Farnham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Farnham
Psychotherapy is for when the same thing keeps happening, whether it's the same kind of relationship or the same collapse after a good spell. If you live in Farnham, we would meet weekly by secure video over months rather than weeks, at a pace that lets older material surface safely.
The practical facts for Farnham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Farnham by car
- About 84 minutes with clear roads (69.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Farnham, change at Guildford and 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.
A town that keeps its history in view
Farnham has plenty of history on show, from the castle and Waverley Abbey to the Museum of Farnham in Willmer House.
Psychotherapy is concerned with a more private kind, the history you carry about with you. You may have moved out from London for the space and a commuter train to Waterloo, then found the old pattern came with you, into a quieter house with more time to notice it. You may have grown up in Hale or Bourne, left, and come back to raise a family, only to feel seventeen again at a Sunday lunch. Or you may have been to counselling before, felt better for a while, and watched the same low or the same anger return a year later. Patterns like these are usually learned early, for reasons that made sense at the time, and they can keep running long after those reasons have gone.
What a longer piece of work looks like
Counselling tends to help with what is happening now. Psychotherapy goes further back and further down, asking why the same feelings arrive in such different situations. Sessions keep the same weekly hour, and the first months are often about building enough trust to look at things you have kept at arm's length, sometimes for decades. We also notice what happens between us: if you expect to be judged, or catch yourself trying to be a good client, that is useful information, and we look at it together. What we aim for is more choice, so that when the old reaction arrives it doesn't have to run the show. My approach is integrative, and if you often feel pulled two ways at once, working with parts of the self as Internal Family Systems does can make sense of contradictions you have never been able to explain. There is no fixed number of sessions; every so often we review together and decide whether to carry on. I am a UKCP student member, not UKCP registered, and I'll always be open about that.
Recurring patterns, seen from Farnham
After a course of sessions
Perhaps sessions through Mind Matters Surrey helped for a while, and then the familiar worry or low came back. Open-ended work can ask why it keeps returning.
The making and breaking cycle
If you work in or around the University for the Creative Arts, you may know a rhythm of intense making, then collapse and silence, repeating project after project.
Alongside the Farnham CMHRS clinic
If you are already seen by the Community Mental Health Recovery Service, private psychotherapy may fit alongside, as long as your care team knows and agrees.
An occasional day in Hove
The drive from Farnham rules out weekly visits, but a planned longer session in the room now and then can anchor months of video work.
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 Farnham
Psychotherapy with me is private, and it can sit beside free help. Mind Matters Surrey provides NHS talking therapy for worry and low mood, with no GP letter needed. For severe or long-standing difficulties, the Community Mental Health Recovery Service (CMHRS) Waverley: Farnham clinic is reached through your GP. PeerTalk Farnham's Thursday evening group offers peer company between sessions.
- 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 organisationCreative ResponseLocal mental health charity: therapeutic community art.
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 Farnham ask before starting
What does starting psychotherapy from Farnham involve, and how long might it run?
It begins with the free 15-minute call, and if psychotherapy with me seems right for you, I'll tell you plainly when a weekly slot is likely to open. There's no set length after that. A focused piece of work might run for a few months, while untangling something rooted in childhood usually takes longer. We review together from time to time, and the decision to finish is always yours.
Can I see you for psychotherapy while I'm under the Farnham CMHRS clinic?
Often, yes, but please talk to your care team first so we aren't pulling in different directions. The Community Mental Health Recovery Service works with severe or enduring problems, and private sessions don't replace that. With your permission we can agree how to keep things joined up. In a crisis, the Surrey and Borders line is on 0800 915 4644.
Is psychotherapy by video from Farnham as deep as sitting in a room?
It can be. What matters most for depth is privacy, regularity and trust, and video from your own home can offer all three. Some things take a little more attention on a screen, such as long silences, and we would talk about them openly. If meeting in person sometimes matters to you, a longer session in Hove can be planned around the drive.
Are you a registered UKCP psychotherapist?
No, and I want to be clear about that. I am a UKCP student member, in advanced psychotherapy training, and a BACP registered member with more than 25 years' experience as a counsellor and psychotherapist. You can check my BACP registration through the link on this page, and ask me anything about my training on the free call.
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 first about whether longer work suits you
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.