Gill Tunstall
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Individual Counselling
Sometimes talking to friends and family isn’t enough. They may try to help by pointing out all the things you have to be thankful for, but that will just make you feel worse. You need to talk about the difficult feelings you’re experiencing, and to have them acknowledged. There is a lot of pressure to be in a good mood, so we can get in the habit of hiding our sad feelings, but a good therapist can help you get back in touch with your feelings and identify things you might want to change.
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 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.
Sometimes you have to make the decisions that will enable you to move on. Sometimes it's more important to fully understand and acknowledge what you really feel about your life.
People seek the help of counsellors for all kinds of reasons. Are you struggling with feelings of worthlessness or finding it difficult to assert yourself? Do you feel helpless and unable to cope in the face of a new and sudden crisis? Do you feel that life is empty and lacking in meaning? Do close relationships leave you without a sense of depth or intimacy? These are all issues that can be illuminated by the counselling process.
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.
Issues that can be helped by Couple counselling
As a trained couple therapist I work with couples who may be dealing with some of these issues. :
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- Ineffective communication
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- Anger and frustration
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- Affairs and betrayals
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- Bereavement
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- Indecision about commitment
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- Life transitions
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- Lack of desire
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- Sexual difficulties
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- Infertility
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- Starting a family
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- Separation and divorce
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a Diploma and an MA in Integrative Counselling from London Metropolitan University, a Diploma in Couple Therapy from Re-Vision a Certificate in Couple Therapy from the Couples Institute, EMDR training with EMDR Works, a BSc (Hons) Psychology from Goldsmiths College and an MSc in Health Psychology from the University of Westminster.
Facilitating small therapeutic groups is a special interest and I have studied Group Facilitation at the Gestalt Centre, London.
My clients have come from a wide range of backgrounds and have had a wide spectrum of differing concerns. I have experience of working in a counselling agency with carers and within the education sector with both students and staff.
My background in the Social Services and Higher Education include experience of work related issues including bullying in the workplace.
I am a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and abide by their codes of ethics.
It is important to me that my clients feel safe and comfortable. You can be sure that I will always respect the confidentiality of the counselling process.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
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.
Therapies offered
Fees
£70.00 - £100.00
Free initial telephone or online session
Additional information
Individuals
£70
Couples
£100
(including the initial session)
Sessions are 50 minutes for individuals and 60 minutes for couples and we would usually meet once a week
The questions that I will ask in the first session should give me a broad understanding of your circumstances. Why have you sought counselling? What do you hope to achieve from it? Together we can discuss the issues that you need to focus on. Then we can decide how many sessions would be appropriate to do this in. Even a few sessions can sometimes be enough to begin a process of significant change.
My fees and counselling contract are subject to annual review.
When I work
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Mondays - 11am to 6pm
Tuesdays - 9.30am to 6pm
Wednesdays - 2.30pm - 7pm
Thursdays - 10.30am to 4.30pm