Melrose Gunning, BACP

Melrose Gunning is a counsellor in the United Kingdom with four years of professional experience. She focuses on helping people cope with grief, stress and life changes. Melrose encourages clients to draw on their own strengths and views each person as the expert in their story.

She works with common concerns such as anxiety, low self-esteem and depression. Melrose also supports people dealing with family issues, divorce and separation, and communication problems. Additional areas of focus include caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, cancer, postpartum depression and end-of-life concerns.

Melrose pays attention to cultural factors and the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing. She aims to create practical, manageable steps so clients can try things between sessions. Responses to messages are normally sent the same day by early evening when received during working hours.

Her style is collaborative and straightforward. Conversations are paced to suit each person, with clear goals and options for different kinds of check-ins. Melrose helps people map what matters most, then chooses simple approaches to tackle the issues at hand.

People who prefer an encouraging, strength-based way of working often find this approach helpful. Sessions can include short-term work or longer conversations depending on the problem and what the person wants to achieve. Melrose invites people to begin by describing what they hope to change and what matters to them.

Evidence-based approaches and online support

Melrose draws on evidence-based therapeutic techniques that focus on practical change and emotional processing. One approach she uses helps people work through grief by naming what was lost, tracking the impact, and finding manageable ways to remember and move forward. This approach is useful for bereavement and end-of-life concerns.

Another common method centres on mood and anxiety management through step-by-step behavioural and thinking changes. That work helps with low mood, worry and stress by breaking problems into small tasks and testing new ways of coping between sessions.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. Melrose will discuss options with each person, listen to goals and preferences, and then agree a plan. That collaboration means the method can change as needs evolve and progress is reviewed regularly.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat and text-based messaging to suit different needs. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when that is helpful. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for short check-ins. Messaging and live chat suit people who prefer written check-ins or a flexible way to share thoughts between meetings. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, caregiving or travel commitments.