Epsom · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Epsom
For adults in Epsom, on your own or as a couple, I offer counselling by secure video, with my room in Hove there for an occasional longer visit. It's 61 minutes' drive, so I won't pretend it's round the corner. The first contact is a free call, to see whether we'd work well together.
The practical facts for Epsom
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Epsom by car
- About 61 minutes with clear roads (44.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Epsom, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Mind Matters Surrey, 0300 330 5450
- 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.
Race days, campus deadlines and a busy hospital
Epsom has been a racing town for a long time.
Organised racing on the Downs goes back to the early 17th century and the Derby to 1780, and The Jockey Club's racecourse still hosts the Derby Festival. Day to day, the town keeps other rhythms. The University for the Creative Arts runs its School of Creative Business, Fashion and Enterprise here, and Laine Theatre Arts is in the town too, so there are students with their own deadlines and worries. Atkins, the engineering consultancy, is a large private employer. Between the Ashley Centre, the Clock Tower and the open ground of Epsom Common and Horton Country Park, it's a town where you can be surrounded by people all week and still feel alone with whatever is going on at home.
Counselling in Epsom for one, or for two
Epsom Hospital on Dorking Road has a busy A and E, and Epsom station has direct trains to London Victoria, London Bridge and London Waterloo. When one of you works shifts at the hospital and the other leaves for London before it's light, the week can run on notes and handovers, and the conversations that matter keep being put off. Couples sessions are for when the trouble lives between you, whether that means rows that start almost at once or trust that has been broken. I don't take sides. I help each of you say what you need and hear the other without bracing for a fight, and we look at the pattern you both get pulled into. If your partner isn't ready, you can start alone. Individual sessions are for whatever has become hard to carry, whether you're studying at the University for the Creative Arts or have lived near Epsom Common for years. From Epsom, video makes this easier to arrange: two people at one screen at home, with no drive to Hove and no babysitter to find for an afternoon. I've worked in this field for over 25 years, with lived experience of recovery, and any medical questions sit with your GP alongside our work.
Worries worth bringing to a first session
Carrying the office back through the door
A long day at Atkins, a shift at Epsom Hospital or a commute into one of three London termini, until you're short-tempered and tired nearly all the time.
Couples stuck in the same loop
The argument you've had a hundred times, or the silence after it. We can slow it down together from one screen at home, with no 61-minute drive to Hove.
Student and early-career pressure
Deadlines at the University for the Creative Arts or Laine Theatre Arts, money, comparing yourself with everyone else, or wondering whether you've chosen the right path.
Drinking or drug use creeping up
More than you meant to, more often. There's no need to have made up your mind about anything first, and i-access, the county's free help with drink and drugs, can be used at the same time.
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 Epsom
There's support in Epsom itself. Mary Frances Trust runs Community Connections peer groups and, with Surrey and Borders Partnership, the Epsom Safe Haven, an evening walk-in space for adults in crisis. For anxiety or low mood, Mind Matters Surrey, which Surrey and Borders Partnership runs as the county's NHS Talking Therapies, accepts self-referrals at no cost. If you're grieving, Cruse Bereavement Support's Surrey branches include Cruse Bereavement Support - Surrey East.
- Free NHS talking therapyMind Matters Surrey0300 330 5450Free 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 iti-access0300 222 5932Free and confidential.
- Local organisationAction for Carers Surrey
- Local organisationMary Frances Trust Community Connections groups in EpsomLocal mental health charity peer support and social groups.
For gambling, the National Gambling Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 8020 133 (NHS gambling support).
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.
Locally, the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644. Local drop-in crisis support: Epsom Safe Haven (check opening times before you go).
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 Epsom ask before starting
Do you offer couples counselling in Epsom?
Not in an Epsom room, because my only room is in Hove, so couples work with me by secure video or with an occasional longer session in Hove. Couples counselling is not safe or suitable where one partner is afraid of the other. If there is violence, threats or controlling behaviour at home, please speak to a domestic abuse helpline on your own first, before any joint sessions.
Where can I get help in Epsom tonight if I'm in crisis?
The Epsom Safe Haven at the Brickfield Centre is a walk-in space for adults, open 6pm to 11pm every day, and you don't need an appointment. The Surrey and Borders 24/7 crisis helpline is on 0800 915 4644, and Epsom Hospital on Dorking Road has an A and E. Where someone is in immediate danger, ring 999.
If I contact you this week, when could we begin?
When the free 15-minute call is done and we've agreed it feels right, I'll offer the earliest regular slot I genuinely have, and say plainly if there's a wait. If the NHS route for anxiety or low mood suits you better, you can ring Mind Matters Surrey yourself on 0300 330 5450, and it's fine to look into both at once.
My partner works shifts and I commute from Epsom. Can couples sessions fit around that?
Video makes it easier. The two of you can join from the sofa, so nobody has to set off for Hove after a long shift or the train back to Epsom. After the free call we'd look for a regular time that suits you both, and if fortnightly is all you can manage, a 90-minute session gives you more time together each time you meet.
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, at no cost
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.