Petersfield · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Anxiety counselling for Petersfield
If worry, dread or panic has started making decisions for you in Petersfield, about which appointments you keep and which invitations you turn down, anxiety counselling over secure video lets us work from wherever you feel settled. A free 15-minute call lets you see whether it fits before you commit to anything.
The practical facts for Petersfield
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Petersfield by car
- About 71 minutes with clear roads (43.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Petersfield, change at Havant for trains towards Brighton and 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 winds people up in a small commuter town
If your days start on the line to Waterloo or Portsmouth, the dread may begin before you've left the house, and the late train home leaves little time to come down from it.
Health can become the focus too: a parent's decline, or a symptom you keep checking at night. In a town of about 15,000, worry about what other people think has real faces attached, because the person you felt awkward in front of is likely to be in the queue again next week. Out in the villages, with fewer people around in the evenings, worry can circle with nothing to interrupt it. And because Petersfield looks so settled from the outside, anxiety can feel out of place here, which makes it easy to keep quiet about. Often it shows itself in the body before you put a name to it, as a churning stomach or a heart that races for no reason you can find.
Mapping the worry, then loosening it
In the first sessions we get to know how your anxiety works: the moments it rises, how it shows up physically, and the habits that have grown up around it, such as checking, avoiding, or saying no to things you used to enjoy. Avoidance brings relief today and can make life smaller next month, so we look at it gently and without blame. Alongside that, we rehearse a few quiet steadying techniques in sessions until they come easily, so they're there for you on the platform at Petersfield station or walking through The Square. If health is the worry, we look at what the fear is guarding and what it would be like to let it rest a little. If being judged in a small town is the worry, we take that seriously as well, and you choose the speed at which you go back to the places you've been avoiding. The Fingertips figure for Hampshire adults with a high anxiety score was 26.3% in 2022/23, similar to England's 23.8%. It comes from a population survey and says nothing about any one person. Questions about medication belong with your GP, who can work alongside what we do in sessions.
How anxiety can look in Petersfield
Health worries close to home
A parent's illness, a visit to the urgent treatment centre at Petersfield Hospital, or a symptom you can't stop rehearsing in the small hours.
Panic in the places that calmed you
If panic has started arriving on Petersfield Heath or up on Butser Hill, places that used to settle you, we can work towards feeling at ease there again.
Feeling watched in a small town
In a town of about 15,000, the fear that people are judging you has familiar faces. We can look at where that fear began and what it asks of you each day.
A drink to take the edge off
If a glass of wine at the end of the day has become how you calm down, we can look at the worry and the drinking side by side. Inclusion Recovery Hampshire is the free county service for alcohol.
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 Petersfield
Free support can sit beside private sessions. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, once called italk, takes self-referrals from Petersfield for anxiety. Havant and East Hants Mind runs local mental health services, and its Havant Adults' Safe Haven is a place to go in person when anxiety tips into crisis.
- 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 organisationPetersfield Counselling Service
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 Petersfield ask before starting
Is there free NHS help for anxiety that I can contact myself from Petersfield?
Yes. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, previously known as italk, accepts self-referrals from Petersfield residents on 023 8038 3920. It's free, though there may be a wait. Seeing me privately is another option if you want to pick who you work with or have longer sessions, and the two can overlap.
I can barely leave the house. Can anxiety counselling from Petersfield be done entirely by video?
Yes. We can work on video for as long as you need, so the 71-minute drive to Hove, or the train with a change at Havant, never has to be a hurdle. If going out has become hard, we'll plan small steps beyond your front door when you're ready, and the screen keeps us in touch while you take them. Whether you ever come to Hove is your choice.
Should I see my Petersfield GP before anxiety counselling?
It's sensible, especially if you have physical symptoms that nobody has checked yet, so a doctor can look at them. You don't need a GP referral to see me, though, and you can book the free call while you wait for an appointment. If a community mental health team at Petersfield Hospital is involved, tell me, so we can work alongside them.
How does anxiety counselling get going from Petersfield?
You book the free 15-minute call yourself, and if it feels right to us both, we settle on a regular video time, often weekly to begin with. Before the first session, you might note when the anxiety peaks during your week, in the car, at work or at night, because that gives us a useful place to start.
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 small, private first step
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.