Guildford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Guildford
Depression can empty a week quietly, until replying to a message or getting up in the morning takes everything you have. If that is how things are for you in Guildford, we can meet by secure video for depression counselling, so there is no long trip to manage first, and we go at whatever pace your energy allows.
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 Guildford
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Guildford by car
- About 70 minutes with clear roads (44.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Guildford, change at Gatwick Airport for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Mind Matters Surrey, 0300 330 5450
- 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 days narrow to the bare minimum
From the outside, low mood in Guildford can look like nothing much.
It might be a postgraduate at the University of Surrey who spends long weeks alone with a thesis and has stopped answering messages from home. It might be someone in Stoke next Guildford whose work has ended, and whose mornings no longer have a reason to start. Or it might be grief that arrived as tears and has hardened, months on, into a numbness you can't explain to anyone. Sometimes there is no obvious cause at all, and that can be the hardest kind to own up to. In Surrey, depression was recorded for 13.0% of adults registered with a GP in 2024/25 (England: 14.3% in 2024/25). That figure counts depression as noted in GP records, so it reflects recording rather than how common low mood really is, and it doesn't describe anyone in particular.
Small steps, chosen by you
Depression counselling with me begins with an honest picture of how your days go now: when you wake and why, whether you're eating, who you still see, what has slipped away, and whether there are odd moments when the heaviness lifts a little. From there we look at what keeps it in place. Often it is a mixture of a harsh inner voice, days without shape, a loss that never had room, or work and study that have swallowed everything else. Changes stay small and are always yours to pick. For a researcher it might be one honest conversation with a supervisor. For someone out of work it might be a first look at what Oakleaf Enterprise offers, and for someone grieving, a call to Cruse Bereavement Support in South West Surrey. On flat days we can go slowly and simply talk. Medication is a conversation for you and your GP, and our sessions can carry on alongside whatever you decide. If you've had thoughts of suicide or of harming yourself, I'd want to know. I'll ask about them calmly and directly, and the crisis section further down lists who to call between sessions, including a Surrey and Borders helpline open around the clock.
Four ways low mood can take hold in Guildford
Alone with a thesis
Months of solitary research at the University of Surrey can drain motivation and cut you off from other people. Sessions give you an hour that isn't about the work.
When work has stopped
Losing a job, or leaving one through ill health, can take routine and purpose at once. Oakleaf Enterprise offers vocational training and wellbeing activities, and can run alongside our sessions.
A room of people who get it
PeerTalk Guildford is a weekly peer support group for depression and anxiety. Hearing others describe the same heaviness can loosen the shame, alongside one-to-one sessions.
Too flat to join anything
Catalyst Community Connections offers community mental health and wellbeing support across Guildford and Waverley, a gentle way back towards people when isolation and low mood feed each other.
Free and low-cost support for Guildford
The free NHS route for low mood is Mind Matters Surrey, which takes self-referrals on 0300 330 5450. After a death, Cruse Bereavement Support in South West Surrey offers bereavement help, and Guildford Samaritans is the town's own branch of the Samaritans. Private counselling can run beside any of them.
- Free NHS talking therapyMind Matters Surrey0300 330 5450Free 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 iti-access0300 222 5932Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCatalyst Support
- Local organisationAction for Carers Surrey
- Local organisationPeerTalk GuildfordWeekly peer support group for depression and anxiety.
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 Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644. Local drop-in crisis support: Guildford Safe Haven (check opening times before you go).
What people in Guildford ask before starting
Can I refer myself for low mood in Guildford, or does it have to go through my GP?
You can refer yourself. Mind Matters Surrey is the county's free NHS Talking Therapies service, it covers low mood and depression, and you can reach it on 0300 330 5450, although there can be a wait. If you'd prefer to choose your own counsellor, or the wait is hard to bear, private sessions with me are another option, and you can use both.
I'm a student in Guildford and I've stopped going to anything. Is depression counselling for me?
Yes, if the flatness has lasted and things you used to care about now feel like effort. You don't need a label first. Whether you're at the University of Surrey or the University of Law, video lets you talk from your own room to someone with no link to your course or department.
Do I have to get myself to Hove for depression counselling from Guildford?
No. The room is about 70 minutes from Guildford by car, so we'd work by secure video, which on heavy days means you can take the session without leaving the house. Sessions on screen run the same way as in the room. If you ever want to meet in person, a session in Hove can be arranged, but it is never needed.
What if thoughts of suicide get worse while I'm waiting to start in Guildford?
Don't hold off until we've started. Ring 0800 915 4644, the Surrey and Borders mental health crisis helpline, which answers at any hour, and the Guildford Safe Haven is an evening and weekend drop-in for adults in crisis. Samaritans answer 116 123, day or night. If you might act on the thoughts, or you are in danger now, call 999.
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.
When you can manage one short call
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.