Crawley · in person in Hove or online
Counselling and therapy for Crawley
If you're in Crawley and looking for a counsellor, whether for anxiety, a hard year, something from the past or a feeling you can't quite name, I offer one-to-one sessions. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor, and we can meet in my room in Hove or talk by secure video, wherever you are in the town.
The practical facts for Crawley
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Crawley by car
- About 32 minutes with clear roads (22.2 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Three Bridges to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- 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.
A town whose working day never quite ends
Gatwick Airport has been part of Crawley since 1974, and it's open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Manor Royal, in the north-east of the town, holds over 700 businesses and around 30,000 people at work. So in Crawley a working day doesn't always start at nine: early check-in shifts, late finishes, rotas that change from one week to the next. When sleep goes, patience can go with it. Crawley is also a new town of 14 neighbourhoods, from Forge Wood to Broadfield, and if a job is what brought you here, the people who used to steady you may now live a long way off. A walk in Tilgate Park or an evening at The Hawth can help for a while, and the worry may still be there when you get home.
Anxiety, shift strain and what therapy offers
You don't need a name for what's wrong before you get in touch. Anxiety can show up in the body before it finds words, as a tight chest at the start of a shift or a racing mind when you finally lie down at an odd hour. The first task is understanding what keeps it going, and in Crawley that can mean looking closely at the shape of your working week. An airport that never closes and an industrial estate of over 700 businesses don't run to one clock, so sleep, meals and time with the people you live with all get pushed around, and the usual advice about keeping a routine can sound as if it was written for someone else. We work with the life you actually have. If something specific set it off, such as a frightening incident at work, the Rewind Technique lets us work with that memory without you having to describe every detail out loud. Between sessions it helps to know where else to turn, and Crawley Staying Well stays open every evening until midnight, which suits a late finish. I've done this work for more than 25 years, and I came to it with recovery in my own past.
Some of what therapy can make room for in Crawley
Rotas at a 24-hour airport
Gatwick is open around the clock, so early starts, late finishes and rotas that change week to week can leave you exhausted and out of step with home.
Still on shift in your head
A pressured job on Manor Royal, where around 30,000 people work, and the pace, the targets or a difficult manager stay with you long after you clock off.
Far from the people who steadied you
Crawley grew as a new town, and if work is what brought you here, the friends and family you'd once have leaned on may be a long way off.
When the evenings feel worst
If things feel bad after dark, Crawley Staying Well offers out-of-hours support from 3pm to midnight, and weekly counselling can work alongside it.
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 Crawley
Crawley has free support worth knowing about alongside private sessions. Crawley Staying Well, run by Waythrough, offers out-of-hours mental health support for adults from 3pm to midnight every day. Crawley Wellbeing is a free service from the county and borough councils, and for anxiety and low mood NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies runs a North Team you can contact directly, with no GP referral.
- 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.
- Local organisationBuild on Belief (BoB), lived-experience recovery community
- Local organisationCarers Support West Sussex – support for carers of drug and alcohol users
- Local organisationWest Sussex Wellbeing – support for family and friends (council-run)
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.
If you drink heavily every day, or take drugs such as benzodiazepines or GHB daily, do not stop suddenly without medical advice. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Your GP or the local drug and alcohol service can arrange medically assisted withdrawal. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone in withdrawal is shaking visibly, unusually restless or agitated, confused, seeing or hearing things that are not there, or has a fit. For milder symptoms, such as a slight tremor or sweating, contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day (NHS guidance). Counselling works alongside medical support, not instead of it.
What people in Crawley ask before starting
Is counselling for Crawley available face to face?
Yes, in Hove rather than in Crawley. Sessions in person happen on Western Road in Hove, about 32 minutes' drive from Crawley, or a direct train to Brighton from Three Bridges. If getting there every week isn't realistic, we can work by secure video, and some weeks can be in person and others online.
Where can I get help in Crawley in the evening if things feel bad?
Crawley Staying Well, run by Waythrough at 1 Amberley Court on Whitworth Road, offers out-of-hours mental health support for adults every day from 3pm to midnight, with a video option. You can also text SUSSEX to 85258 for crisis text support. Counselling isn't a crisis service, so in an emergency call 999.
I work shifts at Gatwick. Can counselling fit around my rota?
We can talk about it honestly on the free call, including which times I have available. Video helps, because you can join from home in Crawley with no travel before or after a shift. If your rota moves around, tell me early and we'll look at how to keep some rhythm to the sessions.
If I'm in Crawley, can I start therapy straight away, or is there a wait?
Start with the free 15-minute call. Once we've both decided it's worth continuing, I'll offer you the times I actually have and you choose from those. If you'd like free support in the meantime, you can phone NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies yourself on 01403 620434, where the North Team handles Crawley, about anxiety or low mood, and Crawley Wellbeing is another free option.
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 first, unhurried conversation from Crawley
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.