Canterbury · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Canterbury
Psychotherapy is for the patterns that keep coming back: the same kind of relationship going wrong, a familiar low, a self-criticism you have carried for years. If you live in Canterbury and want to look at that properly, I offer longer, open-ended work. My only room is in Hove, 106 minutes away by car, so weekly sessions from Canterbury take place by secure video.
The practical facts for Canterbury
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Canterbury by car
- About 106 minutes with clear roads (90.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- 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.
An old city where people arrive, leave and return
Canterbury has been a place of arrival for centuries, and it still is.
September brings a fresh intake to the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, some living apart from family for the first time, while summer fills the cathedral precincts with visitors once more. People come back, too: graduates who never quite left, adults returning to look after a parent, people who chose to retire here. A city like that can stir old material. Leaving home, starting again among strangers, or caring for someone who once cared for you can all bring up feelings that belong to much earlier years. They tend to surface sideways, as a relationship that ends the way the last one did, or a low that arrives every autumn without an obvious reason. Psychotherapy gives that material time and steady attention, rather than a handful of sessions aimed at a single problem.
Open-ended work when the room is far from home
Shorter counselling usually focuses on one particular difficulty. Psychotherapy takes a wider view and asks why certain things keep happening: why you choose people who let you down, why success never feels like enough, why a calm week can end with you drinking more than you meant to. We meet weekly at the same time, and over months we notice how your history shows up in the present, including in how you relate to me. There is no fixed end date; we review together how the work is going and decide when to finish. Video suits this kind of work better than you might expect, because you speak from your own surroundings, and the steady rhythm matters more than the room. My background is over 25 years as a counsellor and psychotherapist; I hold BACP registered membership and am a UKCP student member. My integrative approach draws on Internal Family Systems among other methods, and the how I work page gives the detail. My own recovery taught me from the inside how long some patterns take to loosen.
Patterns Canterbury life can bring to the surface
Leaving home for university
Arriving at the University of Kent, Christ Church or the University for the Creative Arts can reawaken old feelings about belonging, being good enough or being left behind.
Coming back to care
Returning to Canterbury to look after an ageing parent can bring the whole family history back into view, alongside all the practical work.
Serving other people's holidays
In a visitor economy built around the cathedral, a job spent looking after tourists can leave you feeling unseen, which may echo something far older.
Always the one who copes
Staff at Kent and Canterbury Hospital who look after others all week can find their own needs pushed aside, a lifelong pattern worth looking at slowly.
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 Canterbury
Psychotherapy can sit alongside free support in Canterbury. NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway accepts people who get in touch themselves about anxiety or low mood, and its help is briefer and more structured. The Canterbury Umbrella Centre runs peer support groups and wellbeing courses on weekdays, and Live Well Kent and Medway can point you towards other community support across the county.
- 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 itEast Kent community drug and alcohol service (The Forward Trust)0300 123 1186Free and confidential.
- Local organisationRethink Canterbury and Coastal Carers' Support Group
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: Canterbury Safe Haven (Mental Health Matters) (check opening times before you go).
What people in Canterbury ask before starting
How long does psychotherapy usually last if I start from Canterbury?
There is no fixed length. Some pieces of work run for a few months, others for a year or longer, depending on what you bring and how it unfolds. Every so often we pause to take stock together, and the decision to finish always stays with you. Because sessions from Canterbury are on video, the distance to Hove places no limit on how long we work together.
Can psychotherapy really work over video from Canterbury?
It can. What matters in longer work is a reliable time, a private space and a steady relationship, and video provides all three without a 106-minute drive each way. Choose a room where you won't be interrupted. Should you ever want to sit across from me, an occasional session in Hove can be booked, perhaps one of the longer 90-minute ones.
What does your UKCP student membership mean for someone choosing a psychotherapist in Canterbury?
I'm a UKCP student member, which is a student category rather than full registration, and a BACP registered member. I have more than 25 years' experience of one-to-one work with adults. You are welcome to ask about my training and supervision during the free consultation, before you decide anything about longer work.
Can I get longer-term therapy free on the NHS around Canterbury?
Canterbury's free NHS option, NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, offers shorter, structured help when worry or a heavy mood takes hold, with self-referral by phone on 0333 091 0414. Your GP can talk through other NHS options. Longer, open-ended private psychotherapy can run alongside that help or follow on from it.
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.
Talk it through before committing to longer work
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.