Ramsgate · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Ramsgate
When life in Ramsgate begins to weigh on you, you can talk it through with a counsellor here, even before you can say what it is. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor and my one room is in Hove, a long way along the coast, so from Ramsgate we would meet by secure video, with a Hove visit whenever you want one.
The practical facts for Ramsgate
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Ramsgate by car
- About 125 minutes with clear roads (107.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, 0333 091 0414
- 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.
Harbour lights, quiet winters and an older town
Ramsgate wears two faces through the year.
In summer the Royal Harbour and the marina fill with boats, visitors crowd the cafes, and the Royal Temple Yacht Club brings Ramsgate Week to the water. Then the season ends, and a town that lives on tourism and fishing goes quiet, along with some of the work. Thanet's population is older than the South East average: in 2021 its median age was 45, and 27.9% of residents aged 16 and over were retired. For some people that means a settled, sociable retirement by the sea. For others it means long weekdays alone in a flat above the harbour, caring for a partner in Newington, or living with an illness that has quietly narrowed life down. Younger residents feel it too, and in December 2025 a local health partnership asked people aged 20-49 in Northwood about the gaps they saw in mental health support there.
Bringing whatever the season has left you with
You can contact me while you are still unsure what the problem is. Perhaps something definite has happened: a bereavement, a marriage coming apart, retirement arriving before you were ready, or news from a hospital appointment that has changed how you see the years ahead. Or perhaps it is vaguer than that, a flatness that settled in when the summer trade dried up, sleep that has gone ragged, or a glass of wine in the evening that has slowly become most of a bottle. Any of those is a fair starting point. Early on, we piece together what has been dragging at you and why it lingers, then settle on where the work should point. Should a different service fit your situation more closely, you will hear that from me plainly, along with where to find it. I work integratively, drawing on several approaches, Internal Family Systems among them, and there is more about that on the how I work page. Over 25 years in this work, plus a stretch of recovery I lived through personally, mean that shame, loneliness or drinking can all be spoken about here without fear of shocking me.
Pressures a Ramsgate year can bring
When the season turns
In a town whose main industries are tourism and fishing, the end of summer can bring less work, less money and fewer people about, all at once.
Retirement by the sea
In a district with more retired residents than the regional average, plenty of households are adjusting to life without the structure and company that work once gave.
Living with ill health
In 2021, 5.4% of Thanet residents aged 16 and over were economically inactive through long-term sickness or disability, which can bring isolation, worry and grief for an old life.
Help in town after dark
Ramsgate Safe Haven on the High Street opens from 6pm to 11pm every evening for adults who need to talk, with no referral, alongside our weekly sessions.
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 Ramsgate
Private sessions with me can sit beside free help in and around Ramsgate. Thanet residents can self-refer to the county's NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway for worry or low mood. East Kent Mind, on King Street in the town, runs groups, courses and free one-to-one support. Live Well Kent and Medway offers community wellbeing help, and if drink or drugs are part of it, the East Kent community drug and alcohol service (The Forward Trust) is the place to call.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway0333 091 0414Free 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 itEast Kent community drug and alcohol service (The Forward Trust)0300 123 1186Free and confidential.
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 Release the Pressure Helpline - Kent is on 0800 107 0160. Local drop-in crisis support: Ramsgate Safe Haven (Mental Health Matters) (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 Ramsgate ask before starting
Is it possible to meet you in person when home is Ramsgate?
Sessions in person take place at Intergen House in Hove, about 125 minutes' drive from Ramsgate, with no direct train between the two. That is why sessions from Ramsgate are normally held by secure video, so you keep one counsellor and one regular weekly slot while skipping the two-hour drive each way. Hove sessions can be booked now and then, and choosing 90 or 120 minutes makes the trip from Thanet more worthwhile.
How long before counselling can start from Ramsgate?
We open with a free 15-minute consultation, held on the phone or on screen, whichever you prefer. Should we both want to go ahead, you choose from the weekly slots that are genuinely open in my diary, which keeps any wait short. Free help for anxiety or low mood comes from NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, reachable on 0333 091 0414, either instead of our work or as well as it.
Is there anywhere in Ramsgate to go in the evening when I'm struggling?
Ramsgate Safe Haven, run by Mental Health Matters at 42 High Street, is open from 6pm to 11pm every day for adults 18 and over, and you can simply walk in. The Thanet Safe Haven at the Thanet Mental Health Unit in Margate is open 24 hours a day. If life is at immediate risk, call 999, and the urgent help box on this page lists more contacts.
Will video counselling feel too distant when I'm talking about something painful?
It is a fair worry. In practice you are talking from your own chair, in your own home, which can make it easier to say difficult things, and there is no long drive back afterwards. You need a private room, a steady connection and ideally headphones. Should video stop feeling right, just say so, and we'll look at a Hove visit.
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.
A first conversation from Ramsgate, at home
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.