Fleet · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Fleet
If you live in Fleet, Church Crookham or Elvetham Heath and want a therapist you can talk to every week, know that my one room is in Hove, a long way from Hart. Sessions with me would be by secure video, and the Hove room is there for the rare time you'd like to meet. You can still be working out what's wrong; that is reason enough to get in touch with me.
The practical facts for Fleet
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Fleet by car
- About 89 minutes with clear roads (74.6 miles); longer at busy times.
- 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.
Fleet Pond, the canal and the London train
Fleet is the largest town in Hart, and for anyone who commutes it can feel like a place to sleep between trips up the line.
South Western Railway runs direct trains to London Waterloo, so long days and late returns can become normal without anyone choosing them. The town also has Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire, and the Basingstoke Canal, and you can live beside both and still feel your chest tighten on a Sunday night. Parents with children at Calthorpe Park or Court Moor may be fitting school runs around a job in London. The M3 runs past the town, with Fleet services on its edge, so for other people the working day starts on the motorway rather than the platform. On the 2022/23 wellbeing survey, Hampshire came out at 26.3% of adults with a high anxiety score, a figure statistically in line with England's 23.8%. A county number averages a great many lives, and it has nothing to say about how your own week between the canal and the Waterloo train is going.
Choosing between Fleet's free routes and private sessions
Before you contact me, it's worth knowing what Fleet already offers for free. If your GP surgery is in Fleet, Talk Plus is the NHS route for anxiety, low mood and stress (it also covers surgeries in Crondall and Yateley; if you're registered in Hook, Hartley Wintney or Odiham, it's italk instead), and Hart Voluntary Action's 121 Adult Counselling offers up to 10 free weekly sessions to adults who live in Hart or have a Hart GP, and takes self-referrals. Private counselling gives you a choice of who you see, no fixed cap on sessions, and a time you set yourself, which matters if you're often on a late train back from Waterloo. With me you could have an evening slot once you're home in Elvetham Heath or Church Crookham, or a lunchtime on a working-from-home day. You can bring dread about the week ahead, poor sleep, low mood, a strained relationship, a bereavement or drinking that has grown. In the first session we'd look at what's happening now and where the pressure sits, whether that's the commute and the job or something older. Some evenings you might rather be at The Harlington or walking at Fleet Pond than on a call, and that's fine: we'd set a regular time you can actually keep, not an ideal one. I've practised for more than 25 years and I know recovery from the inside.
What a Fleet week can leave behind
Sunday-night dread before the Waterloo train
The tight chest and racing thoughts that arrive before another week of South Western Railway trains to London Waterloo, even when nothing in particular is wrong at work or at home in Fleet, before the week has even begun.
School runs around a London commute
Fitting Calthorpe Park School or Court Moor School drop-offs around a working day somewhere else, and reaching the evening in Elvetham Heath or Velmead with nothing left over for yourself, or for each other.
Green all around, flat inside
Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire, and the Basingstoke Canal are on the doorstep, yet there are weeks when even a walk past Pondtail feels pointless and nothing quite lifts, even on a bright Saturday.
Drinking to come down after work
A drink after the train home to Fleet that has started happening most nights. We can talk about it without judgement; Inclusion Recovery Hampshire is free, and Parent Support Link (PSL) supports families in Hampshire.
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 Fleet
Fleet has real free options, and private counselling doesn't replace them. Talk Plus offers free talking therapies to people registered with a GP surgery in Fleet. Hart Voluntary Action's 121 Adult Counselling gives up to 10 free weekly sessions to adults who live in Hart or have a Hart GP. The Hart and Rushmoor Wellbeing Centre, run by Andover Mind, needs no referral at all. In a crisis, the Surrey and Borders Partnership 24/7 line on 0800 915 4644 covers Fleet.
- 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).
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.
In this area you can also text HANTS to 85258. Locally, the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644. Local drop-in crisis support: Aldershot 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 Fleet ask before starting
Is there free counselling in Fleet, Hampshire, or in Church Crookham?
Yes. If your GP surgery is in Fleet, you can self-refer to Talk Plus for anxiety, low mood and stress. Hart Voluntary Action's 121 Adult Counselling offers up to 10 free weekly sessions to adults who live in Hart or have a Hart GP, and it accepts self-referrals. The Andover Mind Hart and Rushmoor Wellbeing Centre, which lists its site in Aldershot, needs no referral either. Any of them may be the right first step, before or alongside private sessions.
Could I ever come to the Hove room from Fleet, even occasionally?
You could, but it would be an occasional thing. An 89-minute drive each way is too much to fit around a weekly hour, and I don't know of a straightforward train route to recommend. So from Fleet, regular sessions would be by video. If you'd value one face-to-face meeting, we can talk about a longer session so the trip is worth making. A 90 or 120-minute session suits that kind of visit, and video carries the weeks in between.
Can counselling help with the anxiety I feel on the commute to Waterloo?
It's worth bringing, whether it starts at Fleet station or somewhere near Waterloo. Anxiety that shows up on the platform or in a packed carriage is real anxiety, and it may be tied up with other things in your life. We'd slow one of those journeys right down together: the doors closing, what your chest and stomach do next, the thought that follows, and then what would help you feel steadier on the next one. Video sessions also mean no extra travel on top.
Do I need a referral from my Fleet GP to start counselling with you?
No. You start with a free 15-minute call, where you can tell me briefly what's happening and ask how I work. If it feels right to both of us, we settle on a regular slot that fits around the Waterloo train or the school run. You don't have to go through your GP first, whether your practice is in Fleet, Church Crookham or Elvetham Heath, and you can still use Talk Plus or Hart Voluntary Action alongside if that helps.
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.
Find a time that works from Fleet
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.