fortnightly if that is their preference, though it is usually best to have weekly sessions for the first few weeks at least. Recognising that life often makes unpredictable demands, I try to be as flexible as I can about the timing and location of sessions. For example, if you cannot attend a face to face session due to a unexpected work commitment, I will try to find a time for us to meet on-line that week instead.

You may just want to talk - to be heard, and understood. Or if you like creative activity, we can make use of writing, drawing, or objects sometimes to help focus on the issues with which you want help. Some people find it helpful to do some written work between sessions for us to review together next time. Our work together will be guided by whatever suits you best and I will never try to impose my preferences upon you. 

I am happy to offer a phone conversation of up to 30 minutes, free of charge, to help you decide if you would like me to work with you. If you want to go ahead, in our first session I will ask you to sign a counselling agreement that sets out what I will provide for you, and what we can expect from each other in our work together. From that point onwards, the content of sessions depends very much on what you want from therapy and on your preferences about how we work together.