Eastleigh · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Eastleigh
If life between the M27 and the Itchen has started to feel heavy in a way you can't pin down, one-to-one counselling is a good place to begin. My only room is in Hove, 85 minutes away by car, so sessions with Eastleigh clients usually happen over secure video. You get me, and a full session, from your own sofa without the M27, and a trip to Hove whenever you want one.
The practical facts for Eastleigh
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Eastleigh by car
- About 85 minutes with clear roads (63.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Eastleigh, change at Fareham 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.
A railway town that keeps on growing
Eastleigh grew up as a railway town once the carriage works arrived from Nine Elms in 1891, and trains and planes still shape the place.
The station sits on the South West Main Line, Southampton Airport Parkway is one stop south, and the M3 meets the M27 close by. The borough grew by 9.0% between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, to around 136,400 people, faster than both the South East and England. If you are one of the newer arrivals in Hedge End, Fair Oak or Horton Heath, your family may live a long way off. Over the same decade the number of residents aged 65 to 74 rose by 28.3%, and if one of them is your parent, you may be doing more for them than you admit. Citizens Advice Eastleigh points out that plenty of local carers have never thought of themselves by that name. Between shifts, school runs from Bishopstoke and an evening at the Swan Shopping Centre, there is often little room left to notice how you are actually doing.
When you are not sure what kind of help you need
General counselling is for the times when nothing fits a neat label. Perhaps you moved to Chandler's Ford or Boyatt Wood for a job and the friendships never followed. Perhaps your hours at the airport or on the railway mean you sleep while everyone else is awake, and your mood has slipped without anyone noticing. You might be caring for a mother in Botley while holding down full-time work, or grieving someone you nursed for years. Some people come because a glass of wine at night has crept up, or because old memories keep surfacing at odd moments. Over the opening weeks the two of us sort out which strand is pulling hardest and what keeps feeding it, then agree where our attention should go. I draw on several approaches, Human Givens among them, and adapt them to you rather than to a script. With over 25 years in practice and recovery of my own, nothing you say about drink, shifts or family is likely to shock me. If another service would suit you better, I will say so and point you towards it.
What an Eastleigh week can leave you carrying
Shifts around the airport
Early starts and late finishes at Southampton Airport or along the line can wear down sleep and patience, and video sessions can be booked around your rota.
Caring without the title
Citizens Advice Eastleigh notes that many local carers don't see themselves that way. Your weekly hour with me is kept for your own worries while someone else's needs wait outside the door.
New estate, few familiar faces
In a borough that grew by 9.0% in ten years, you may still be building a circle in Hedge End or Horton Heath, and loneliness can settle in without much warning.
Loss after a long illness
Mountbatten Hampshire in West End offers free bereavement support, and private counselling can sit beside it or follow on when those sessions come to an end.
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 Eastleigh
Free help in the borough can run alongside private sessions. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, formerly italk, accepts self-referrals for persistent worry or a low, heavy mood. Citizens Advice Eastleigh on Leigh Road and its Eastleigh Carer Project help with money, work and caring pressures. Mountbatten Hampshire offers free bereavement support, and Parent Support Link helps families affected by a loved one's drug or alcohol use.
- 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 organisationThe Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Hampshire (Hampshire Carers Support 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.
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 Eastleigh ask before starting
Can I meet a counsellor face to face if I live in Eastleigh or Chandler's Ford?
Face to face means my single room in Hove, roughly 85 minutes by car from Eastleigh, while the train route changes at Fareham or Southampton Central. That is why sessions from Eastleigh normally run on secure video, keeping the whole hour for talking and none for the M27. Should you want to sit face to face now and then, an occasional Hove session can be booked.
Is there a wait to begin private counselling from Eastleigh?
We begin with a free 15-minute conversation by phone or video. Should we agree to go ahead, I share my open weekly times and you pick one around airport shifts or school runs, so there is no queue to join. You can also ring NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire yourself on 023 8038 3920 about anxiety or low mood, and the two can run in parallel.
What is the difference between private counselling and the Eastleigh Community Mental Health Team?
The Eastleigh Community Mental Health Team is an NHS service for adults who need ongoing support, which can include medication and group therapy, and access is through your GP. Private counselling with me is weekly one-to-one talking work that you arrange directly. Some people use both, and your GP remains the right person for questions about medication.
I care for a parent in Eastleigh and feel worn out. Is counselling for me?
Yes, it can be. Carers often reach for help last, and exhaustion, guilt and resentment can sit side by side with love. Sessions give you room to say all of that without judgement. Benefits questions or flexibility at work are where the Eastleigh Carer Project at Citizens Advice Eastleigh and the Hampshire Carers Support Service come in, running alongside our sessions.
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 conversation, from Eastleigh to the Hove room
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.