Tunbridge Wells · in person in Hove or online
Counselling and therapy for Tunbridge Wells
If you live in Tunbridge Wells, Southborough or one of the villages around Pembury and want to talk to someone privately, we can meet over secure video, or in my one room in Hove if you would rather share a space with the person you're talking to. We can meet weekly, fortnightly, or for a handful of sessions to see how it feels.
The practical facts for Tunbridge Wells
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Tunbridge Wells by car
- About 58 minutes with clear roads (36.5 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.
Behind the Pantiles and the London trains
Tunbridge Wells carries a reputation as comfortable Middle England: the Pantiles, the Commons, Dunorlan Park on a Sunday and Royal Victoria Place on a Saturday.
Plenty of residents commute to London, and average daily passenger flows on trains between here and the capital had passed 12,500 by 2008. With a reputation like that, saying out loud that things aren't fine can feel like breaking an unwritten local rule. You might worry that a counsellor in town would turn out to be a neighbour from High Brooms or Rusthall, or someone you queue behind for the morning train. If you work in health or psychology yourself, perhaps at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury or around the Salomons Institute near Southborough, the local professional world can feel very small. Talking to someone who sits outside all of that, over video or down in Hove, is one way of keeping this part of your life your own.
What fits around a Tunbridge Wells week
You don't need to know what kind of help you want before you get in touch. In the first sessions I listen for what feels most pressing and what you would like to be different, and we shape the work around that. For anyone living in Tunbridge Wells, practical things can decide whether counselling happens at all. If you commute, the hour after the train gets back into Tunbridge Wells or High Brooms may be your only free time, and on video you can spend it at home with the door shut. If you work at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury, shifts can make a fixed weekly slot hard, so we can agree a pattern that moves with the rota. If you look after a parent or partner somewhere in the borough, an hour each week can be kept for you alone. And if the town's comfortable reputation makes your trouble feel out of place here, that feeling is worth bringing too. I have practised for more than 25 years and I'm a BACP registered member, with lived experience of recovery.
What might bring you to a first session
Worry on the train home
A mind that keeps running after the train pulls back into Tunbridge Wells, rehearsing tomorrow's meetings and replaying today's.
When you're the family carer
Looking after a parent or partner alongside work. Imago runs the West Kent adult carers service for the practical side, and sessions give you an hour of your own.
Keeping up the Middle England front
The town's comfortable, affluent reputation can make it hard to say you're struggling. In sessions nothing has to look fine, and nobody from the Pantiles is listening.
A glass or two more than before
Wine with dinner that now starts earlier or ends later. We can look at what it does for you; Change, Grow, Live also run a community drug and alcohol service across West Kent.
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 Tunbridge Wells
The Counselling Centre on London Road is a local charity offering counselling on a sliding scale, and it aims to offer a first appointment within two weeks. West Kent Mind covers the borough and offers lower-cost counselling online or in Sevenoaks, on 01732 744950 on weekdays, and Live Well Kent and Medway is another place to ask. Choosing private sessions doesn't rule any of these out.
- 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 Tunbridge Wells ask before starting
If I get in touch from Tunbridge Wells, how soon could a first session be?
That depends on which times are free when you get in touch. During the free 15-minute call you'll hear how soon a first session could realistically be, and you can ask whatever you need to. If you'd rather go away and think about it, that's fine. Nothing is booked until you decide you want it.
Is there a counselling charity in Tunbridge Wells I could try as well?
Yes. The Counselling Centre at 49 Richmond Terrace, London Road, is a BACP-accredited charity that charges on a sliding scale after an initial assessment, with concessions for low income, and it aims to see you within two weeks. Their number is 01892 548750. If the trouble is anxiety or low mood, the NHS route costs nothing: you can phone 0333 091 0414 to put yourself forward for NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway.
Do I have to come to Hove, or can we just use video?
Video can carry the whole of our work if that suits you. From Tunbridge Wells the room is almost an hour away by car, so weekly trips would take a real bite out of your day. You might prefer to come in once near the start, or every so often for a 90-minute session, and work online in between. You can change the mix later.
I work in mental health around Tunbridge Wells. Is it sensible to see someone outside the area?
It can be. When colleagues, trainees or the people you care for professionally could be anywhere in town, it helps to have a counsellor who isn't part of that circle. I work from Hove and online, well away from the West Kent professional world. What we discuss stays confidential within the usual limits, which I'll explain clearly at the start.
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.
Ask your first questions on a free call
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.