Reigate · in person in Hove or online
Depression counselling for Reigate
If the things that used to carry you through a Reigate week no longer reach you, if you're sleeping badly, getting by on autopilot or numb after a loss, depression counselling is somewhere to say so without putting on a brave face. We can meet by video from home or in Hove, and you don't need a GP letter first.
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 Reigate
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Reigate by car
- About 51 minutes with clear roads (39.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Reigate, 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.
After the career, after the funeral, after the children
Depression rarely arrives with a clear start date.
It might follow retirement after years at a council desk or a London Road head office, when the shape of the week disappears and nobody expects anything of you by nine. It might settle in months after a funeral, once the cards have stopped and people assume you're past the worst. It can come from years of caring, or from no reason you can name, just a heaviness that turned up one autumn and stayed. You may still be doing everything: the shopping, the emails, the lifts. What has gone is the feeling. Colley Hill used to be where you went to clear your head, and now the walk seems pointless. Surrey GP records for 2024/25 note depression in 13.0% of registered adults, and the England figure for the same year is 14.3%. Those are cases GPs have written down, which is a different measure from how common depression really is, and the figure says nothing about you.
Small steps at the pace your energy allows
Low mood eats the very energy you'd need to deal with it, so early sessions ask very little of you. We look at how your days really go: sleep, appetite, which hours are worst, what has dropped away and what the voice in your head says about it. Then we look at what may be keeping the low in place. Perhaps a grief was never given room, or a role went when work ended or the children moved on. Sometimes anger has turned inwards, or exhaustion has simply lasted too long. Changes stay deliberately small, like one walk in Priory Park, one reply to a friend or one meal eaten sitting down, and we notice what they do without marking you on them. If thoughts of harming yourself or not wanting to be here come up, I'll ask about them calmly and directly, and we'll talk about keeping you safe. At any hour, the box headed If you need urgent help now has the numbers. Antidepressants are something to talk through with your Reigate GP, and our weekly hour can keep going while you take them.
What can sit underneath low mood in Reigate
When the working week ends
Retirement or redundancy can take routine and colleagues at once. Waythrough's East Surrey Community Connections gives community wellbeing support to people 16 and over, alongside our sessions.
Grief that has gone flat
Months after a death, sadness can harden into numbness. Cruse Bereavement Support - Surrey East offers bereavement support close to home, alongside our sessions.
Years of looking after someone
Caring for a partner or parent year after year can drain you without anyone noticing. Action for Carers Surrey is there for you as a carer, and our hour is yours alone.
Nights that feel unsafe
If the low turns frightening at night, Redhill Safe Haven is a walk-in space from 6pm for adults living in Surrey, and the urgent box lists phone lines.
Free and low-cost support for Reigate
For low mood, the free NHS service is Mind Matters Surrey, which accepts self-referrals on 0300 330 5450. Reigate Community Counselling Centre offers open-ended counselling in the town with fees on a sliding scale, but no crisis service. At any hour, the 24/7 crisis line run by Surrey and Borders Partnership is on 0800 915 4644. You can use any of these alongside sessions with me.
- 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 organisationAction for Carers Surrey
- Local organisationEast Surrey Community Connections (Waythrough)Community mental wellbeing support, ages 16+, East Surrey.
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 Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644.
What people in Reigate ask before starting
Is there free NHS counselling for depression near Reigate?
The free NHS route is Mind Matters Surrey, which provides NHS Talking Therapies across the county, and you can refer yourself for low mood on 0300 330 5450 without seeing your GP. Reigate Community Counselling Centre is a lower-cost charity option in the town, with open-ended sessions on a sliding scale. You're free to combine either with private sessions.
I retired from a long career in Reigate and have felt flat ever since. Is counselling worth trying?
It can be. Losing a working identity can feel like grief, even when the retirement was wanted, and the flatness may be telling you something about what the job held together. Only a doctor can say whether it's depression, so mention it to your GP if it has lasted weeks. In counselling we can look at what work gave you and what might start to fill that space.
Can depression counselling from Reigate work by video when I barely leave the house?
Yes. Video removes the 51-minute drive and the effort of being somewhere on time, so a session can happen from your sofa if that's all you can manage. Some weeks you might say very little, and that still counts. If a screen ever starts to feel too distant, tell me, and we can think about an occasional session in Hove.
If I get in touch today, how soon could depression counselling start from Reigate?
Phone to arrange the free 15-minute call, or if talking feels like too much, write two or three sentences on the contact page instead. Once we've spoken, I'll tell you plainly whether I have a regular space and when it starts. If you're struggling to stay safe while you wait, don't hold on alone: you can phone the 24/7 Surrey and Borders mental health crisis line on 0800 915 4644, and Samaritans are on 116 123.
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 when you have a little energy to spare
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.