Farnham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Farnham
I see people from Farnham by secure video, because the only room I use is in Hove. If something has been weighing on you for longer than you'd like, sessions are one to one, weekly, and begin with a short free call.
The practical facts for Farnham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Farnham by car
- About 84 minutes with clear roads (69.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Farnham, change at Guildford and Gatwick Airport 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.
Between the Maltings, the art school and the Waterloo train
Farnham is a market town on the Hampshire border, about 36 miles south-west of London, with a long association with the creative arts.
The University for the Creative Arts has its largest campus on Falkner Road, so the town has a sizeable student population living alongside longer-standing residents in Bourne, Rowledge and Upper Hale. It also has Farnham Maltings, Farnham Castle and the Museum of Farnham at Willmer House. Farnham is a commuter town too, with trains to Waterloo via Woking and across to Guildford. Frimley Park Hospital in Camberley, rather than Farnham Hospital on Hale Road, now provides the area's accident and emergency service. In a town this size, if you grew up here or study or work here, you may know a fair few of the faces in the town centre, and the thought of being seen in a local waiting room can be enough to stop you asking for help.
When the work, the course or the week stops feeling like yours
What you bring could be the pressure of making work that will be judged, or the flatness after a deadline or a degree ends. It could equally be grief, money worries, a marriage that has gone quiet, or drinking that crept up once the house emptied. You don't need to arrive with a tidy account; we start from how things are this month and what you would want to change. If you study or teach at the University for the Creative Arts, having your work assessed can leave a critical voice in your head that outlasts any hand-in, and Internal Family Systems gives that inner critic a hearing as one part of you, with reasons of its own. If you take the train to Waterloo via Woking most days, the line can take up the evenings in Hale or Wrecclesham, so the session has to fit around the trains rather than add to them. And if you've lived in Farnham a long time, the fact that the town knows you may be exactly why you'd rather talk to someone outside it. Nobody at the Maltings or the school gate will see you arrive, and I don't contact your GP unless you ask me to, apart from the rare safety limits I explain at the start.
Starting points for counselling here
The inner critic
Making work in a creative arts town, with a voice that says nothing you make, write or do is ever good enough, however much other people praise it.
Studying away from home
Homesickness, pressure and loneliness on the Falkner Road campus, and the sense that everyone else on your UCA course is coping better than you.
Days on the Waterloo line
Trains to London via Woking, long days in the city, and evenings back in Farnham too short to notice how flat you've become.
More than a peer group
PeerTalk Farnham's Thursday evening group offers peer support for depression and anxiety; you might also want one-to-one time to go deeper, alongside it or afterwards.
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 Farnham
Free help sits alongside private sessions here. PeerTalk Farnham runs a volunteer-led peer support group for depression and anxiety on Thursday evenings, Creative Response offers therapeutic community art sessions for adults, and Headroom Charity provides free counselling for young people aged 11 to 25. If worry or low mood is what you mainly want help with, you can refer yourself to Mind Matters Surrey.
- 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
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 Farnham ask before starting
Do you see clients face to face anywhere near Farnham?
Not near Farnham, I'm afraid. My only room is in Hove, about 84 minutes' drive from Farnham, so from here we would almost always meet by secure video. If sharing a room matters to you now and then, an occasional longer session in Hove can be arranged.
Can I get counselling for free anywhere in Farnham?
Mind Matters Surrey is the free NHS Talking Therapies service across Waverley for anxiety and low mood, and it takes self-referrals on 0300 330 5450. Headroom Charity offers free counselling to young people aged 11 to 25. For severe or enduring mental health problems, the Community Mental Health Recovery Service has a Farnham clinic, reached through your GP.
I study at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. Can I see you?
Yes. If you'd like private counselling, the fees and the free first call are the same as for anyone else, and video means you can talk from your room. It's worth asking your university what support it offers too, and if you're 25 or under, Headroom Charity provides free counselling for young people.
How quickly can I start, and what if I need help tonight?
After the free call we agree a weekly time, and you won't need to fit travel around it. If tonight feels unmanageable, ring 0800 915 4644, which is Surrey and Borders Partnership's round-the-clock mental health crisis helpline. There's no Safe Haven in Farnham itself; Surrey and Borders lists evening drop-ins at Aldershot, Guildford, Woking, Epsom and Redhill.
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.
Try a first conversation from your own sofa
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.