Chichester · in person in Hove or online
Anxiety counselling for Chichester
When worry has you lying awake in Chichester, checking your bank balance again or rehearsing conversations that haven't happened, anxiety counselling gives you somewhere to slow it down. Sessions are one to one, on secure video or at a private room in Hove, and pay attention to what your body does as well as what your thoughts say. We'd begin with a free 15-minute phone call, which commits you to nothing.
The practical facts for Chichester
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Chichester by car
- About 48 minutes with clear roads (30.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Chichester to Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – West Team, 01273 265967
- Fees
- £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90, £120 for 120. The first 15-minute call is free.
- Registration
- BACP registered member, no. 109340 (check the register); UKCP student member in advanced psychotherapy training.
Deadlines, invoices and the 3am rehearsal
Anxiety here often has a practical face. At the University of Chichester's Bishop Otter Campus or at Chichester College, it might be a looming deadline, or the first months of living away from home with nobody to tell. For the self-employed, a growing group in the area, it can be an unpaid invoice, or the thought of falling ill with nobody to cover. Tourism and leisure work can mean irregular hours and little certainty about the next stretch. Public-sector jobs carry their own weight, with a feeling that one missed detail could matter. In a 2022/23 survey, 24.5% of West Sussex adults reported a high anxiety score, statistically similar to England's 23.8%. That's a countywide survey figure, and it has nothing to say about your own nights. What matters more is what worry is doing to your days, perhaps a tight chest each morning or plans you keep quietly cancelling.
Settling the body, then loosening the worry
We start by working out how anxiety runs in you. What triggers it, which part of your body it grips, and what you do to make it stop: re-reading an email five times, leaving the phone unanswered, asking a partner for reassurance, staying in. Those moves make sense, and they also teach your nervous system that the threat was real. Early sessions give you ways to slow your breathing and settle your body that you can use in a seminar room, before a client meeting or in bed at night, and we rehearse them in sessions until they feel automatic. Then we look at the thoughts that spin, separating the problems you can act on this week from the what-ifs that no amount of thinking will settle. If panic attacks are part of it, we look at what your body is doing during one, and chest pain or palpitations deserve a GP check, so your doctor can rule out a physical cause while we work on the panic itself. Later, if you want to, we look underneath, perhaps at years of being the reliable one or a loss that left the world feeling less safe.
Where anxiety shows up in Chichester lives
Deadlines at Bishop Otter
A student at the University of Chichester lying awake over a dissertation or a placement, convinced that everyone else on the course is coping better.
Paid when the work comes in
Self-employed and checking the bank app daily, unable to turn work down or rest in a quiet week because income never feels secure.
Back in a classroom at Chichester College
Starting a course, or returning to study as an adult, and dreading being asked to speak, until missed sessions quietly start to pile up.
Composed at work, wired at home
A public-sector role in the county town can demand a calm face all day, leaving the worry to arrive once you're home and the door is shut.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Chichester
Anxiety counselling with me can sit beside the free NHS route. NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies runs a West Team for the Chichester area, and you can refer yourself on 01273 265967. West Sussex Mind runs wider mental health support across the county, and if you're a student, it's worth asking your university or college what wellbeing help they offer.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – West Team01273 265967Free NHS talking therapy for anxiety, low mood and related difficulties. You can refer yourself, with no GP referral needed.
- If drinking or drug use is part of itWest Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live. Free and confidential.
- Local organisationChichester Counselling Services
For gambling, the National Gambling Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 8020 133 (NHS gambling support).
If someone at home is hurting, threatening or controlling you, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 2000 247.
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
In this area you can also text SUSSEX to 85258.
What people in Chichester ask before starting
Should I refer myself to the West Team or start private anxiety counselling in Chichester?
Both are reasonable, and one doesn't rule out the other. The West Team is free and needs no GP letter. Going private lets you pick your counsellor and your hour, and longer sessions are possible. You can begin privately while you're on their list, and if an NHS place comes up, we can talk about how to fit the two together.
I'm a student in Chichester with panic attacks. Can I have anxiety counselling by video?
Yes. Video suits anxiety work, as long as you have somewhere private to talk, which in shared housing might mean a quiet time in your own room with headphones. We can arrange sessions around lectures and placements. If the panic is new, or comes with chest pain or fainting, get checked by a GP or NHS 111 as well, so physical causes aren't missed.
Is it worth driving 48 minutes from Chichester for anxiety counselling?
It depends on what anxiety has done to your life. If you've stopped travelling, coming to Hove can become part of the work, at a pace you choose, and the direct train is another way in. If the drive would only add pressure to a full week, video gives you the same sessions without it. You can begin one way and change later.
I'm self-employed in Chichester and my anxiety is mostly about money. Is counselling for that?
Yes, it's a fair reason to come. Worry about income is real, and working for yourself can mean there's no colleague to share it with. Counselling can help you pull the practical problem apart from the dread around it, which makes decisions about work easier to think through. If older fears are feeding it, we can look at those when you're ready.
How much do sessions cost, and is the first call free?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, the same in person in Hove or by video. The first 15-minute call is free, with no obligation to book. There is no NHS referral needed to see me privately.
A short call to see where the worry starts
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.