Tonbridge · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Tonbridge
If you're in Tonbridge and looking for a counsellor, you should know straight away that my room is in Hove, about 70 minutes' drive south. From Tonbridge, that usually makes secure video the sensible way to work together, weekly or fortnightly, from somewhere private at home.
The practical facts for Tonbridge
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Tonbridge by car
- About 70 minutes with clear roads (43.7 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 junction town that is always on the move
Tonbridge is a railway junction, with lines to London, Ashford, Hastings and Redhill, and its station is one of Kent's busiest, used by around 3.5 million passengers a year since Covid.
The Royal Mail sorting office on Vale Road and the college on Brook Street keep their own hours. It's a grammar-school town as well, with The Judd School, Tonbridge Grammar School and Weald of Kent Grammar School alongside Tonbridge School, and for some families that brings its own pressure. When life runs on schedules there is rarely a gap to notice how you are, let alone talk about it. Sometimes the first sign is small: snapping at the children, lying awake on a Sunday night, or walking along the Medway below the castle and realising you can't remember the last time you felt at ease.
Counselling that fits around a timetable
You don't need a tidy reason to start. You might come with one clear problem, such as panic before work or a bereavement that hasn't softened, or simply know that something is off. A short, focused piece of work is possible, and so is something more open-ended. From Tonbridge, the hardest part may be finding the time. If your day starts on the platform at Tonbridge station, a session before the early train or after the late one may be the only realistic slot, and video makes that possible from home in Hildenborough, Higham Wood or Barden Park. If you teach at one of the town's schools or work at NKC Tonbridge College on Brook Street, pressure can arrive with the term, and we can plan the weeks with exam season in mind. If you're a parent in a grammar-school town, the selection years can stir up memories of being tested yourself, and that is worth talking about in its own right. I've worked as a counsellor for more than 25 years and bring lived experience of recovery.
Some of what you might bring
Running on the timetable
Early trains from one of Kent's busiest stations, late finishes and weekends spent catching up, until there is no space left to notice how you are.
Pressure around school and exams
Selection, results and expectations in a grammar-school town, whether it's your own history coming back or what you feel on behalf of your children.
Low mood that won't shift
Across Kent, the recorded prevalence of depression among adults registered with a GP was 17.1% in 2024/25. Ringing 0333 091 0414 reaches NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, no GP needed.
A habit you're uneasy about
Drinking or drug use that has started to take more than it gives. You can say it out loud here, and Change, Grow, Live's West Kent community drug and alcohol service is another door.
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 Tonbridge
West Kent Mind covers Tonbridge and Malling and offers affordable counselling for adults, up to 24 weekly sessions, face to face at its Sevenoaks Wellbeing Centre or online. Live Well Kent and Medway is another place to ask. You can use one of them and see me privately as well.
- 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 itWest Kent community drug and alcohol service (Change, Grow, Live)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationImago - Kent Carers Support (West Kent adult carers service)
- Local organisationWest Kent Mind Affordable Counselling
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. Local drop-in crisis support: Kent and Medway Safe Havens (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 Tonbridge ask before starting
Is there a counsellor I can see in person in Tonbridge?
Not with me, since my only room is in Hove, about 70 minutes away by car. If face to face matters most, West Kent Mind's affordable counselling is offered in person at its Sevenoaks Wellbeing Centre. If video suits you, we can work together from wherever you are in Tonbridge or Hildenborough.
How do I start counselling from Tonbridge?
Start with a free 15-minute conversation, on the phone or over video, at a time that fits round the trains. Give me a rough sense of what's been happening, ask about the way I work, and I'll give you a realistic date for a first session. If it feels right, we arrange that session. Early sessions look at this stretch of your Tonbridge life as it is now, and at which part of it you most want to change.
Can I fit sessions around the commute from Tonbridge station?
Yes, as long as you can be somewhere private. You could book a session from home before leaving for the train or after getting back, or use a quiet room at work. A busy carriage isn't private enough for this kind of conversation, so I'd ask you not to join from the train itself.
Drinking has started to worry me. Who can I talk to about it in Tonbridge?
You can talk to me about it, and Change, Grow, Live, which provides West Kent's community drug and alcohol service, answers on 0330 128 1113. Counselling with me can come before their support, run alongside it or follow it, and the first call doesn't commit you to any decision about your drinking.
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.
See whether video counselling could work from Tonbridge
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.