Guildford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Guildford
If you're looking for a psychotherapist in Guildford for longer-term work, I offer open-ended psychotherapy by secure video. My only room is in Hove, about 70 minutes' drive away, so weekly sessions from Guildford are best online. For the record, BACP lists me as a registered member, while with UKCP I'm a student member, which is different from UKCP registration.
The practical facts for Guildford
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Guildford by car
- About 70 minutes with clear roads (44.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Guildford, 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.
When understanding it isn't the same as changing it
Guildford's working life leans on analysis.
The University of Surrey, the Surrey Research Park and studios such as Media Molecule, Hello Games and Criterion Games employ a large tech and research workforce, and a large share of residents commute to London on the fast trains via Woking. If your own work runs on thinking problems through, it can be frustrating to find that understanding a pattern hasn't changed it. You may know where it comes from, perhaps in your family or an early experience, and still find yourself repeating it. You may be doing well by any outside measure and privately feel empty, anxious or ashamed. Open-ended psychotherapy gives that kind of difficulty time. Week after week, there is room for the feelings underneath to be heard, at a pace a crowded diary between Guildford and London doesn't usually leave.
What open-ended psychotherapy from Guildford involves
Psychotherapy with me is open-ended. We usually meet weekly, follow what comes up and review together how it's going, without a fixed number of sessions. It may suit you if you've had shorter help before, or if your difficulties run through relationships, identity and a long history. From Guildford, that open-endedness raises practical questions. Work like this needs a slot you can protect for months, so if your week runs on the fast trains to Waterloo or a rota at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, we'd look for a time that survives both. If you're at the University of Surrey, it's worth thinking about whether the work should carry on through vacations, when you may be somewhere else entirely, and video makes that possible. If an earlier course of NHS talking therapy at Mind Matters Surrey gave you tools that helped, you can bring what you learned there into this work. If you're under NHS mental health care, or have had a stay at Farnham Road Hospital, psychotherapy can sit alongside it, and we'd agree how your care team is kept informed.
Where deeper work might fit a Guildford life
A working life built on analysis
Research on the Surrey Research Park, teaching at the University of Surrey or building games in a Guildford studio rewards thinking, and can still leave some feelings untouched.
Success reached by the fast train
A London career via Woking and Waterloo that looks fine on paper, while privately you feel anxious, flat or as though you're performing a version of yourself.
Following on from NHS help
A course of NHS Talking Therapies through Mind Matters Surrey eased the worry or low mood, and what's left are older patterns you'd like open-ended time with.
Already under a care team
Care from an NHS mental health team, or a stay at Farnham Road Hospital, with private psychotherapy added as a steady weekly space while your care team stays informed.
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 Guildford
Psychotherapy can run alongside free support in Surrey. PeerTalk Guildford holds a weekly peer group for depression and anxiety, Catalyst Community Connections offers community mental health and wellbeing support across Guildford and Waverley, and Oakleaf Enterprise is a local mental health charity offering wellbeing activities. If you're caring for someone while doing this work, Action for Carers Surrey can help.
- 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 organisationCatalyst Support
- Local organisationGuildford SamaritansLocal Samaritans branch.
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: Guildford Safe Haven (check opening times before you go).
What people in Guildford ask before starting
How long does psychotherapy last, and how do I start from Guildford?
There's no fixed length. It may be a few months of weekly sessions or a good deal longer, and you can stop at any point. Start with the free 15-minute call to talk about what you're hoping for. Should we decide to begin, we settle on one weekly video slot that holds up around your week in Guildford or London.
Can I see a psychotherapist in Guildford face to face with you?
Not in Guildford, because my only room is in Hove, roughly 70 minutes' drive away. For weekly psychotherapy from Guildford, video is far more workable. An occasional session in the Hove room is still open to you, if sharing a room now and then helps the work.
Is there NHS psychotherapy in Guildford?
For anxiety and low mood, shorter NHS therapy comes through Mind Matters Surrey, which Guildford residents can self-refer to on 0300 330 5450. If you're already under NHS mental health care with Surrey and Borders Partnership, ask your care team what they can offer. Private psychotherapy can sit alongside that care.
What if things feel worse during psychotherapy?
Deeper work can stir things up for a while, so we pace it and talk at the start of each session about how you've been. Should a crisis come between sessions, you can ring Surrey and Borders Partnership's 24/7 helpline on 0800 915 4644, or go to the Guildford Safe Haven, which opens on evenings and weekends as a walk-in alternative to A and E for anyone 18 or over.
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 deeper work with a free call
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.