Reigate · in person in Hove or online
Counselling and therapy for Reigate
If you live in Reigate and want a counsellor you've picked yourself, rather than one allocated from a list, you can see me in person or by secure video. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor and psychotherapist, and my one room is in Hove, 51 minutes' drive south of the town.
The practical facts for Reigate
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Reigate by car
- About 51 minutes with clear roads (39.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Reigate, change at Gatwick Airport 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.
Head offices, council desks and the London trains
Reigate sits under the North Downs in the London commuter belt, about 19 miles south of central London and 9 miles north of Gatwick Airport.
Some people here head for London each morning. Others drive to a desk in town: Surrey County Council has been at Woodhatch Place since 2021, Kimberly-Clark has its European headquarters on London Road, and esure is here too. A job in a large organisation can be steady and still come with restructures, targets and long meetings where nobody says how they're really doing. Term time adds its own clock, with Reigate College, Reigate Grammar School and Reigate School in Woodhatch filling the same roads at the same hours. Evenings might mean a walk up Reigate Hill or a loop of Priory Park, and from the outside it all looks settled. The town runs into Redhill, home to the nearest A and E and evening crisis space. If you feel wound up in a place that looks comfortable, there's nothing to be embarrassed about.
Counselling when your work is in Reigate too
Reigate is a county-council seat as well as a commuter town. Surrey County Council moved its headquarters to Woodhatch Place in 2021, and Kimberly-Clark's European headquarters are on London Road. If you work for one of them, for esure, or at a London desk you reach by train, the strain may never look like an emergency. You might sleep badly in the weeks before a restructure is announced, or notice that the glass of wine after work has become two. You don't need a name for it before we speak. I listen first, and then we decide together where to start, perhaps with whether to stay in a role, or with why one reorganisation has hit you harder than the last. You might want a counsellor with no link to Cockshott Hill, London Road or your children's school, and a room in Hove or a screen at home gives you that. My own background is more than 25 years in practice, along with lived experience of recovery. If medication comes into it, that conversation belongs with your GP, who can work alongside our sessions. The how I work page explains the integrative approach I use.
Some places to start talking
Pressure at a big employer
Restructures and targets at Woodhatch Place, a London Road head office or a London desk, and the effort of looking fine in meetings while your sleep and patience wear thin.
Long days in the commuter belt
Early trains north or along the rail corridor and late returns, until evenings in Reigate are only for recovering enough to do it all again.
Wanting some distance from town
Your employer, your children's school and your neighbours may all be in Reigate. A room in Hove or a screen at home keeps counselling apart from the rest of town life.
A nightly glass becoming more
Wine to unwind that now happens most nights. We can look at it honestly and without judgement, and for help with the drinking itself, the free county service i-access can run alongside our 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 Reigate
There are other ways in. Reigate Community Counselling Centre is a local not-for-profit with sliding-scale fees for adults, though it doesn't offer crisis care. Mind Matters Surrey offers free NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety or low mood. After a death, Cruse Bereavement Support has an east Surrey branch, Cruse Bereavement Support - Surrey East. On a bad evening, Redhill Safe Haven is a walk-in space open from 6pm to 11pm.
- 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 organisationEast Surrey Community Connections (Waythrough)Community mental wellbeing support, ages 16+, East Surrey.
For gambling, the National Gambling Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 8020 133 (NHS gambling support).
Private counselling with me can run alongside any of these; you do not have to choose one or the other.
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 Reigate ask before starting
Is there a waiting list for counselling in Reigate?
With me, the free 15-minute call comes first, and I'll tell you honestly then when a first session could happen, by video or in Hove. If you'd rather use the free NHS route, Mind Matters Surrey takes self-referrals on 0300 330 5450, and they can tell you their current waiting time. You can look into both at once.
How is Reigate Community Counselling Centre different from seeing you?
It's a not-for-profit in central Reigate that sees adults face to face, sets fees on a sliding scale and works open-ended, so it's well worth a look if money is tight. With me, you choose your counsellor, the fee is fixed and you can work by video. Neither offers crisis care.
Is it realistic to come to Hove from Reigate every week?
It can be. It's about 51 minutes by car in clear traffic, or by rail from Reigate station with one change, at Gatwick Airport. If a weekly round trip is too much alongside work, you could use secure video most weeks and save the Hove room for an occasional 90-minute session. We can try one arrangement and change it.
Will anyone at work know I'm seeing a counsellor?
Not from me. What you say stays between us, within the usual limits around serious risk to you or someone else, which I explain in the first session. Video sessions can happen from home, and the room is in Hove, a long way from Woodhatch or London Road, so you're unlikely to meet a colleague on the way in.
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.
Book a free call before you decide anything
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.