Ingrid Gunby

Accompanying another human being in therapy is an extraordinary privilege. I aim to offer a warm, empathic space where your feelings and experience are deeply listened to, and you have time and space to explore, and to discover what is true and right for you, without feeling analysed or judged.

I work with a wide range of clients, in both short-term and long-term psychotherapy. I have a particular interest in working with people who have experienced developmental trauma, which may manifest in a variety of ways, including chronic depression, anxiety, suicidality, communication or relationship problems, physical health problems, or a diagnosis of a personality disorder. I am also interested in the ways that neurodiversity and trauma can intersect.

Often, people are not aware that the things they struggle with as an adult have their origins in early life – or, if they do know there’s a link, they still find that it’s hard to change. My work as a psychotherapist is based in the understanding that our brains and nervous systems – and therefore our bodies and selves – are not self-contained or separate, but develop throughout our lives in relationship with other brains, bodies and selves. We are wired for connection, and the absence of nourishing connections, especially in infancy and childhood, shapes the actual structure of our brain as well as our communication and relationship patterns, including how we relate to ourselves. We can’t simply think ourselves out of these patterns: we have to experience a different kind of connection, in which we are deeply seen and known, and in which we can develop a new, healthy relationship to our emotions, and revise our ingrained, largely unconscious, programming about what relationships should look and feel like.
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The Conversational Model, a powerful, flexible, jargon-free model of psychodynamic psychotherapy, provides the overall framework for my work. I also incorporate elements of somatic (body-focussed) psychotherapy, with its understanding of how we are shaped by our relationships, and by trauma, at a physiological level, affecting our feelings, thoughts and behaviour, and how we can activate our innate capacity for healing through working with the body.

As well as talking therapy, I offer equine-assisted psychotherapy, both as a stand-alone therapy and in combination with in-office sessions. You can see more about my equine-assisted psychotherapy work on my website: www.ingridgunby.com