Basingstoke · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Basingstoke
If the days in Basingstoke have gone flat, with work done on autopilot and evenings you once looked forward to now simply got through, depression counselling gives that heaviness an unhurried hour each week. Because the drive from Basingstoke to Hove takes around 99 minutes, our sessions would usually happen on secure video, with a longer in-person hour as an occasional choice.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call 999 or the Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. More urgent help is on this page.
The practical facts for Basingstoke
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Basingstoke by car
- About 99 minutes with clear roads (85.6 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, 023 8038 3920
- 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.
When the things outside work quietly fall away
Depression rarely announces itself. In Basingstoke it can look like a working week that carries on as normal while everything around it drops away: the concert at The Anvil you no longer book, the swim at the Aquadrome that turned into a lie-in, the friends in Chineham or Kempshott whose messages sit unanswered. The town grew fast under the London Overspill plan and still draws people for jobs at its company headquarters, so it is common to live here at some distance from whoever would notice a change in you first. Steady routines can hide a low patch well, because you keep functioning, and that makes it easy to wave away what is happening. As background only, GP practices across Hampshire had depression recorded for 16.4% of their registered adults in 2024/25. That figure counts what GP practices have written down, which is a different thing from how many people feel this way, and it tells you nothing about your own situation.
Finding the thread back to what used to matter
Depression is often less about tears than about nothing seeming worth the effort. We start with what an ordinary week looks like for you now: when you wake, what the hours at a desk on Basing View or a shift at the hospital take out of you, what you have stopped doing and roughly when that began. Sometimes there is an obvious source, such as a bereavement, a move away from family, a relationship that ended or a job that changed around you. Sometimes there is none, and that deserves exactly the same care. Grief can arrive as flatness too, months after a funeral, once everyone assumes you are fine. Together we look at what holds the low mood in place, often broken sleep, pulling back from people and a harsh inner voice, and choose small, realistic changes to try between sessions. Solution-focused questions are one tool I use for spotting the days that go slightly better and why. Antidepressants are a matter to raise with your GP, and seeing a doctor about them sits comfortably beside counselling. If you notice thoughts of hurting yourself, or of not wanting to go on, tell me; we can speak about them plainly, and for same-day help the urgent help box on this page gives the Hampshire numbers, including texting HANTS to 85258.
Corners of Basingstoke life where the low creeps in
Moved here for the work
If a job at one of the town's head offices brought you to Basingstoke, the family and old friends most likely to spot your low mood may live hours away.
Functioning fine, feeling nothing
Busy weeks around Basing View can carry you along on routine while any enjoyment drains out of evenings and weekends, so a low patch goes unnoticed for months.
Worn down by caring
Looking after an ill partner or parent can slowly flatten your own mood. Around Basingstoke, carers can turn to The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Hampshire for help of their own.
An evening that feels too long
Andover Mind's Safe Haven keeps its door open on Vyne Road from six until ten each night for any adult who needs company through a bad hour, no booking required.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. "Similar to England" means the difference is not statistically significant. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Basingstoke
NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire (previously italk) takes your own referral for persistent low mood on 023 8038 3920, and no GP letter is required. Andover Mind's Basingstoke wellbeing base runs peer and therapeutic groups and offers 20 sessions of low-cost counselling for adults, while Basingstoke Counselling Service on London Road sets its weekly fees by income. Private counselling with me can be added to that mix whenever it suits.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Hampshire023 8038 3920Free 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 itInclusion Recovery Hampshire0300 124 0103Free and confidential.
- Local organisationThe Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Hampshire (Hampshire Carers Support Service)
- Local organisationSamaritans of BasingstokeVolunteer-run Samaritans branch at 5 Essex Road.
- Local organisationSt. Michael's Hospice bereavement servicesHospice bereavement support in Basingstoke, low-cost or fee-paying.
- Local organisationAndover Mind Basingstoke wellbeing baseLocal Mind wellbeing base running peer support, low-cost or fee-paying.
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.
In this area you can also text HANTS to 85258.
What people in Basingstoke ask before starting
Can I get depression counselling on the NHS in Basingstoke, or start privately sooner?
Ringing 023 8038 3920 reaches NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, formerly italk, which takes referrals straight from you for low mood, and that service decides how long the wait runs. With me, once the free call is done, I offer the weekly slots I genuinely have open, so you can usually pick a start date straight away. You are free to use both, starting private sessions while you wait for an NHS place.
I feel too flat to make the trip from Basingstoke. Can we do this by video?
Yes, and from Basingstoke that is how we would normally work, since Hove is about 99 minutes' drive away. Log in from your bed, the sofa or a parked car if that is the one private spot you have, and when a day feels leaden we start from exactly there. A longer session in the room can be arranged whenever you would like one.
Should I see my Basingstoke GP about antidepressants as well as having counselling?
Anything to do with medication is for your GP, and that appointment fits comfortably with our weekly hour, so it is worth booking. If you ever feel unsafe, the Emergency Department at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and 999 are there, the Safe Haven on Vyne Road opens each evening, and you can text HANTS to 85258.
Is feeling low after moving to Basingstoke for a job something counselling can help with?
It is a very reasonable thing to bring. Relocating for work can strip away the people and routines that kept you steady, and the low mood that follows is not a sign of weakness. Together we can weigh up what leaving your old life behind has cost, who you miss, and which modest ties in Basingstoke, perhaps a group at the Andover Mind wellbeing base or a regular evening at The Anvil, could be worth building slowly.
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.
One small step out of the flatness
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.