Westerham · in person in Hove or online
Counselling and therapy for Westerham
If you live in Westerham or Crockham Hill and something has been sitting heavily for a while, you're welcome to talk it through with me. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor seeing people one to one, either in a room on Western Road in Hove or over a secure video link, and it's fine to arrive without a word for what's going on.
The practical facts for Westerham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Westerham by car
- About 57 minutes with clear roads (43.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From No station in Westerham, change at East Croydon for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- 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 market town where everyone seems to know you
Westerham is a town of around 4,498 people, gathered round Market Square and The Green, with the River Darent running through and Crockham Hill up on the ridge.
In a place that size you can bump into your GP, your neighbour and your child's teacher on the same morning, which is a comfort until you'd rather nobody noticed you were struggling. Visitors come for Chartwell and Quebec House, so the town can look busy and settled from outside while a quieter strain goes on behind front doors. Sevenoaks district has an older age profile than England, with a median age of 44 in 2021 against 40 nationally, and in 2026 the Town Council asked older residents and their families what concerns them most about growing old in Westerham. With no railway station since 1961, a lot of life depends on a car or the bus.
What tends to bring people in Westerham to counselling
Plenty of people who get in touch can't yet say exactly what's wrong. It might be that you've stopped sleeping properly since a parent moved in, or that retirement has left whole days without shape, or that a marriage of many years has gone quiet in a way that worries you. Some people are watching a partner's memory slip and feel guilty for being tired of it. Others are younger, commuting out towards London or Sevenoaks, and feel they're living in the town without really belonging to it. An hour each week with someone outside your circle of neighbours can be a relief in itself. In the first weeks we work out what is actually going on, what keeps it going and how you would like ordinary days in Westerham to feel instead, at a pace you can manage. I draw on several approaches, which you can read about on the how I work page, and I choose between them according to what you bring rather than following a fixed script. Over 25 years in this work, and a recovery of my own before that, mean you won't need to soften anything for my sake.
Things people in Westerham sometimes bring to sessions
Looking after a partner or parent
Looking after a partner or parent in Westerham can fill every day, and Imago runs a West Kent service for adult carers alongside anything we do in sessions.
Worry about memory
If you or someone close is living with memory changes, the monthly Forget-Me-Not Café gives company, and counselling gives room for the grief and fear underneath.
Money pressing on everything
When bills dominate your thoughts, Citizens Advice holds a drop-in at the Westerham Foodbank on the second Thursday morning, and counselling can help with the strain it leaves.
A town without a station
With the nearest trains in Oxted, getting to appointments takes planning, so sessions by video from your own kitchen table can make regular support realistic.
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 Westerham
Private counselling can sit alongside the free help around Westerham. For health concerns, The Westerham Practice on Market Square is often where people start, and if worry or flat days have settled in for weeks, NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway can be reached directly on 0333 091 0414. West Kent Mind and Live Well Kent and Medway offer community support, and Sevenoaks Samaritans covers the town.
- 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)
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: 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 Westerham ask before starting
Is it realistic to see a counsellor in Hove from Westerham every week?
It's about 57 minutes each way by car, or a train from Oxted with a change at East Croydon, so weekly visits are a real commitment. Many arrangements work well on video instead, with an in-person session in Hove when it suits you. We can agree what works on the free call, and you can change your mind later.
If I'm in Westerham, how long before I could have a first session?
A free 15-minute call comes first, giving us both a chance to judge whether working together suits you. If it does, I'll suggest the slots I currently have open and you choose the one that fits. Nobody needs to refer you first, and how soon we can start depends on how your week and my diary line up.
Is there free counselling near Westerham through the NHS?
Yes. Westerham residents troubled by anxiety or ongoing low mood can ring NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway on 0333 091 0414 without a GP referral, a service Vita Health Group runs in partnership with With You. There can be a wait, and private sessions are an option while you're on it or once it ends.
I care for my husband in Westerham and can't leave him for long. Is counselling still possible?
Yes, because on video you can speak from a different room of the house without arranging cover or making a trip. If privacy at home is hard to find, we can plan the timing around his routine. Imago's carers service for West Kent is also worth contacting for practical help and a break, and it can run alongside our work.
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.
Start with a quiet conversation from Westerham
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.