Tenterden · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Tenterden
Whether home is the High Street, St Michaels, Reading Street or a lane out towards Smallhythe, you and I can start individual sessions over secure video without you leaving the house. My room is in Hove, a long way across the Weald, so visits there work best as an occasional longer session rather than every week.
The practical facts for Tenterden
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Tenterden by car
- About 82 minutes with clear roads (50.2 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.
A small Wealden town where people know your name
Tenterden is a historic market town of 8,186 people at the last Census, sitting on the edge of the Weald above the Rother valley.
Through much of the year visitors come for the heritage trains to Bodiam, the tastings at Chapel Down on Small Hythe Road and the house at Smallhythe Place, and the High Street can feel busy and cheerful. For the people who live here, the picture can be quieter. There is no National Rail station in the town, so a job, a hospital appointment or a visit to family often depends on a car or the bus timetable. In a place this size you may know the receptionist at Ivy Court Surgery, the parents at the gate at Homewood School and half the congregation at St Mildred's, which is warm until you want to talk about something private. Talking to someone from outside the town can make that easier.
When you're not sure what you need yet
Nobody expects you to turn up with a name for it. People get in touch because sleep has gone, because they snap at the people they love, because a loss or a frightening bit of health news has knocked them sideways, or because something from years ago keeps coming back. The first few sessions are about understanding what is going on for you and what keeps it going, and then deciding together what would help. In a rural town some pressures are particular. If you're caring for a parent who has spent time on the rehabilitation wards at West View in Plummer Lane, the worry often comes home with you after visiting hours. If you work in the visitor trade, the busy season can leave little room to notice how tired you are. If you don't drive, the distances alone can make the week feel small. My way of working is integrative, so we can draw on different methods as the work needs them. I bring more than 25 years of experience and my own recovery to it.
Things people in Tenterden often carry
Visiting someone at West View
A parent or partner on a rehabilitation ward in Plummer Lane, the hourly hopper bus to get there, and the worry about how things will be once they come home.
Privacy in a small town
When the surgery, the school gate and the church all know you, it can feel safer to talk to a counsellor from outside Tenterden, on video from your own home.
Living without a station
With the nearest mainline trains at Appledore, Headcorn or Ashford, not driving can make work, appointments and friendships harder to reach, and loneliness can creep in quietly.
A town busy with visitors
Working through the season at a winery, a heritage railway or a shop on the High Street can leave you looking after everyone else and running on empty.
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 Tenterden
There is good free and low-cost help close by. Tenterden Counselling Service is a local charity with donation-based fees, offering sessions in the town, on Zoom or by phone. You needn't book a GP appointment at Ivy Court Surgery before contacting NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway from Tenterden about anxiety or low mood, while Mid Kent Mind provides counselling at an affordable price. Ashford and Tenterden Umbrella holds a weekly Chatty Café in Ashford.
- 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.
- Local organisationTenterden Mindfulness GroupTenterden-based mindfulness training charity.
- Local organisationMid Kent Mind affordable counsellingLocal Mind, low-cost or fee-paying.
- Local organisationInvolve Kent carers' service (East Kent, including Ashford)
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 Release the Pressure Helpline - Kent is on 0800 107 0160.
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 Tenterden ask before starting
Can I meet you in person if I live in Tenterden?
Yes, in Hove, which is about 82 minutes' drive from Tenterden, or a train ride with one change at Hastings or Eastbourne. Because of that distance, most people from the town work with me by secure video and come to the Hove room occasionally, often for a longer session. We can mix the two in whatever way suits you.
Is there a local counselling charity in Tenterden?
Tenterden Counselling Service is a local charity that asks for a donation rather than a set amount and turns no one away for being unable to pay. You can refer yourself by email and be seen in Tenterden, on Zoom or by phone. Another free option for anxiety or low mood is a call from Tenterden to 0333 091 0414, the NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway number.
Is there a wait to start counselling from Tenterden?
It depends on the times I have open, and the way in is a free 15-minute call. It gives you a sense of whether you'd feel comfortable talking to me, and you can ask anything you like. Afterwards, if you want to continue, you choose from whatever weekly hours are open at that point. Video means you can begin from home in Tenterden without planning a long trip.
Who can I call in Tenterden if things feel very bad at night?
Ashford and Tenterden Samaritans are part of the national listening service, and you can call Samaritans free on 116 123 at any hour. In Kent there is also the Release the Pressure helpline on 0800 107 0160, run by Rethink Mental Illness. If your life or someone else's is at risk right now, phone 999. Our sessions can carry on beside any of these, and for moments that feel unsafe, the urgent help box on this page stays available.
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.
Talking it over from Tenterden, at your own pace
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.