Gustav

Gustav Been, MSc

Therapeutic Counselor

Verified

“For people between one version of their life and the next, who already understand themselves well and find that isn’t always enough to change things. Many are navigating identity, relationships, or a life abroad, including queer clients who’d rather spend less time explaining and more time in the work. Counselling online and southern Spain, in English and Swedish.”

About Me

You can often see it while it’s happening. The reaction that arrives before you’ve chosen it. The conversation that ends in the same place it always does. The way you’ve already adjusted before anything was asked of you. Most of the people I work with are somewhere between one version of their life and the next. A move, a relationship, a career, a sense of self that worked in the old context and doesn’t quite carry into the new one. I work slowly, and I don’t move past what’s just come up. What I’m actually tracking is what’s happening while we talk, rather than the history behind it or your theory about it. This tends to suit people who’d rather spend less of the hour explaining and more of it inside the work, queer clients especially. Sessions are online, in English or Swedish, and in person in Costa Tropical or Málaga, by arrangement. Private-pay only, no insurance billing. The first step is a free half-hour conversation. More at gustavbeen.com/the-practice.

Approach

I pay attention to what happens while you’re speaking, not only to what you say. A shift in tone. A withdrawal. Something that tightens and gets talked past. When I notice it, I’ll slow us down rather than carry on, and we stay with what came up instead of moving off it. My work draws mainly on Internal Family Systems, which approaches the different parts of a person with curiosity rather than trying to manage or remove them. In couples work I bring structure where it helps, tracking how conflict escalates and how repair actually happens, as it happens.
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Basic Information
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In-person & Online

Services

People usually arrive with something in a relationship, conflict that repeats, distance that has crept in, difficulty feeling close or understood. Or something internal that hasn’t shifted despite real effort. Often both at once. Common ground: repeating relational patterns, identity shifts, life transitions, self-worth, anxiety, the particular disorientation of building a life in a new country. With couples, usually conflict cycles, disconnection, and rebuilding trust. What connects them is often the experience of seeing the pattern clearly and still finding yourself inside it.

Services Offered:

  • Counselling

    A form of talk therapy providing a safe, confidential space to explore feelings, thoughts, and behaviours with a trained professional.

    Learn more about Counselling
  • Online Counselling

    Counselling conducted via video, phone, or secure messaging, providing professional support remotely.

    Learn more about Online Counselling
  • Relationship Counselling

    Counselling for couples or partners focused on improving communication, rebuilding trust, and strengthening emotional connection.

  • Internal Family Systems

    A therapy model that views the mind as made up of distinct sub-personalities or 'parts', each with its own role, and works to help these parts communicate and heal under the leadership of a core Self.

Works With:

  • Adults
  • Couples
  • Individuals

Area of Expertise

Scope of Practice:

  • Cross-Cultural

    The psychological challenges of living between two or more cultures, including identity conflicts, acculturation stress, and difficulties with belonging.

  • Identity & Self-Image

    A person's sense of who they are, including their values, beliefs, roles, and self-perception, and the distress that arises when this sense is unclear, fragmented, or negative.

  • LGBTQI+ Support

    The unique psychological experiences of LGBTQI+ individuals, including identity exploration, coming out, discrimination, minority stress, and relationship dynamics.

  • Life Transitions

    Major life changes, such as relocation, retirement, parenthood, or career shifts, that disrupt routine and require psychological adjustment.

    Learn more about Life Transitions
  • Relationship Issues

    Difficulties in romantic relationships, including communication problems, trust breakdowns, conflict patterns, or uncertainty about the relationship's future.

    Learn more about Relationship Issues
  • Relocation / Expat

    The psychological challenges of moving to a new country or city, including loneliness, culture shock, identity shifts, and loss of social support.

    Learn more about Relocation / Expat

Professional Title:

  • Therapeutic Counselor

    A counselor providing therapeutic support to help clients work through emotional and psychological difficulties.

Credentials

Qualifications

MSc in Psychology

Arden University

Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy Training

IFSCA

Gottman Method Clinical Training: Level 2

The Gottman Institute

Service Areas

Practice

In-person & Online

Málaga, Andalusia

Spain

Also serving online:

Barcelona · Madrid · València

Málaga, Spain