Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Counselling and Therapy · Preston Park
Counselling and Therapy in Preston Park
Counselling and Therapy for Preston Park and the surrounding area, in person or online. Preston Park, named after the city's largest park, is a leafy and well-connected district north of central Brighton. From my room in nearby Hove I offer a calm, confidential space to do this work.
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you
In and around Preston Park
Counselling and Therapy for Preston Park, at a glance
- Known for
- Preston Park, the Rotunda Cafe and Preston Manor
- Area
- Brighton & Hove, East/West Sussex
- Getting to the Hove room
- Preston Park is around ten minutes from the office by car or a short train ride to Hove, with Preston Park Station close by.
- Local NHS / support route
- the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service
- Format
- In person at my private Hove room, or by secure video UK-wide.
Life in Preston Park
Why do people in Preston Park reach out?
This is a district full of people who are managing. The job is going well enough, the flat off Springfield Road is nice, the cafes around Fiveways are busy on a Saturday, and from the outside there is nothing to report. Inside, something has been off for months. You are irritable in a way that does not suit you. A Sunday evening has started to fill you with dread. You cannot point to a cause, which makes the whole thing feel indulgent to mention. Counselling and therapy is built for precisely that position: you do not have to be in crisis, and you do not have to arrive with a name for what is happening.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Preston Park
Preston VillageFivewaysStanfordBeaconsfield VillasSpringfield RoadDitchling RoadPreston DroveWithdean
Wherever you are in Preston Park, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Preston Park
Official figures for Preston Park, for context rather than as a description of you.
26.7% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, above the England average of 23.8%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Self-reported wellbeing: high anxiety score (2022/23).
recorded depression on GP registers stood at 14.1% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, below the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 161.8 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 117 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Emergency Hospital Admissions for Intentional Self-Harm (2023/24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does counselling and therapy involve?
Counselling and therapy here is one steady starting point for whatever you are carrying, anxiety, low mood, addiction, relationships or the past, integrative and led by you, so we begin with what matters most and shape the work around you.
The approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the main counselling and therapy page, alongside how sessions run and what they cost and my credentials and registration.
How do sessions work, in person or online?
Sessions take place in a private, comfortable room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove, held to the strict BACP confidentiality you would expect. We begin with a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, and the same sessions are available by secure video if travelling is difficult or you would simply prefer it.
Practically, this is one of the simplest journeys to the Hove room: ten minutes by car, or the train from Preston Park Station and a short walk. Many people take a regular weekday slot near the start or end of the working day. Where a week is impossible, or you would rather talk from your own kitchen table, secure video replaces the trip without changing the work.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
Low mood and depression
For the flatness, exhaustion and loss of interest that drain the colour from things.
Addiction and habits
Alcohol, drugs, gambling or behaviours that have stopped feeling like a choice.
Relationships
Conflict, distance and trust, as a couple or on your own.
Trauma and the past
When something you have been through still shapes your present.
Life feeling stuck
For the big transitions, losses and crossroads that leave you unsure which way to turn.
Counselling and Therapy in Preston Park
Why people in Preston Park come for counselling and therapy
Nothing about this asks you to justify yourself first. The remit is broad on purpose, and the work is present-tense: how these weeks have actually gone, what you are avoiding, what you would like to be different by the spring. It usually runs shorter to medium term, somewhere in the region of six to twenty sessions, with a review along the way rather than an open-ended commitment. People come because their sleep has gone, or because they have started drinking more than they meant to, or because they feel nothing much about anything. Some sort out what they came for and finish. A few realise there is a longer pattern underneath and choose to keep going, which is a decision made in its own time. In 2022/23, 26.7% of adults in the city reported a high anxiety score, above the England average of 23.8%. Free NHS therapy is available on self-referral through the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service, and Sussex Mental Healthline covers the hours when nothing else is open.
A free, unhurried first step
Not sure if it is right for you? A free fifteen-minute call is a no-obligation way to talk it through.
Book a free 15-minute callFinding support in Preston Park
My counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Preston Park, you can refer yourself directly to the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service for free NHS talking therapy, with no GP referral needed.
Seeing me privately usually means you can start sooner and stay with the same counsellor throughout, working at greater depth and pace; the two can run side by side, and I am glad to work alongside any NHS or GP support you already have.
Other local and national support verified for this area includes:
If you need urgent help now
This is not a crisis service. If anyone is in immediate danger call 999. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. The Samaritans are free, day or night, on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
Preston Park questions
Counselling and Therapy in Preston Park: common questions
Where do Preston Park sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?
In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. Preston Park is around ten minutes from the office by car or a short train ride to Hove, with Preston Park Station close by. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Preston Park or blend the two.
Is it self-indulgent to come when nothing terrible has happened?
No, and that worry keeps a great many people stuck for years. Difficulty does not have to be catastrophic to be worth attention. Coming early usually means less to untangle, and it tends to be a good deal quicker than waiting until something finally gives.
What if it turns out the real issue is my marriage?
Then that becomes the focus, and relationship work can be done here whether or not your partner ever attends. Nothing is wasted by having started in a general way. Working out what the problem actually is counts as progress, not as a false start.
What are the fees and how does payment work?
£80 buys the standard 60 min hour, with £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min available. You pay session by session rather than for a course. Before any of that, a free 15-minute consultation gives you a chance to ask what you like.
Should I go to the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service instead?
It is free, it takes self-referrals without a GP, and for clear-cut anxiety or depression it does a solid job over a set number of sessions. The main reasons people come privately are the wait, wanting more flexibility, or a difficulty that does not fit a defined programme.
I can hold it together all week and fall apart by Sunday evening. Where does that fit?
It fits here neatly. That pattern usually says something about the gap between the version of you that performs at work and whatever is underneath. Present-focused sessions can look at what the week costs you and what would make the cost smaller.
What is the easiest way to reach counselling from Preston Park?
Probably the train: Preston Park Station reaches Hove in just a few minutes, leaving a short walk or bus to Western Road. Buses down Ditchling Road and driving are simple too, around ten minutes. When you would rather stay put, online video sessions are always there.
How do I reach your Hove counselling room from Preston Park?
Book a free fifteen-minute call, then travel the short way west. Preston Park Station runs regular trains to Hove in just a few minutes, one of the easiest routes to the room, with buses down Ditchling Road and a ten-minute drive as simple alternatives. Online counselling is there too.
How much is counselling, and can I get free NHS talking therapy at Preston Park?
Fees are £80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free fifteen-minute consultation. The NHS offers free talking therapies via your GP or self-referral, though waits can be long, so many Preston Park clients prefer beginning privately without a delay.
Is online counselling as good as coming in, and do you work evenings for Preston Park?
Yes. Online sessions by secure video are just as confidential and effective, and some Preston Park clients prefer them to travelling, while others enjoy the short train ride to a calm room. Evening appointments are available, and you can blend both easily around work and family.
Counselling and Therapy in Preston Park, whenever you are ready
A free fifteen-minute call is the simplest place to start, no obligation, just a chance to see if we are the right fit.
Also available nearby: Brighton, Patcham, Hove. See all areas I cover.
Close to this in Preston Park, there is anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about how change actually sticks and where to start when you cannot name it.
Prefer to meet remotely? The same counselling and therapy is available online by secure video across the UK, or see online counselling by region.