Worthing · in person in Hove or online
Bereavement and grief counselling for Worthing
When a death has emptied your world while the Worthing seafront and shops carry on as usual, I offer one-to-one bereavement counselling, in a quiet room in Hove or over secure video. There are no stages to get through and no deadline. We'd begin by speaking for 15 minutes on the phone, free, and you can tell me only the outline of what happened.
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 Worthing
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Worthing by car
- About 24 minutes with clear roads (11.6 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Worthing 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.
Grief in a town where every street holds someone
In a town the size of Worthing, a death rarely stays in one place.
It might be the walk along the seafront you always took together, the bench in Beach House Park, or the turning for Lyndhurst Road you drove down for weeks of hospital visits and now go out of your way to avoid. It might be Sunday mornings in Findon Valley or High Salvington that used to have a phone call in them. The reminders might comfort you, or you might find you can no longer face the Dome or the pier. Or you may have spent months or years looking after a parent or partner in Broadwater or West Tarring, and when the caring stops, the days are suddenly empty as well as sad. Neighbours and friends tend to be kind at first and then go quiet. That quiet can be the point at which talking to someone starts to make sense.
Room for whatever the loss has left you with
Grief is a response to love and loss, and it takes its own shape. With me you won't be steered through a set of stages or told how far along you should be. We begin with the person who died and what they meant to you, at a pace you set. Some sessions are mostly sadness. Others turn out to be about anger, guilt over something said or not said, or a relief you feel ashamed of, perhaps after a long illness or a relationship that was hard. Each of those is welcome here, and none of it means you loved them less. If the death was sudden, or by suicide, we go carefully and you choose what to talk about. If evening drinking has grown since the funeral and it worries you, we can look at it openly, and West Sussex Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN) provides specialist help that can run next to our sessions. If thoughts of not wanting to go on come up, please tell me, and use the crisis numbers on this page at any hour.
Losses people in Worthing bring to counselling
After years of caring
When the person you looked after has died, you lose a role as well as them. Carers Support West Sussex is worth asking about help for you, and we can talk through what comes next.
Visits to Worthing Hospital
Weeks spent travelling to the hospital can leave the building and the route there heavy with memory. We can talk about those last weeks at whatever depth you choose.
When grief feels too much at night
If evenings or weekends become frightening, Staying Well in central Worthing is open in the evenings and at weekends, or you can text SUSSEX to 85258.
A loss others have moved on from
Months on, friends may assume you are fine. Grief has no due date, and a weekly hour can be a place where it is still allowed.
Free bereavement support for Worthing
Cruse Bereavement Support runs a free helpline for anyone who has been bereaved, and its number is on this page. When sadness has settled into ongoing anxiety or a mood that stays flat, self-referrals are accepted by NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies, and its South Team serves Worthing. If you were caring for the person who died, Carers Support West Sussex is worth asking about support for you. Our sessions in Hove or on video can run alongside whichever of these you use.
- 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 – South Team01903 703540Free 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 Wellbeing – support for family and friends (council-run)
- Local organisationWest Sussex Mind Pathfinder support hub, The Gateway, Worthing
- Local organisationWorthing Rethink Mental Health Carers Group
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. Local drop-in crisis support: Staying Well (West Sussex Mind) (check opening times before you go).
What people in Worthing ask before starting
Months or years after a death in Worthing, is there a wrong time to begin grief counselling?
There isn't a right time. You might be weeks past the funeral, or years on from a loss that has surfaced again. On the free call we can talk about where you are now and whether starting feels right. If it feels too early, you can keep my number and come back when you're ready.
Where can I find free bereavement support near Worthing?
For a free conversation with a trained volunteer, call the Cruse helpline on 0808 808 1677. When grief has hardened into a heaviness or worry that stays for weeks, you can refer yourself to the NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies team for Worthing on 01903 703540. West Sussex Mind's Pathfinder support hub at The Gateway in Worthing also offers one-to-one support and groups.
Can I have bereavement counselling on video from home in Worthing instead of going to Hove?
Yes. It can be easier to talk about someone you've lost from a familiar chair, with a photo nearby if you want one. If you'd later like the room in Hove, it's around 24 minutes by car or one direct train from Worthing, and we can switch between the two.
My dad died at Worthing Hospital after I'd nursed him at home for a year, and I mostly feel relieved. Is that wrong?
Relief is a common part of grief after a long illness or a long stretch of caring, and it sits alongside love rather than replacing it. It can bring guilt with it, which is worth talking through. Counselling is a place to say what you actually feel about your dad, his last year and your own exhaustion, without having to tidy it up first.
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.
When you're ready to talk about who 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.