Susan Cunningham

Daytime appointments available between 9-3 Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Both face-to-face and online appointments are available.

Hi, I'm Suzie (she/her), a qualified counsellor trained in Gestalt therapy. I offer neuro-affirming counselling for adults navigating burnout, identity and the question of what comes next. 

I firmly believe you are not a problem to be solved. A lot of us have been handed the message, somewhere along the way, that we’re too much or not enough. That there’s a correct way to be a person, and we’re doing it wrong.

I don’t work from that idea. I don’t think you’re broken, and I don’t think my job is to fix you. I think you already carry most of what you need to make sense of your life — and that it is much easier to find when someone is paying careful, unhurried attention alongside you. Counselling with me tends to look like curiosity rather than correction. We notice what’s happening. We stay with it a  while. We see what it has to tell us.

Clients often come to me when something has shifted in their lives, be that a late diagnosis of neurodivergence, midlife changes and transitions or through experiencing depletion and burnout. I believe that you do not need a crisis to deserve a space to think and reflect, you just need somewhere where it's safe to be honest.

I treat all my clients as individuals and use a holistic approach grounded in neuro-affirming practice, respecting the needs of my clients. 

Sessions held in person in Portchester, Hampshire, or online within in the UK.

Before the first session, I offer a free 20-minute call — by telephone or online, where I will describe how I work, you can ask me anything, and we’ll both get a sense of whether this feels like a fit.

If we do go ahead, I’ll send you a working agreement — a plain-English document covering confidentiality and its limits, fees, cancellations and how we’ll work together. We’ll both sign it before the first session, so nothing is unclear once we start.

The first session is mostly about getting to know each other. I’ll want to understand what’s brought you here, what you’re hoping for, and what you expect from counselling — including anything you’ve tried before that helped, and anything that really didn’t.

We’ll also talk about how you work best. What helps you think. What makes it harder. Whether you’d rather have questions in advance, or a few minutes of quiet at the start, or a clear structure to each session. None of that is a special request — it’s just useful information.