Newbury · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Newbury
When life in Newbury has started to feel heavy and you can't quite put words to why, counselling is a sensible first step. I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist working one to one. My only room is in Hove, close to two hours south by road, so from West Berkshire we would usually meet over secure video, with a visit to Hove whenever you'd like one.
The practical facts for Newbury
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Newbury by car
- About 119 minutes with clear roads (101.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies, 0300 365 2000 (press option 2)
- 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 market town tied to the M4 and the Paddington line
Newbury is the main shopping and business centre of West Berkshire, and with Thatcham it makes up an urban area of around 70,000 people.
Vodafone's UK headquarters at The Connection is the town's largest employer, with over 6,000 staff, and the wider M4 corridor pulls plenty of working days towards Reading and Slough. The station sits 53 miles from London Paddington, with an hourly semi-fast service from Monday to Saturday. Around all that is a slower town: the canal through the middle, Saturdays by the Corn Exchange on Market Place, summer at Northcroft Lido, walks up to Donnington Castle. Life can look settled from the outside, in Wash Common or Shaw or Speenhamland, while inside you feel stretched thin, tense at work, or flat in a way you can't explain to the people around you.
What we'd look at first, before anything has a name
Nothing has to be named or tidy before we start. You might bring something definite, like a restructure at work, a parent who is ill, a marriage under strain or a move to Newbury that hasn't felt like home. Or it may be harder to pin down: broken nights, a shorter fuse with the family, an extra glass after the commute along the A4, a feeling that everything has gone grey. Over our opening sessions we sort out which strands matter most, what seems to feed them, and where you'd like the work to begin. Should another service in West Berkshire fit your situation more closely, I'll say so plainly and point you to it. My approach is integrative, drawing on several traditions including Internal Family Systems; there's more on each of them under how I work. A quarter of a century counselling, plus a recovery of my own, means you can be blunt about what is happening in Newbury or at home. West Berkshire GP practices logged depression in 15.3% of their registered adults in 2024/25, compared with 14.3% across England; that is a count of what surgeries have written down rather than of everyone in Newbury who feels low, and it tells me nothing about you.
Strains from Vodafone desks to the Paddington line
Working life on the M4 corridor
Long days at a big employer like Vodafone, or on the road between Newbury, Reading and Slough, can leave little room to notice how worn down you have become.
The Paddington line and late returns
If your week depends on the semi-fast service to London, early starts and late trains home can eat the time you would otherwise spend recovering.
Carrying someone else as well
Looking after an older parent or a partner is tiring, and the Newbury Carers Group meets monthly at Riverside Community Centre for unpaid carers.
Wanting company between sessions
Eight Bells for Mental Health runs peer-support drop-ins at the Friends Meeting House on Highfield Avenue, which can sit alongside our weekly hour.
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 Newbury
Private counselling can run alongside free help in West Berkshire. For anxiety or low mood, NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies accepts referrals straight from you. Eight Bells for Mental Health is a member-led peer charity with weekday drop-ins, Berkshire West Breathing Space, run by Together for Mental Wellbeing, offers another place to turn when things feel heavy, and Newbury Samaritans on West Street offers a listening ear by phone.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Berkshire Talking Therapies0300 365 2000 (press option 2)Free 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 itVia – West Berkshire0300 303 4554Free and confidential.
- Local organisationBarnabas Bereavement Support Group (St Mary's, Shaw-cum-Donnington)
- Local organisationNewbury Carers Group
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.
The Berkshire Healthcare Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team, adults 18+) is another option: 0800 129 9999.
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 Newbury ask before starting
Is there anywhere in Newbury I can see you face to face?
Face-to-face sessions take place only in Hove, roughly 119 minutes from Newbury by car, so meeting in person means a long trip south. Secure video lets us keep the same weekly hour without that travel. Should sharing a room feel important, we can book the odd extended Hove session for a day when the drive from the Kennet valley suits you.
How quickly could I start counselling if I live in Newbury?
After a brief free phone conversation, if we both want to carry on, we look at my real weekly openings together and settle on a regular slot that fits around your work. There's no referral and no letter from your GP. For anxiety or low mood, Newbury residents can refer themselves to NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies on 0300 365 2000, option 2, and that can run alongside our work.
Can I get free help around Newbury and Thatcham while I think it over?
Yes. Eight Bells for Mental Health holds drop-ins on Monday and Thursday from 10am to 4pm and Friday mornings at the Friends Meeting House, with 1:1 support on open days. Mind in Berkshire, through Oxfordshire Mind in the west of the county, is another route, and Time to Talk West Berkshire supports young people aged 11-25 and their parents.
What if I feel I can't cope tonight in Newbury?
The Berkshire Healthcare Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team answers around the clock for adults on 0800 129 9999. Samaritans pick up at any hour on 116 123, and the Newbury branch is part of that service. When someone in Newbury is at risk right now, dial 999. Other Berkshire crisis numbers sit in the urgent help panel here.
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.
Begin with one conversation from West Berkshire
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.