Chichester · in person in Hove or online
Bereavement and grief counselling for Chichester
When a death has left Chichester's streets feeling emptier, grief counselling offers a full, unhurried hour to talk about the person you've lost and how their absence is changing you. I see adults in a private room in Hove or by secure video, beginning with a free 15-minute call. Whether the death was last month or many years ago, you're welcome.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call 999 or the Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. More urgent help is on this page.
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 bereavement helpline
- Cruse Bereavement Support helpline, 0808 808 1677
- 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.
A small city full of places you shared
In a city the size of Chichester, a loss tends to follow you round.
The person you've lost may have walked with you along Chichester Canal, sat beside you at the Festival Theatre, or met you by the Market Cross on a Saturday morning. Afterwards the same streets can catch you off guard, and so can the kindness of neighbours in Summersdale or Whyke who knew them too. Driving past St Richard's Hospital on Spitalfield Lane may be hard if their last weeks meant visiting there. You might find that a quiet seat in Chichester Cathedral helps, or a walk out towards the harbour where nobody knows you. Then there's the other side of a small place: everyone seems to have moved on, the cards have stopped arriving, and you're still waking at four in the morning with it. Grief keeps its own calendar, and you're allowed to follow it.
Grief that is allowed to be untidy
Grief has no set order, so I won't steer you through stages or tell you where you ought to be by now. We start wherever you are, which might be numbness, or a sadness so heavy that reading an email takes three attempts. You might bring feelings you've told no one about: anger at the person who died, guilt about a last conversation, or relief after years of caring, followed quickly by shame at feeling relieved. You can say any of it here, as it comes. If the relationship was difficult, there's space to grieve what you never had as well as who you lost. If you looked after them for a long time, you may be missing your own role too, and the routine that held your days together. When a death came suddenly, we go gently, and you decide what to say and when. Sometimes a glass in the evening becomes the one thing that takes the edge off, and grief and drinking start to wind round each other. With my own lived experience of recovery, we can look at that honestly and without blame. Some weeks you'll want to tell me about them, their habits and their voice. Other weeks it will be about how to get through Monday. Both count.
Kinds of loss there is room for here
When the caring years end
Looking after a parent or partner until their death can leave your days without a shape. Whether or not Carers Support West Sussex was part of those years, the grief that follows deserves its own space.
A parent dies while you're studying
At the University of Chichester or Chichester College, it can feel as if everyone else carries on. Video sessions can fit around lectures, placements and trips home.
Back at work before you're ready
Public-sector work seldom waits for long, and if you're self-employed there may be no one to cover. Grief then gets pushed into the evenings, where we can give it proper time.
Evenings that end in a drink
When a nightly glass has turned into the way you cope with evenings since they died, you can bring that here and be met kindly. DAWN, the West Sussex drug and alcohol service, offers free local support too.
Free bereavement support for Chichester
Anyone grieving in Chichester can ring the free Cruse Bereavement Support helpline, shown with its number on this page. Closer to home, Chichester Counselling Services, a registered charity in the city, provides general counselling. When grief brings a low mood or anxiety that won't lift, NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies lets you refer yourself, and Chichester falls to its West Team. If you nursed them for a long time before they died, Carers Support West Sussex is another place to turn.
- Free bereavement helplineCruse Bereavement Support helpline0808 808 1677Free, from trained volunteers. Open Monday and Wednesday to Friday 9.30am to 5pm, Tuesday 1pm to 8pm.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – West Team01273 265967Free NHS talking therapy for low mood or anxiety that has settled in after a loss. 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 organisationWest Sussex MindMental health charity.
- Local organisationWest Sussex Wellbeing – support for family and friends (council-run)
Private counselling with me can run alongside any of these; you do not have to choose one or the other.
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
How soon after a death can I have bereavement counselling in Chichester?
Whenever you feel ready to talk. You might want to within weeks, or only months or years later, when an anniversary or a house move brings the loss back. There's no right moment and no deadline for grief. A free 15-minute call is where we start. You can say a little about who died, if you want to, and then we'll agree a time in Hove or by video that suits you.
Is there free grief support in Chichester while I wait or decide?
Yes. The Cruse Bereavement Support helpline on 0808 808 1677 is free, and you can ring it today. For counselling run by a charity in the city, there's Chichester Counselling Services. Should anxiety or a heavy mood linger after the death, ringing 01273 265967 reaches the West Team, Chichester's part of NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies, which takes self-referrals. Seeing me privately in Hove or on video can run in parallel with any of them.
Can I have grief counselling by video from Chichester rather than travelling to Hove?
You can. Video often suits the early months, when getting dressed and driving 48 minutes feels like too much, and you can talk from a room where you feel safe to cry. Coming to Hove has its own value, with a break from a house full of reminders and the train ride home to settle. We can use either, or both, and change as things shift.
Someone I love died by suicide. Can I have bereavement counselling with you from Chichester?
Yes. Grief after a suicide often brings its own questions, guilt and anger, and sometimes a silence from people who don't know what to say. You can talk about the person and about all of that at your own pace, without going over anything you'd rather leave alone. If you ever feel you don't want to go on, tell me, and use the crisis numbers on this page, including texting SUSSEX to 85258.
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.
Tell me about the person you've lost
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.