Portsmouth · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Portsmouth
If life in Portsmouth has gone flat and heavy, and even the things you once looked forward to feel like effort, depression counselling gives you a regular hour where you don't have to perform being fine. We'd meet by secure video from home, which matters on days when leaving the house is beyond you. You don't need a reason, or the right words, to 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 Portsmouth
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Portsmouth by car
- About 69 minutes with clear roads (48.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Portsmouth & Southsea to Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth, 0300 123 3934
- 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.
Southsea out of season, and other grey stretches
Depression can feel grey and empty, like the promenade past Southsea Castle on a weekday in February.
Some lows here have a clear shape. You might be caring for a parent in Hilsea, with your own life shrunk to appointments and medication times. You might have lost someone, and found the grief settling into a flatness that won't lift. You might live in a shared house in Fratton, surrounded by people, and still go days without a real conversation. Or the low might have arrived with no story at all, and that can be harder to own up to, even to yourself. In Portsmouth in 2024/25, depression was on the GP record of 14.0% of adult patients. That counts only cases a GP has recorded, not how many people are actually living with depression, and it isn't a description of you.
Working at the pace your energy allows
When you're depressed, even asking for help takes energy you may not have, so we start from where you actually are. In early sessions I'll ask about ordinary things, such as sleep, food, who you've spoken to and what the days have felt like, because the detail often shows where the low has its grip. Over time we look at what it might be tied to: a loss that never had room, years of caring for someone else, anger you've had to swallow, or a life that has drifted away from what used to matter. Some weeks we might agree one small, doable thing before we next meet, such as a walk along the front or a message to a friend. Other weeks the hour is simply for being heard, with nobody trying to jolly you along. If you find yourself thinking about self-harm, or that you'd rather not be here, please say so. I won't panic and I won't brush it aside. We'll make a plan for your safety together, and the box headed 'If you need urgent help now' further down gives numbers you can ring or text at any hour. Your GP is the right person for anything about antidepressants.
Where the heaviness might have come from
Caring until you're emptied out
Looking after a partner, parent or child for years can leave nothing over for you. Portsmouth Carers Service supports carers in the city, and sessions here are about you.
The months while the ship's away
With a partner deployed from HMNB Portsmouth, you might keep the household going for months while your own mood quietly sinks, and tell nobody because you're the one at home.
Bereaved by suicide
The Cruse Support After Suicide Service covers Southampton, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, and can sit beside counselling when grief has turned flat and heavy.
Stopped going to lectures
At the University of Portsmouth, a low can look like missed seminars, unanswered messages and days that begin in the afternoon. Talking to someone outside the university can make it easier to name.
Free and low-cost support for Portsmouth
For low mood, NHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth is free and takes self-referrals, and your GP can check for physical causes and talk about medication. Solent Mind runs the Portsmouth Wellbeing Centre, Compass Counselling offers income-based sessions, and the Cruse Support After Suicide Service helps people bereaved that way. None of them rules out seeing me privately as well, from anywhere in the city.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth0300 123 3934Free 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 itPortsmouth Recovery Hub023 9229 4573Run by The Society of St James (SSJ) with Inclusion. Free and confidential.
- Local organisationRebound Carer's GroupSupport for families and friends.
- Local organisationPortsmouth Carers Service (Portsmouth Carers Centre)
- Local organisationCompass Counselling Service
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.
What people in Portsmouth ask before starting
Can I refer myself for depression support in Portsmouth?
Yes. NHS Talking Therapies Portsmouth accepts self-referrals for low mood on 0300 123 3934, with no GP letter needed. If the low has lasted for weeks, it's worth seeing your GP as well, to rule out physical causes and talk about medication. Private counselling with me can run alongside either route, or follow on afterwards.
Some days I can't get up. Can depression counselling happen from home in Portsmouth?
Yes, and from Portsmouth that's the usual way anyway, because Hove is more than an hour's drive. You can join by video from wherever you can talk privately, and it's fine to say you haven't much to say that day. If coming in person would later give your week a useful shape, we can plan it together.
My partner is deployed from Portsmouth and I've felt flat for months. Should I talk to someone?
Yes. Holding a home together through a long deployment while your own mood sinks is hard, and feeling low isn't a failure to cope. Whether it's depression is a question for your GP, who can assess it, and sessions with me give you somewhere to put it before the ship comes home.
How soon could depression counselling start from Portsmouth, and what if I feel unsafe?
Whenever you have a little energy, ask for the free 15-minute call, and you'll get a straight answer there about how soon a regular time could begin. If you're having thoughts of ending your life, please don't wait for that. Call 999 if you're in immediate danger, or Samaritans on 116 123 at any hour. In our sessions I'll raise it gently, and we'll plan your safety together.
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, whenever you can manage it
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.