Esher · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Esher
For anyone in Esher, Claygate, Hinchley Wood or East and West Molesey who would like a steady place to talk, I see adults one to one over secure video. My room is in Hove, about 65 minutes' drive from Esher, so most people from here meet me on screen each week and come down in person only now and then, if at all.
The practical facts for Esher
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Esher by car
- About 65 minutes with clear roads (49.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Esher, 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.
A high street on the old Portsmouth Road
Esher's high street runs along the A307, the old Portsmouth Road, past the Everyman cinema and the Elmbridge Borough Council offices.
Down the road the station gate opens straight onto Sandown Park, and south of the town Esher Commons and Claremont Landscape Garden give you somewhere green to walk. Trains go direct to Waterloo, and Esher, with Thames Ditton, Long Ditton, Hinchley Wood and Molesey, looks towards Kingston upon Thames for shopping and evenings out. It is a place where plenty of people seem settled and busy, which can make it oddly hard to say that you're not coping. A low patch, a worry that keeps you awake or a loss you haven't talked about can sit quietly behind a front door in West End or Weston Green for a long time before anyone asks.
A first step for when the trouble has no name yet
Coming without a tidy explanation of what's wrong is fine. Some people from Esher get in touch about a specific thing, such as panic on the train into Waterloo, a marriage that has gone quiet or a parent's death. Others say only that they feel flat, short-tempered or not themselves, and want to understand why. Both are good enough reasons to start. In the first few sessions I mostly listen, and between us we piece together what is weighing on you and where you'd want things to shift. Where a death is part of the picture, the community bereavement service run from Princess Alice Hospice on West End Lane welcomes anyone, whoever cared for the person, and weekly counselling can run in parallel. If you work for the council on the high street, at Sandown Park or somewhere on the Waterloo line, we can look at how work and the rest of your life are getting along. My way of working is integrative, so I adapt to what you bring rather than following one script. Recovery shaped my own life before I trained, and after more than 25 years in the counselling chair I would rather hear things plainly, exactly as they come to you.
Things people in Esher bring to a first session
Days built around Waterloo
Direct trains to Waterloo make long commutes easy to slip into, until early starts and late returns leave little of you for home or for yourself.
After a death close to home
Losing someone, perhaps cared for at Princess Alice Hospice in Esher. Its community bereavement support is open to all, and weekly counselling can run alongside.
Caring at home in Elmbridge
Looking after someone you love at home, whether a partner, a parent or a child, can wear you thin. Action for Carers Surrey backs Elmbridge carers with practical help, while a weekly session keeps one hour for your own thoughts.
When Esher starts to feel lonely
Esher's life pulls towards Kingston, and if friends drift or work changes it can feel lonely. Mary Frances Trust Community Connections offers peer support and groups in Elmbridge as well.
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 Esher
Free and low-cost support around Esher can sit alongside private sessions. Esher and Claygate residents may contact Mind Matters Surrey without a referral letter, because that NHS Talking Therapies team welcomes self-referrals about anxiety and low mood. Mary Frances Trust Community Connections supports people across Elmbridge, SearchLight Counselling and Therapy has an Esher centre, and Princess Alice Hospice offers bereavement support open to anyone.
- 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 organisationPrincess Alice Hospice Bereavement ServiceHospice bereavement service based at the hospice in Esher.
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.
Locally, the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644.
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 Esher ask before starting
Living in Esher, could I ever sit in the same room as my counsellor?
Face-to-face sessions take place in my room in Hove, about 65 minutes' drive from Esher, or by rail with a change of train at Clapham Junction. Because of that distance, most people from Esher meet me by secure video each week. If sitting across from me in person is important, an occasional longer session in Hove can sit between the video ones.
Is there free NHS counselling in Esher, and do I need my GP?
Mind Matters Surrey runs the NHS Talking Therapies service for people in Esher and the rest of Elmbridge, for anxiety and low mood. You can refer yourself on 0300 330 5450 without a GP appointment. Private counselling with me is there if you'd prefer to choose who you see and keep a fixed weekly time.
If I'm in Esher, how quickly can counselling get going?
Getting going begins with a free 15-minute call, a chance to put your questions to me and judge whether we would work well together. Should we both feel it's a fit, I'll list the weekly video slots that are actually open, and you pick the one that sits best around the South Western Railway timetable, the school gate or anything else in your Esher week.
I'm not sure whether I need counselling or something else. Who should I talk to first, living in Esher?
The free call is a good place to think it through. If what you need is bereavement support, Princess Alice Hospice on West End Lane offers it to anyone. For medication or a physical check, your GP is the right person, and anything they suggest can run in parallel with counselling. On a night when things feel unbearable, Surrey and Borders Partnership answers its 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Helpline on 0800 915 4644.
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.
Start with a quiet call from Esher
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.