Hi, I’m Miguel, a UKCP-registered Gestalt psychotherapeutic counsellor offering therapy in person in Manchester and online.
People often come to me when something has stopped working: a relationship, a way of coping, a sense of who they are or where they’re heading. Sometimes it’s anxiety that’s been building, or a low mood that’s taken hold, whether from a world that feels increasingly unstable or what’s happening closer to home; sometimes it’s harder to name. For others, it’s the lasting impact of what they’ve been through. Among the people I’ve worked with are survivors of coercive, cultic or religious abuse, and those affected by humanitarian work, military service, conflict and displacement.
I also offer personal therapy to Gestalt trainees. Having trained at the Manchester Gestalt Centre and assisted on training programmes, I understand the demands and discoveries of the training journey. I offer weekly sessions that can continue throughout your training, and can confirm hours for your course. We can talk openly about any overlap in the training community at the start.
I work in English, and welcome bilingual Spanish-speaking clients who’d like to move between both languages.
If something here resonates, I offer a free 30-minute video call to see if we’re a good fit.
My work is grounded in Gestalt therapy, a relational and experiential approach that attends not only to what you say, but to how your experiences are held in your body, emotions, relationships and the wider conditions of your life.
I see distress not as something wrong with you, but as meaningful responses to your history, relationships and circumstances: ‘creative adjustments’ that once helped you cope, even if they now feel limiting.
I was an artist before I trained as a therapist, and it still shapes how I work. We might draw, paint, move, or use images and sound to give shape to what’s hard to say; no artistic skill needed. Many trauma survivors find this reaches what talking alone doesn’t.
We’ll go at a pace that feels manageable, with enough support to feel safe and enough challenge to grow. I take suffering seriously, but I also value humour and humanity. I’ve seen, including in humanitarian settings, how laughter and shared connection can heal.
I’m not able to offer crisis support or emergency interventions, or replace statutory mental health services.