Guildford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Guildford
If you're looking for a counsellor in Guildford, you should know that my only room is in Hove, about 70 minutes' drive away. From Guildford, the practical way to work with me is by secure video, and the Hove room is there for the odd session when you'd rather sit in the same room.
The practical facts for Guildford
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Guildford by car
- About 70 minutes with clear roads (44.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Guildford, change at 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.
Long days between Guildford and Waterloo
Guildford has a campus university, a research park and a cluster of video-games studios, among them Media Molecule, Hello Games and Criterion Games.
It also has fast trains into London Waterloo via Woking, and a large share of residents commute to London. The University of Surrey brings a big student and staff population, and the Royal Surrey County Hospital on Egerton Road is the town's main NHS hospital. With the Surrey Hills National Landscape on three sides, the town has grown north towards Woking. If your week runs between a desk in London and a home in Merrow, Burpham or Stoughton, there may be little time left to notice how you're doing. Counselling by video adds no extra travel to that week, and it means talking to someone from outside Guildford. That can feel easier if your work, your neighbours and the school gate tend to overlap.
What counselling from Guildford has to fit around
The first question from Guildford is a practical one: when can you protect an hour each week? If you commute on the fast trains to Waterloo via Woking, an evening slot from home may be the one that holds, or a lunchtime hour from a private room at work in London. If you work at the Royal Surrey County Hospital on a rota, we can look for a regular time that sits around it. If you study or teach at the University of Surrey, the University of Law, Guildford School of Acting or the Academy of Contemporary Music, video lets you talk to someone well outside that world without explaining an afternoon away. What you bring from a Guildford week can be anxiety, a low mood that won't lift, a loss or a relationship under strain, with or without a label. For anxiety and low mood there is a free route to consider first: Mind Matters Surrey, run by Surrey and Borders Partnership, takes self-referrals. Private counselling may suit you better if you want to choose who you see, keep the same counsellor for as long as it helps, or book a longer 90 or 120-minute session. I've worked as a counsellor for more than 25 years and have lived experience of recovery.
Pressures that come with a Guildford week
Commuting via Woking to Waterloo
Early trains, late returns and work that follows you home, until sleep, mood or temper start to show it. Video sessions can sit at either end of that day.
Working at the Royal Surrey
Hospital work on Egerton Road can stir up things there's never time to talk through. If you're on a rota, we can agree a regular slot that fits around it.
Study and work on campus
Pressure at the University of Surrey, Guildford College or Guildford School of Acting, and a wish to talk to someone who sits completely outside it.
A drink that has crept up
Guildford recorded 397.1 alcohol-related hospital admissions per 100,000 people (narrow definition) in 2023/24, under England's 504.1. Your own drinking is what we'd talk about.
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 Guildford
Private counselling can sit alongside free help in Surrey. Catalyst Support and Oakleaf Enterprise are local mental health charities, PeerTalk Guildford runs a weekly peer support group for depression and anxiety, and Guildford Samaritans is there to listen. In the evenings and at weekends, the Guildford Safe Haven is a drop-in alternative to A and E for adults in Surrey or north-east Hampshire who are in crisis.
- 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 organisationCatalyst Community Connections (Guildford and Waverley)Community mental health and wellbeing support.
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. Local drop-in crisis support: Guildford 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 Guildford ask before starting
Can I see a counsellor in Guildford in person?
I don't see anyone in Guildford itself, because my only room is in Hove, about 70 minutes' drive away, so from Guildford regular sessions are more workable by secure video. An in-person session at Intergen House is still possible now and then, and a longer session can make the drive worthwhile.
Is there free counselling in Guildford?
Yes. Surrey and Borders Partnership runs Mind Matters Surrey, the county's free NHS Talking Therapies, and Guildford residents with anxiety or low mood can self-refer on 0300 330 5450. PeerTalk Guildford also runs a weekly peer support group for depression and anxiety. Paying privately means you pick who you see and carry on for as long as the sessions are useful.
I searched for rehab in Guildford. Can you help?
There are no residential beds or detox with me, only outpatient counselling, and from Guildford that would mostly be by video. Surrey's free drug and alcohol service is i-access, on 0300 222 5932, with Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Via behind it. Counselling with me can run before, alongside or after residential or community treatment.
Can I start counselling soon if I live in Guildford?
Book the free 15-minute consultation to talk through what's going on and whether we'd suit each other. Once we've decided to carry on, we pick a regular video slot, early, late or around a London working day. If you'd rather try the NHS route for anxiety or low mood first, Mind Matters Surrey accepts self-referrals on 0300 330 5450.
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 out whether video counselling suits you
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.