Epsom · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Epsom
Psychotherapy is for when the same difficulty keeps coming back, however often it has been patched up. If you're in Epsom and want to understand where a pattern began and loosen its hold, we can work over months, mostly by secure video. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor and psychotherapist, and a UKCP student member rather than UKCP registered.
The practical facts for Epsom
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Epsom by car
- About 61 minutes with clear roads (44.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Epsom, change at Clapham Junction 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 a short course helped, but not enough
You may already have tried something. A course of NHS talking therapy through Mind Matters Surrey might have eased the worst of it and still left you wondering why the same fear runs your relationships. You might have spent time in the mental health inpatient service that Surrey and Borders Partnership runs at Epsom Hospital on Dorking Road, and now be home, steadier, and wanting to understand how things reached that point. Or nothing has ever gone badly wrong. If you're a student at Laine Theatre Arts or the University for the Creative Arts, each assessment can wake an older voice telling you that you're only as good as the last verdict. Or you live in Woodcote or Langley Vale, 14 miles from central London, and you notice you keep choosing the same kind of partner, the same kind of boss and the same quiet exit. A pattern that old usually needs more than a handful of sessions.
What months of work looks like, and what it doesn't
The work has no set end date. We keep one fixed weekly hour, begin from whatever is pressing, and gradually follow the threads back: the household that raised you, the role you took on there, and the unwritten rules you absorbed about anger, need or failure. Often the pattern appears between us as well, perhaps as apologising for taking up my time, or as a wish to be no trouble at all. Noticing it while it happens gives us something live to work with. I draw on several approaches, and Internal Family Systems is a useful lens for this work: the critic that drives you and the part that wants to hide are each listened to, instead of being fought. Because it takes time, we review together every few months whether it's still worth continuing, and you can finish whenever you choose. If you're under the care of a Surrey and Borders Partnership team, psychotherapy can run beside it, and we agree at the start how your care team is kept in the picture.
Patterns that tend to need more than a few sessions
Steadier after time on a ward
Home after a stay in the Surrey and Borders inpatient service at Epsom Hospital, and wanting slower work on what led there, with your care team kept informed.
Beyond a Mind Matters course
Your NHS talking therapy through Mind Matters Surrey eased the anxiety or low mood, but the older pattern underneath is still there and you'd like to look at it properly.
Assessed for a living
Training at Laine Theatre Arts or the University for the Creative Arts, where your work is regularly judged, with an inner critic that grew up long before the course began.
The same loop on every walk
The thoughts that follow you round Epsom Common or Horton Country Park every weekend, the same loop for years, which fresh air and willpower haven't shifted.
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 Epsom
Mary Frances Trust Community Connections groups in Epsom, which need registration, can offer company between sessions. Mind Matters Surrey, which you can contact without a GP, provides free NHS sessions for worry and low spirits. The Epsom Safe Haven at the Brickfield Centre is open in the evenings if a session stirs up more than you can hold. Longer private work can sit beside all three.
- 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.
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. Local drop-in crisis support: Epsom Safe Haven (check opening times before you go).
What people in Epsom ask before starting
Are you UKCP registered, if I'm looking for a psychotherapist in Epsom?
No. BACP lists me as a registered member, and with UKCP I'm a student member, which is not the same as UKCP registration. If UKCP registration specifically matters to you, check the UKCP register when choosing. What I can offer from Epsom is open-ended work with someone who has practised for more than 25 years, and the free 15-minute call will help you judge whether we suit each other.
I've been an inpatient at Epsom Hospital. Can I start psychotherapy now I'm home?
Possibly, and it's worth talking through on the free call. If you're still under a Surrey and Borders Partnership team, let them know you're considering it, and we'd agree how they're kept informed. Deeper work can stir things up, so we'd begin gently and check in on how you are each week. If things become urgent, the Surrey and Borders crisis line is on 0800 915 4644, day or night.
Is there free psychotherapy on the NHS for people in Epsom?
On the NHS, talking therapy for anxiety and low mood comes through Mind Matters Surrey, which you can contact yourself on 0300 330 5450. For other NHS psychological care, ask your GP or care team what they can refer you to. Private psychotherapy doesn't need a referral, and it can run alongside NHS care rather than replacing it.
How soon could psychotherapy start from Epsom, and would it be online?
Once we've spoken on the free 15-minute call and agreed it makes sense, we settle on one weekly hour, and you'll know straight away whether that's available now or in a few weeks. Most weeks would be online, since a 61-minute drive or a change at Clapham Junction each way is hard to sustain for months. An occasional session in the Hove room is still open to you.
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 about the pattern before deciding anything
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.