Horsham · in person in Hove or online
Anxiety counselling for Horsham
If worry has started running your days in Horsham, whether it shows as a racing heart before a hospital appointment or a mind that won't settle at night, anxiety counselling gives you somewhere to slow it down. I see adults in my room in Hove or by secure video, starting with a free 15-minute call.
The practical facts for Horsham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Horsham by car
- About 36 minutes with clear roads (23.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Horsham, change at Three Bridges for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – North Team, 01403 620434
- 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.
Waiting rooms, train doors and money on your mind
In Horsham, anxiety often fixes on ordinary things.
It might be a letter with an outpatient appointment at Horsham Hospital on Hurst Road, followed by a fortnight of checking your body and reading about symptoms before you go. It might be the trains. Services from Horsham run up to London Victoria via Gatwick Airport, and a carriage held between stations can be where panic first arrives, after which every trip becomes something to brace for. It might be money, with a mortgage, rising bills and a job that seems to hang on the next set of results. Or it might be the stillness of a house in Tower Hill once everyone else has left for the day. Often it shows up in the body first, as tight shoulders, short sleep and a lengthening list of things you now avoid. That points to an alarm system that has been working too hard for too long, not to any weakness in you.
Calming the body before arguing with the worry
We begin with your own pattern: the triggers, the physical signs, and the small habits you've built to hold the fear off. Checking, asking for reassurance, leaving early and avoiding the train all bring relief at the time, so of course you lean on them, but each one also tells your nervous system that the danger was real. We look at them without blame. Next we work on calming your body directly, with ways of breathing and grounding yourself that we practise in the session until they come without effort. Once those feel dependable, we plan small steps back towards whatever anxiety has taken from you, at a pace you choose, perhaps one stop further up the line or one evening without checking. If health worry is the thread, we keep it apart from medical questions. New or physical symptoms belong with your GP, and our work is about the fear that hangs on afterwards. There's free support for anxiety too, from NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies, whose North Team covers Horsham. You can use it and see me privately in the same months, or one after the other.
Where anxiety tends to catch hold around Horsham
Deadlines that follow you home
Work in insurance or financial services, one of Horsham's established trades, can bring quarter-ends and reviews that keep your mind running long after you've logged off.
Panic on the London train
If panic has struck on the line up to London Victoria, we practise ways to steady yourself first, then try the line again a stretch at a time, when you choose.
Shifts at the airport
A Gatwick rota that changes from week to week can leave sleep broken and worry louder. Video sessions can sit around early starts and late finishes, where a regular time is free.
A free NHS starting point
NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies has a North Team for Horsham on 01403 620434, and you can refer yourself for anxiety without first seeing your GP.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. "Similar to England" means the difference is not statistically significant. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Horsham
Private sessions can sit beside free support in the district. Horsham District Wellbeing is a free wellbeing service run by West Sussex County Council and Horsham District Council, and Mind in Brighton and Hove runs West Sussex services. Horsham and Crawley Counselling Group CIC offers lower-cost counselling face to face, online or by phone, if a sliding fee would help.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – North Team01403 620434Free 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.
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 Horsham ask before starting
Do I need my GP to refer me for NHS anxiety help in Horsham?
No. NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies accepts self-referrals for anxiety, and the North Team that covers Horsham is on 01403 620434. There may be a wait before you're seen. If you'd rather choose your counsellor, have longer sessions or start privately in the meantime, you can also book a free 15-minute call with me. Using both is fine.
I've stopped taking the train from Horsham because of panic attacks. Is that something you work with?
Yes, and we'd approach it in two stages. First we practise ways of calming your body until you trust them. Then we plan a gradual return, perhaps a short hop up the line before anything longer, with a clear idea of what to do if the panic rises. You decide every step, and nothing is attempted before you feel ready for it.
Is video anxiety counselling as useful as coming to Hove from Horsham?
Video can work well for anxiety, and being at home can make it easier to settle and speak freely. If you drive, sessions in the room are about 36 minutes away, and a planned trip there can later become useful practice in its own right. You can move between the two as your confidence grows.
My anxiety is mostly about my health. Should I see a counsellor or a doctor in Horsham?
Both have a place. Any new or worrying symptom should go to your GP first, or to NHS 111 if it can't wait. Counselling is for the fear that carries on after the tests come back clear: the checking, the searching and the reassurance that never seems to last. We can start on that while any medical questions are being answered.
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.
One calm conversation to begin with
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.