Gosport · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Gosport
If you've felt flat, heavy or cut off for weeks, and the things that used to matter have gone quiet, depression counselling is a place to start making sense of it. From Gosport we'd meet by secure video, which helps on days when getting dressed feels like a lot, and you don't need to know what's wrong before you get in touch.
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 Gosport
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Gosport by car
- About 82 minutes with clear roads (55.6 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 life on the peninsula goes grey
Depression doesn't always come with a reason.
Sometimes it does: a service career that has ended, and with it the routine, the purpose and the people you saw every day at HMS Sultan or at sea, or a death, a separation, a body that no longer does what it did. Sometimes it creeps in with no story at all, which can make asking for help feel harder to justify. From outside, nothing may show. You might still walk the dog in Lee-on-the-Solent and nod to the neighbours, while inside you feel nothing much about anything. In Hampshire, depression was recorded for 16.4% of adults registered with a GP in 2024/25. That counts cases GPs have recorded, not everyone living with low mood, and it isn't a description of you. If the heaviness has lasted weeks, that alone is reason enough to talk to someone.
Slow, ordinary work for a heavy stretch
You may worry that you'll have nothing to say. That's all right, and with depression it's common. We can start with the last few days as they really went: when you slept, whether you ate, who you saw, and whether anything caught your interest even for a moment. Over the weeks we look at what the low might be tied to. If you've left the Navy, that can be the loss of a whole way of life, the structure, the rank and the shared jokes, as much as the job itself. For others it's grief, caring that has worn them down, or anger that has nowhere to go. Some weeks we'll agree one small, realistic thing to try before we next meet. Other weeks you'll simply be heard without anyone trying to fix it. If you find yourself thinking about self-harm, or that you'd rather not be here, please tell me. I'll take them seriously, we'll plan together for your safety, and the urgent help section below gives numbers you can ring or text day and night. Medication questions belong with your GP.
Some of the shapes a low can take
After the Navy, an empty diary
Leaving the service can mean losing the routine, the purpose and the people all at once. When the days stop having a shape, mood can follow them down.
Grief after a suicide
Losing someone to suicide can leave a numbness that outlasts the shock. Cruse Bereavement Support offers a Support After Suicide Service covering this area, and sessions here can sit beside it.
When illness has flattened you
A long spell of illness, or outpatient appointments at Gosport War Memorial Hospital that never seem to end, can wear down your mood as well as your body.
Too flat to leave the house
On days when even the walk to the ferry feels impossible, a video session from home means you can still keep the hour, without explaining why you didn't come.
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 Gosport
Alongside private sessions, NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire accepts self-referrals for low mood. If you've become cut off, the Solent Mind Fareham and Gosport Wellbeing Service runs groups, workshops and one-to-one emotional support, and if you're serving, Anchoring Minds offers peer support through Solent Mind. After a death by suicide, the Support After Suicide Service, run by Cruse, is there for the people left behind.
- 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)
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.
In this area you can also text HANTS to 85258.
What people in Gosport ask before starting
How can I get NHS help for depression in Gosport?
Two free routes are open to you. Your GP can check for physical causes, talk through medication and refer you on. Or you can contact NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire yourself on 023 8038 3920, without a GP letter. Either can run alongside private counselling, and you don't have to choose between them today.
I left the Navy and now feel flat all the time. Could that be depression?
Your GP is the right person to assess that and give it a name. What I can say is that losing a service life can bring a grief that's easy to overlook, and flatness, poor sleep and lost interest deserve to be taken seriously whatever the label. Counselling gives you room to talk about what went with the job.
Can we do sessions by video from Gosport on days I can't face anything?
Yes. From Gosport, video is the usual arrangement anyway, because Hove is well over an hour away. You can join from wherever you can be private, dressed or not, and it's fine to say you're struggling to talk that day. If being in a room with someone would help later, we can plan an occasional session in Hove.
What should I do if I start thinking about ending my life?
Please tell someone today, whether that's me, your GP or a crisis line. If you or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 999. In Hampshire you can text HANTS to 85258 at any time, and Samaritans are on 116 123, day or night. In counselling I'll ask about it gently, and we'll make a plan together for keeping you safe.
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.
A small first step, 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.