Fiona Turnbull

I know it can sometimes feel like a big step to start therapy, especially for the first time. My aim is always to support you to feel as safe as you can and at ease with me, even when we might be talking about painful experiences. I'm down-to-earth and humane in my style and sensitive to finding a pace and approach that feels right for you. I'll offer questions, reflections and invitations to help you explore all aspects of yourself: thoughts, emotions, physical experiences, imagination and spirituality if that's something you relate to. As your awareness of yourself, your relationships and your situation deepens, more clarity, choice, sense of direction, and satisfaction in life can open up. I don't promise transformation, nor do I push change. For most of us, making a desired change or adapting to an unexpected or unwanted change in our lives doesn't happen overnight and can bring up a lot of mixed feelings. That's why I foster a patient approach to change. My core training is in an approach called gestalt psychotherapy: it's a life-affirming style of therapy which fundamentally believes in the capacity of each person to grow towards a satisfying and fulfilling life. I also draw on attachment theory, intersectional feminist therapy thinking and existential ideas. I predominantly work long-term with clients on an open-ended basis though am equally comfortable with shorter time-limited therapy where we'll agree a fixed number of sessions, usually a minimum of 12. I mainly work in person and am open to online and hybrid ways of meeting too. I see clients on a weekly basis at a regular time.

I'm a skilled and compassionate gestalt psychotherapist and supervisor with a strong commitment to supporting my clients live more fulfilling lives. No two clients are the same and so my starting point is always to meet your individual experience with respect, kindness and hopefulness. I work with a wide diversity of clients facing many different challenges. Frequently, I work with clients experiencing: - grief and loss; - anxiety; - significant life transitions; - low self-esteem, shame and feelings of inadequacy; - and the impact of trauma, abuse and neglect, including earlier in their lives. I strive to work within an anti-oppressive approach, recognising how often our contexts and identities impact on our distress, and I have a particular interest in gender. I worked previously for several years as a senior counsellor at Royal Trinity Hospice. Prior to that, I ran a peer support project for Cruse Bereavement Care for people bereaved as a result of drug of alcohol use, following a first career in public and voluntary sector communications. I facilitate staff reflection groups in the funeral sector. I am passionate about literature as a way of understanding ourselves, our relationships and the wider world and am currently planning a new therapy book group, exploring personal growth through fiction.