Oxted · in person in Hove or online
Counselling and therapy for Oxted
Whether home is Oxted, Hurst Green or Limpsfield, you're welcome to contact me while the unease is still hard to put into words. As a BACP-registered counsellor, I can meet you in my one room in Hove, or we can speak by secure video from home.
The practical facts for Oxted
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Oxted by car
- About 51 minutes with clear roads (40.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Oxted, change at East Croydon 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.
Under the North Downs, between the station and home
Oxted sits at the foot of the North Downs, and for a lot of households the day is shaped by the Oxted Line.
Oxted station is the busiest suburban stop on it, with direct trains up to London Victoria and London Bridge, so a working week can mean early platforms, late returns and very little of the town seen in daylight. Others are here all day: retired, caring for someone, or living alone in Old Oxted, Holland or Broadham Green after a partner has gone. The district is an older one, and in Tandridge 14.0% of households in 2021 were people aged 66 and over living alone, above the England figure of 12.8%. A film at the Everyman or a swim at Tandridge Leisure Centre can fill an evening. What sits underneath can still be waiting when the house goes quiet.
When you can't yet say what's wrong
People often get in touch without a clear label. It might be sleep that has gone, a temper that flares at the people you love, a drink at the end of the day that has quietly become two or three, or a sense that life has narrowed. That's enough to begin with. In the first weeks we work out what is going on and what holds it there: perhaps the daily change at East Croydon, years of caring for a parent, retirement coming sooner than you planned, or a loss there has been no room to grieve. Some people come for a handful of sessions to steady things. Others stay longer because an old pattern keeps coming back. I work integratively, so the approach fits you rather than the other way round, and you can read how I work on a separate page. Having come through recovery before training, and having practised for more than 25 years since, I can hear whatever an Oxted commute or a quiet house has stirred up. How quickly we go is your call, as is when we finish.
What people in Oxted might bring to a first session
Worn down by the London line
Early trains from Oxted to Victoria or London Bridge and late ones back, until work takes up most of the week and the rest goes on recovering from it.
Living alone after a loss
Tandridge has more older people living alone than England as a whole. Quiet evenings after a death or a separation can bring things up that need saying aloud.
Looking after someone in Tandridge
Caring for a partner or parent day after day leaves little room for your own feelings. Action for Carers Surrey can support you, and counselling gives you an hour of your own.
A step-up in drinking
When a glass after the train home from Victoria has turned into several, you can talk it through here openly. i-access, Surrey's drug and alcohol service, offers free specialist help if you want it too.
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 Oxted
Free support near Oxted can sit alongside private counselling. Mind Matters Surrey is the local NHS Talking Therapies service; it accepts self-referral when worry or low mood has taken hold. Tandridge Voluntary Action runs the Tandridge Befriending Scheme and a Volunteer Centre in Oxted, and for under-25s, Heads Together Counselling from YMCA East Surrey meets at Oxted United Reformed Church.
- 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 organisationOxted Bereavement Support Group (Churches Together in Oxted and District)
- Local organisationSt Catherine's Hospice counselling at The Park Hub, Oxted
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 Oxted ask before starting
Is face-to-face counselling possible from Oxted?
Yes, at my room in Hove, which is about 51 minutes' drive from Oxted. By train you change at East Croydon, as nothing runs direct from Oxted or Hurst Green to Hove. You might choose secure video for regular weeks and come to Hove now and then, and either is fine with me.
Is there free counselling in Oxted, and how long is the wait?
You can phone Mind Matters Surrey yourself on 0300 330 5450; it is run by Surrey and Borders Partnership and offers NHS Talking Therapies for people whose worry or low spirits have settled in. Waiting times are set by the service, so ask them directly. Here, a free 15-minute call comes first, after which I'll tell you honestly which weekly slots are open.
I'm retired and on my own in Oxted. Is counselling for people like me?
It is. Retirement, bereavement and living alone can bring up feelings that have waited years for attention, and there's no upper age for talking about them. Video works on most laptops and tablets, and I can talk you through setting it up. Tandridge Voluntary Action also runs a befriending scheme if you'd like regular company too.
My teenager in Oxted is struggling. Where can they get help?
I work with adults. For young people, Heads Together Counselling from YMCA East Surrey offers free sessions, usually a block of 12 weeks, with Oxted United Reformed Church as one venue. Those aged 11 to 17 are referred through Mindworks Surrey or by parents after a talk with the team, and 18 to 24-year-olds who live or have a GP in the area covered can refer themselves.
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.
Talk it over first, from wherever you are in Oxted
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.