Sevenoaks · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Sevenoaks
If life in Sevenoaks has gone flat, and you're keeping everything running while feeling very little, we can meet by secure video and look at it together, including any loss that has left you numb. You don't need a GP's letter or the right words to begin, and sessions move at the speed your energy can manage.
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 Sevenoaks
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Sevenoaks by car
- About 63 minutes with clear roads (49.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Sevenoaks, change at London Bridge for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, 0333 091 0414
- 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 house goes quiet in a busy town
Sevenoaks runs on movement, with the morning trains to London and the school runs at either end of the day.
Low mood can hide well inside all that, or it can arrive when the movement stops. The last child finishes school and leaves home, and the house in Riverhead or on Sevenoaks Common is suddenly very still. A partner commutes, and you're the one at home all day, working remotely or not working, while the street empties towards the station. A career ends, or a parent dies, and the weeks lose their shape. Depression often shows as flatness more than sadness: sleeping badly, losing interest in walks or friends you used to enjoy, getting through the day and feeling nothing at the end of it. Kent GP records for 2024/25 show depression noted for 17.1% of registered adults (England: 14.3% in 2024/25). The number reflects cases that surgeries have logged, not a survey of everyone living with depression in Kent, and it can't say anything about where you stand.
Beginning with the energy you actually have
When you're low, even replying to a message about counselling can take effort, so we begin with very little asked of you. In the first sessions we look at how your days actually go: sleep, food, who you see, what has fallen away, and the inner voice that says it's all your own fault. Then we look at what may be feeding the low mood. It might be exhaustion that has gone on for years, a loss nobody gave you time to grieve, a role that disappeared when the children left or the job ended, or anger with nowhere to go. Steps stay small and realistic, perhaps one walk or one phone call in a fortnight. If grief is underneath, we make room for it instead of hurrying you on. I'll also ask you plainly, and without alarm, whether you've thought about hurting yourself or ending your life. If you have, we'll talk about keeping you safe, and the numbers in the urgent help box further down are there at any hour. Antidepressants are a question for your GP, and as your counsellor I can keep working with you alongside whatever they suggest.
Ways low mood can show up in Sevenoaks
After the last child leaves
In a town organised around its schools, the end of the school years can take away the routine, the people and the sense of purpose that filled your weeks.
Home while everyone else commutes
If you're the one left in Sevenoaks on weekdays while a partner and the neighbours head to London, the quiet hours can slowly harden into flatness.
Caring that empties you
Looking after a partner or parent for years can wear you down without anyone noticing. Imago's Kent Carers Support helps adult carers in West Kent in their own right.
Grief that turned grey
When sorrow has settled into numbness months after a death, the Cruse Bereavement Support national helpline can sit beside our sessions.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Sevenoaks
Low mood is covered free by NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, and you can refer yourself on 0333 091 0414. West Kent Mind runs the Sevenoaks Wellbeing Centre on St Johns Road, the town has its own Samaritans branch, Sevenoaks Samaritans, and Kent and Medway Safe Havens offer somewhere to go in a crisis. Private counselling can run alongside them.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway0333 091 0414Free 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 itWest Kent community drug and alcohol service (Change, Grow, Live)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationImago - Kent Carers Support (West Kent adult carers 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.
Locally, the Release the Pressure Helpline - Kent is on 0800 107 0160. Local drop-in crisis support: Kent and Medway Safe Havens (Mental Health Matters) (check opening times before you go).
What people in Sevenoaks ask before starting
Is there anywhere in Sevenoaks offering free support for depression?
The free NHS route is NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, and you can refer yourself for low mood and depression on 0333 091 0414 without seeing a GP first. West Kent Mind's Sevenoaks Wellbeing Centre offers support groups and befriending on weekdays, and Sevenoaks Counselling is a local charity with affordable sessions. Using one of these alongside private counselling is fine.
Can depression counselling by video from Sevenoaks work when I can barely get up?
It can. Video takes away the 63-minute drive to Hove and the effort of being somewhere on time, so a session can happen from your sofa in a dressing gown if that's what you can manage. What helps most is a regular time and somewhere private. If a screen ever feels too distant, tell me and we'll think again together.
How do I start depression counselling from Sevenoaks if I can't face phoning?
Two or three lines written on the contact page will do. Say roughly how long you've felt this way and which days you might manage, and I'll suggest a time for the free 15-minute conversation. I'll be honest about when a regular space is free. If you're also waiting for a GP appointment, you don't need to wait for that first.
Since my children finished school and left home, I feel nothing. Is that depression?
It might be, or it might be grief for a stage of life that has ended, and the two often overlap. Only a doctor can say whether it's depression, so if the flatness has lasted for weeks, mention it to your Sevenoaks GP. Counselling can start without a label. We can look at what that stage gave you, and what might begin to fill its place.
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 first small step, whenever you're able
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.