Petersfield · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Petersfield
If you're in Petersfield, Sheet or one of the villages under the Downs and want to talk to a counsellor privately, I work by secure video from a room in Hove, which is a long drive from you. Sessions are 60, 90 or 120 minutes, at a time agreed between us.
The practical facts for Petersfield
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Petersfield by car
- About 71 minutes with clear roads (43.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Petersfield, change at Havant for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- 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.
A small market town under the Downs
Petersfield is a town of about 15,000 people, set wholly inside the South Downs National Park.
In a town that size you may see the same faces in The Square, at the school gate at The Petersfield School or Churcher's College, and on the path round the Heath lake. Some people here commute to London or Portsmouth, leaving early and getting back late, while others work in town-centre shops and offices, on farms in the nearby villages or on the Bedford Road estate. Petersfield has no state sixth form, so at 16 teenagers usually move on to Havant and South Downs College, Bohunt Sixth Form or Alton College, which can change the shape of the week at home. If you'd rather your counselling stayed well away from the people you meet around town, working with someone outside it can make that easier.
Weighing up your options from Petersfield
Before choosing, it helps to know what Petersfield already has. Petersfield Counselling Service is a low-cost charity for adults in the town, though it offers general counselling and is not the place for a drinking or drug worry. For that, Inclusion Recovery Hampshire is the free county service. For anxiety or low mood, the free county route is NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, which Petersfield people can contact without a GP. In 2022/23, 26.3% of Hampshire adults scored high for anxiety, statistically similar to England's 23.8%, so the county sits close to the national picture. Private counselling suits you if you want to choose who you work with, keep your sessions outside the town altogether, or have a longer session of 90 or 120 minutes. In a town of about 15,000, where you may know the other parents at the school gate, that separation can matter. The times can also bend around a commute to London or Portsmouth, a day on a farm in the villages, or a shift at Whitman Laboratories. You might bring stress that has reached your sleep, grief, a marriage under pressure or a habit with alcohol that has started to worry you. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor and psychotherapist with more than 25 years' experience, and I'm also a student member of UKCP. I'll always be honest with you about what counselling can and can't do.
Some Petersfield worries you could bring
Pressure from the commute
Long days on the line to London or Portsmouth that leave you wired at night and short-tempered at the weekend.
Long days on the land
Work on a farm in one of the villages around Petersfield can mean long hours alone, and few people nearby you'd want to tell how you really are.
When teenagers leave at 16
With no state sixth form in town, the move to Havant and South Downs College, Bohunt Sixth Form or Alton College can change the whole shape of home.
A drinking worry kept private
Petersfield Counselling Service isn't an addiction service, so if drinking is part of what you'd like to talk about, private sessions or Inclusion Recovery Hampshire are the routes.
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 Petersfield
Petersfield Counselling Service is a local low-cost counselling charity for adults, and NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, formerly italk, accepts Petersfield residents who refer themselves for anxiety or low mood. If drinking or drugs are the worry, Inclusion Recovery Hampshire is the free county service, and Havant and East Hants Mind is the local Mind. Seeing me privately doesn't rule any of them out: you could use one first and come to me later, or run the two side by side.
- 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).
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. Local drop-in crisis support: Havant Adults' Safe Haven (Havant & East Hants Mind) (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 Petersfield ask before starting
Where can I find cheaper counselling near Petersfield?
In the town itself there is a local charity, Petersfield Counselling Service, which offers low-cost general counselling for adults aged 18 and over, though it isn't an addiction service. You can also refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, previously called italk, on 023 8038 3920 when anxiety or low mood is what you're mainly dealing with. Seeing me privately is another option if you want to choose who you work with.
Could I come to your Hove room from Petersfield instead of using video?
You can, though it's a fair trip: about 71 minutes' drive, or by rail, changing trains at Havant. My one room is in Hove, so there's no closer option with me. From Petersfield, video is usually easier to fit around work and family, and if being in the same room with me matters, we can plan an occasional longer session in Hove.
I'm in Hampshire, not Sussex. Does that matter?
Not for private counselling with me, since we can work by video wherever you are. It does matter for free services. The NHS and council services for Petersfield are Hampshire ones, so your free route for anxiety or low mood is NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, and Petersfield Hospital on Swan Street has community mental health teams and an urgent treatment centre.
Who in Petersfield will know I'm having counselling?
Nobody needs to know unless you tell them. Sessions are confidential within the usual professional limits, which I'll explain in the first session. Working by video from outside Petersfield means there's no local waiting room to sit in and no chance of meeting a neighbour on the way out. You can start with the free 15-minute call, at a time when you won't be overheard.
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.
Start quietly, with a short call
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.