Gillian Tunstall

My usual working days are Mondays to Thursdays. 

Individuals:

As an integrative counsellor, my approach integrates perspectives from a range of theoretical disciplines: psychodynamic; humanistic; and cognitive behavioural therapy. The benefits of this approach are a flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of individuals. In addition I can offer EMDR as I have trained to level 4 and working towards accreditation.

Couple Counselling:

There may be certain aspects of your relationship that have started to make you and your partner unhappy. The attempts that you’ve both made to change the situation haven’t proved successful. So you’ve decided that it’s the time to seek professional support.

A certain degree of conflict and disagreement is completely natural and healthy in any relationship. What may provoke a sense of crisis is the feeling that an ongoing conflict has started to become unmanageable or the sensation that your relationship has become ‘’stuck’’ in a recurring or dysfunctional pattern of relating.

At one extreme, separation or divorce may already be on the agenda. What may be needed here is compassionate support in making the transition to your new and different lives as individuals. It may be necessary to let go of difficult and painful feelings before that crucial step can be taken.

On the other hand, you may feel that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with your relationship but that you’re nonetheless committed to deepening it and to strengthening your closeness and intimacy.

Counselling offers you the opportunity to talk things through with an impartial and non-judgemental facilitator. My aim is to offer a safe space for you to express feelings and discover new ways to interact with and to relate to your partner.

Seeking the help of a counsellor can be an important first step to greater self awareness and to a fuller and more rewarding life. It isn’t always easy but it can be very effective.

As a qualified counsellor with more than fifteen years' experience I offer confidential, professional, and non-judgemental counselling in Honor Oak Park, SE23 or online within an atmosphere of mutual respect. My aim is to create a safe space for you to explore the issues that can make life feel painful or difficult.

I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and abide by their code of ethics. I am committed to continual professional development.

It is important to me that my clients always feel safe and comfortable. You can be sure that I will always respect the confidentiality of the counselling process.

The questions that I ask in the first session will give me a “broad brush” understanding of your circumstances. Why have you sought counselling? What do you hope to achieve from it? Together we will discuss the issues that you need to focus on. Then you can decide how many sessions would be appropriate to do this in.

How many sessions would normally be required? This can vary a great deal. Even a few sessions can be enough to begin a process of significant change in some cases.

I aim to see clients within one week of them contacting me. We would normally meet at the same time each week. Individual sessions are 50 minutes and couple sessions are usually 60 mins.