Counselling Faculty

Certificate in Counselling Skills

Matt Martys MA, MBACP (Accred)

Certificate in Humanistic Counselling Skills (Saturdays/weekends) tutor
Matt is a long-standing BACP accredited Counsellor. Working from central London locations, he offers individual, couple and group therapy, individual and group supervision and offers an accredited mediation service. He has provided counselling for the last 20 years in a range of settings, including private practice, the NHS and in education. He has worked with a range of issues including depression, anger and anxiety as well as supporting self-exploration. He is a tutor in counselling and faculty member for various colleges in the London area including the Gestalt Centre London.

Julie Andrews MA, MBACP (Accred)

Certificate in Humanistic Counselling Skills (Friday mornings) tutor

Julie trained at the Gestalt Centre (Post-Graduate Certificate Gestalt Psychotherapy Theory) and went on to gain a Masters in Counselling at Goldsmiths University and a Certificate in Clinical Supervision at Regent’s University London. Alongside running this course, she provides individual & group supervision plus freelance training at City Lit including an ‘Introduction to Gestalt Counselling’.

Robert French MA, UKCP, MBACP

Certificate in Humanistic Counselling Skills (Thursday evenings & Sundays) tutor
Robert qualified as a Group and Individual Gestalt Psychotherapist via the Gestalt Centre in 2011. He runs a private practice in Old Street, London.

Umaa Thampu MBACP (Accred)

Certificate in Humanistic Counselling Skills (Wednesday evenings) tutor

Umaa trained and graduated at the Gestalt Centre, bringing over 10 years’ experience working in a diverse mix of professional settings. Her background is in social services, youth charities and managing community based counselling projects. Her interests are in cross cultural themes, shamanic, indigenous practices and working creatively to connect the body with nature and awareness.

Diploma in Counselling

Danny Boyle BA (Hons), UKCP

Diploma in Counselling tutor, Year 1 (Mondays)

Danny trained with the Gestalt Centre and is now an experienced UKCP registered psychotherapist and supervisor. He has a private practice in Hertfordshire as well as being the Gestalt Centre’s Head of Counselling and core tutor for the first year of the Diploma in Counselling. Danny is also the Placement Coordinator for the Gestalt Centre liaising with existing and potential placement organisations and sending regular bulletins to our students.

Peter Teigen BSc (Hons) Psychology, MA Gestalt Psychotherapy, UKCP

Diploma in Counselling tutor, Year 1 (Thursdays)

Peter has a background in the creative arts. After gaining his degree in psychology, he qualified as a group and individual psychotherapist at the Gestalt Centre. He has many years’ experience in private practice and is also a member of the British Psychological Society.

Sachiko Kishi MA, MBACP, UKCP

Diploma in Counselling tutor, Year 2

Sachiko trained with the Gestalt Centre herself and is now an experienced bi-lingual MBACP Gestalt counsellor and UKCP registered psychotherapist. She has a background in both the arts and in community mental health. She currently works in mental health in higher education as well as being a trainer and consultant.

Psychotherapy Faculty

Diploma in Professional Development

Adam Kincel PhD, MA, UKCP

Adam is a psychotherapist and supervisor with over 10 years’ experience. In addition to teaching at the Gestalt Centre, he also teaches internationally, particularly in Eastern Europe and the USA. He is particularly interested in a relational approach and therapeutic work through the body. His doctoral research examined the role of social and sexual identity in the therapeutic process.

Post Graduate Certificate

Urtzi Cristobal BSc Psychology, MA, UKCP, MBACP (Accred)

Urtzi is a psychotherapist and supervisor as well as our Post Graduate Certificate tutor. He worked for 11 years at a hospice where he trained and managed the staff as well as offering individual and group therapy for the terminally ill, their families and bereaved relatives.

Postgraduate Diploma

Carmen Joanne Ablack MSc PGDip Psychotherapy MIHM(Sen)

UKCP Registrant and Honorary Fellow. Postgraduate Diploma core tutor; GCL Supervisor

Carmen is an integrative body psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer working with individuals, groups, couples and organisations. She is a trained mediator and coach and is accredited as a Senior Manager by the Institute of Healthcare Management. Her theoretical, clinical, consultancy and teaching experience includes integrative and relational approaches; gestalt body psychotherapy; intercultural, sexual and diversity work; working with creativity and performance; somatic trauma therapy and transpersonal approaches in the psychological therapies. Carmen has been teaching psychotherapy, counselling and other psychological approaches to therapy since the 1980’s in the UK and abroad and is a regular keynote speaker. She has published a book chapter and various articles on psychotherapy theory, contemporary practice, regulation and governance. She is an Honorary Fellow of the UKCP, President of the EABP (European Association of Body Psychotherapists) and a member of UKAGP.

MA & Psychotherapy Practitioner Programme

Toni Gilligan MPhil

MA and Psychotherapy Practitioner Programme core tutor

Toni has worked with the NHS psychiatric services for 13 years. She is now in private practice as a UKCP Registered Gestalt Psychotherapist and is a co-director of the Gestalt Centre. She has worked in the voluntary sector and social services, and on the professional guidance committee of an innovatory therapeutic community. She has extensive experience of people with substance misuse problems and other severe psychological disturbances.

Supervised Practice Extension Group

Gaie Houston MA (Oxford) UKCP

Practice Group tutor

Gaie Houston is Emeritus Adviser to the Gestalt Centre London. She first trained in the US and has been teaching Gestalt and supervising since 1974. She has written a number of books on Gestalt, Brief work, Groups, Supervision and Integrative Therapy. She has written a number of plays, mostly for radio. She currently supervises senior trainees at the Gestalt Centre and works as a trainer in several countries outside the UK.

Visiting Tutors and Workshop Leaders

Visiting leaders are regularly invited to work in all years of the training. This gives trainees a wide experience of the theoretical understanding and practice of Gestalt and related approaches.

Michael Ellis MA UKCP

Certificate in Groupwork tutor

Michael is a psychotherapist, trainer, supervisor and organisational consultant. He has a background in social work and youth work including therapeutic work with families and children. He also has extensive experience of training design and delivery, predominantly in the public and voluntary sector. His MA is in organisational consultancy from the Tavistock Clinic and he works with teams and organisations in the health service as well as the private sector and with voluntary agencies. He has been training counsellors and psychotherapists for over twenty years.

Jane Puddy UKCP HCPC

Jane Puddy has a background in Drama Therapy, Family Therapy and Group Analysis. She works in a variety of social work, psychiatric and forensic settings, contributing to the development of Counselling and Psychotherapy courses internationally. She is also an Organisational Consultant.

Her relationship with the Gestalt Centre spans 33 years so far during which time she has been both a Director and Faculty member. She currently runs our Diploma in Supervision along with her good friend and colleague, Gaie Houston.

As Chair of our Ethics Committee, Jane advises both the Centre and its members on ethical matters.

Jane also hold the title of Honorary Psychotherapist for the Centre for Psychotherapy and Human Rights.

Tony Fraser

Having founded and led his own consultancy business from which he has retired, Tony is now chairman of Mayvin Ltd, an organisation consultancy specialising in OD.

He has held senior leadership positions in large corporations in Human Resources, Strategic Planning and Business Development.

This business track is complemented by psychotherapy training to enable him to work with people on emotional and relationship as well as business issues.

His current work includes:

• Consulting to large organisations on OD issues and assignments
• Coaching senior executives
• Leading the OD faculty at The London Gestalt Centre

Tony is the author of books and articles on interpersonal skills and management development including the Management of Interpersonal Skills Training and Gestalt in Management.

Christina Schuierer

Christina Schuierer is an OD consultant and trainer with 20 years experience of working with public and private organisations worldwide. She has helped development organisations and teams to become more successful in designing and implementing projects on economic development, environmental protection and organisational sustainability and has worked in more than 50 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

She is managing a small consulting company based in Berlin, teaches on the faculty of International universities and institutes and is responsible for staff care at the German headquarters of Médecins Sans Frontières. Christina applies the Gestalt Approach to consulting, training, coaching and therapy.

Jonathan Smith MA AFBPsS

Jonathan Smith MA AFBPsS qualified as a Gestalt Psychotherapist with the Gestalt Centre in 1987. He now works with individuals and groups as a therapist, supervisor and trainer. He also works for Birkbeck College, University of London, as a lecturer in psychology, and runs workshops and training events for a number of other colleges and institutes, including the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Psychosynthesis Trust, and the City Lit. His therapeutic background includes bodywork and psychosynthesis and he is accredited with AHPP and UKCP.

David Zigmond

David Zigmond trained initially in Medicine in the 1960s. From the 1970s he trained in both psychoanalytic and humanistic psychotherapies – he was among the first UK students of Gestalt and Transactional Analysis. For several decades he has worked as a frontline NHS Practitioner: as Psychotherapist, Psychiatrist and GP. His teaching has engaged a broad range of health professionals and psychotherapists. His wide-ranging publications explore neglected aspects of holistic psychological and social care. His practice, writing and teaching continue an imperfectable quest: how do we best combine art and science?

Core Management

Elina Stamou MA, MSA

Gestalt Centre Chief Executive

Leading the organisational management and growth of the Gestalt Centre, Elina has over 20 years’ experience working with diverse organisations and settings in education, emotional and psychological wellbeing, human rights, social work and disability. Elina’s interest, practice and experience is on organisational leadership and growth with awareness, humanity and a collaborative approach – with much creativity and resourcefulness.

Jacqueline Wearn

Executive Centre Manager

Jacqueline has an eclectic wealth of experience in business organisation and administration. She was a partner in a piano tuning and repair company for over fifteen years and Business Manager to a pianist/composer for the final ten years of that period. She also has experience of establishing an Alcohol Counselling Service, managing paid and voluntary staff and liaising with a wide range of statutory and non-statutory agencies.

This background has prepared her well for the diverse nature of life as Executive Centre Manager at the Gestalt Centre. Jacqueline continues to introduce new protocols and procedures to enable the efficient running of the training programmes and our busy premises.