Havant · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Anxiety counselling for Havant
If worry or panic has started to shape your days in Havant, Bedhampton or Leigh Park, anxiety counselling gives you a calm hour each week to understand it and work out what helps. We can meet by secure video from home, or in my room in Hove, a direct train ride from Havant.
The practical facts for Havant
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Havant by car
- About 60 minutes with clear roads (41.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Havant to Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, 023 8038 3920
- 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.
What keeps a Havant mind on high alert
For some people in Havant, anxiety starts on the platform.
If you take the Portsmouth Direct line towards London, the early train, the crowded carriage and the fear of a delay can set your heart going before the working day has begun. For others it's closer to home: a bill that won't add up, a parent's health, a teenager's exams, or a busy Saturday in town that suddenly feels too loud and too full. Hampshire's figure for adults with a high anxiety score was 26.3% in 2022/23, not significantly different from England's 23.8%. It comes from a national wellbeing survey and isn't a description of you. Anxiety often hides well. You might still go to work and look after everyone, while lying awake rehearsing tomorrow, avoiding phone calls or checking the same things over and over.
Settling the body, then the worry
We begin with how your anxiety works for you in particular: when it arrives, what it does to your body, what you do to get through it, and what that costs you. Then we work on two fronts. One is practical, finding ways to slow your breathing and settle the rush of adrenaline that you can use on the platform at Havant or in a queue in the Meridian. The other goes underneath: what the anxiety is trying to protect you from, and whether that threat is still real now. If avoidance has crept in, we can plan small steps back towards the things you've stopped doing, at a speed you choose. A walk at Staunton Country Park or along Langstone Harbour can become one of those steps if it suits you. If drinking has become a way to take the edge off, we can look at that honestly too. If your heart races or your chest tightens, your GP can check there's no physical cause and answer questions about medication, and they can work alongside our sessions. Worry that never switches off is enough of a reason to get in touch, even if you've never had a panic attack.
Where anxiety can catch you in Havant
Exam season at home
When a son or daughter at Havant Sixth Form College is facing exams, your own worry can run hotter than theirs. Sessions give that worry somewhere to go that isn't them.
Crowds you used to enjoy
A home match at Havant and Waterlooville F.C. or a busy afternoon in town can start to feel like too much. We work out why, and plan small, manageable returns.
Worry you can't put down
Lying awake in Warblington or Bedhampton rehearsing every conversation, checking the doors twice, or leaving the post unopened because of what it might say.
A wellbeing centre in town
Havant and East Hants Mind has a wellbeing centre on the first floor of the Meridian Shopping Centre. Ask them what it offers at the moment, as it can sit alongside our sessions.
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 Havant
For anxiety, NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, the service previously called italk, accepts self-referrals. If anxiety tips into crisis, the Adults' Safe Haven run by Havant and East Hants Mind opens every evening at its Leigh Park Wellbeing Centre. If a teenager's worry is part of the picture, Off The Record (OTR South) in Leigh Park counsels young people aged 11 to 25. Private counselling can run side by side with any of them.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Hampshire023 8038 3920Free 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 itInclusion Recovery Hampshire0300 124 0103Free and confidential.
- Local organisationInstil Hope Counselling Service (Havant & East Hants Mind)
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 HANTS to 85258. Local drop-in crisis support: Havant Adults' Safe Haven (Havant & East Hants Mind) (check opening times before you go).
What people in Havant ask before starting
Can I get free NHS anxiety support in Havant without seeing my GP?
Yes. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire takes self-referrals, with no GP appointment needed, on 023 8038 3920, and it's free. Waiting times vary, so ask when you call. If you'd rather choose your own counsellor, or want sessions at a time that fits around work, private anxiety counselling with me starts with a free 15-minute call and can run alongside NHS help.
Is video as useful as coming to Hove from Havant when I'm anxious?
For anxiety, video has real advantages: you start from somewhere you already feel safe, and an hour of travel isn't standing between you and help. Some things, such as practising staying calm in an unfamiliar place, can be easier in person, and the direct train from Havant makes that possible later. We can decide together as things change.
Can anxiety counselling fit around a working week in Havant?
Yes. Sessions can be in the evening or at the weekend, by video from home, somewhere you can't be overheard, so you don't need to take time off or travel to Hove. If your worry peaks at a particular point in the week, such as Sunday night or the platform on Monday morning, we look closely at that moment and what helps you through it.
Will I have to face the things I'm avoiding straight away?
No. First we get to know the anxiety and build ways to steady yourself. Only then, and only if you want to, do we plan gradual returns to whatever you've been steering round, whether that's the station, a crowded shop or a phone call. You set the speed, and nothing happens in a session that you haven't agreed to.
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.
Start with a calm, short conversation
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.