Portsmouth · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Anxiety counselling for Portsmouth
If worry or panic has started deciding where you go and what you avoid in Portsmouth, anxiety counselling gives you a steady weekly hour to understand what's happening and work on easing it. From Southsea, Copnor or Drayton we'd normally meet by secure video, so you can begin from somewhere you already feel safe.
The practical facts for Portsmouth
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Portsmouth by car
- About 69 minutes with clear roads (48.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Portsmouth & Southsea to Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth, 0300 123 3934
- 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.
When the city never quite goes quiet
You might notice it first as a body that never quite stands down.
Noise comes through a shared wall late at night, the pavement outside is rarely empty, and even a walk to the shop means weaving past people. Portsmouth is the second most densely populated city in the UK after London, and on Portsea Island there is very little room to step away, so an anxious mind finds few quiet corners to recover in. It might rise in the Saturday crowds at Gunwharf Quays or in the crush before kick-off at Fratton Park. For a student at the University of Portsmouth, it can build through a seminar as your turn to speak gets closer, or keep you in your room while the city carries on outside. Often the side effects show before the worry does: cancelled plans, a tight chest on a packed bus, or going back to check the door before you can leave the house.
Finding quiet in a crowded city, then easing the rules
We'd start by getting to know your anxiety in detail: when it arrives, what it does in your body, how you get yourself through it, and what all that is costing you. In a city this packed, part of the work is finding where your nervous system can rest, because when every space feels busy, calm has to be built on purpose, through a routine at home, a quieter route or a time of day that is yours. Alongside that come practical ways of bringing your breathing and heart rate down that you can use on a crowded pavement in North End or in the minutes before a seminar. Then we look at the rules the anxiety has set, such as never sitting in the middle of a row or always knowing where the exit is, and at what they are trying to prevent. If avoidance has crept in, whether that's the shops at Gunwharf, a match day or a lecture theatre, we plan a way back in small steps, and you choose each one. Chest pain, palpitations and questions about medication are for your GP, and the counselling can run alongside their care. Worry that never lets up is reason enough to get in touch, with or without panic.
Where anxiety can catch you in this city
Never a quiet street
Thin walls, busy pavements and noise at all hours on Portsea Island can leave you braced from morning to night. We look at how to let your body stand down.
Dreading your turn to speak
Presentations, seminars and group work at the University of Portsmouth can turn a racing heart into skipped classes. We can work on the dread before the next one comes round.
Match days and Saturday crowds
If the crush at Fratton Park or the crowds at Gunwharf Quays now keep you at home, we work out what your body is reacting to and plan a gradual way back.
When money feeds the worry
If cost is part of what keeps you awake, Compass Counselling offers a free initial assessment and then sessions priced on income, at Portsmouth Central Library and online.
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 Portsmouth
For anxiety, NHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth is free and accepts self-referrals. Solent Mind runs the Portsmouth Wellbeing Centre in the city, and Compass Counselling has income-based sessions at Portsmouth Central Library and online. Private anxiety counselling can sit beside any of these, and you don't have to choose just one.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth0300 123 3934Free 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 itPortsmouth Recovery Hub023 9229 4573Run by The Society of St James (SSJ) with Inclusion. Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCompass 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.
What people in Portsmouth ask before starting
Can I get NHS anxiety help in Portsmouth without seeing my GP?
Yes. Call NHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth on 0300 123 3934, or get in touch through its website. You don't need to see a GP first, and it's free. Ask about waiting times when you get through, because they vary. Private anxiety counselling with me is another option if you'd rather choose your counsellor and agree a regular time directly, and it can run alongside NHS help.
I'm at the University of Portsmouth and dread presentations. Can anxiety counselling help?
Yes. Dread before speaking in front of others is a common shape for anxiety, and it can quietly cost you seminars and marks. We notice what your body does as your turn comes closer, practise ways to steady it, and rehearse the specific moment you fear. Sessions by video can fit round lectures, from your room or anywhere private.
I panic in crowds at Gunwharf Quays and on match days. Is counselling for that?
Yes. Panic in crowds is a common form of anxiety, and it doesn't mean anything is wrong with you as a person. We look at what your body does in those moments and what helps it settle. Then, if you want to, we plan gradual returns, perhaps a quiet weekday visit before a busy Saturday. You set the pace, and nothing happens that you haven't agreed to.
Is there a wait for anxiety counselling from Portsmouth?
It depends on what's free when you get in touch, and I'll say so plainly on the free 15-minute call rather than leave you guessing. If it looks right, we agree a first video session at a time that fits round work or lectures. The first few weeks go on understanding how your anxiety works in your days here, and nothing you're dreading is rushed.
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 quiet conversation from home
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.