Petworth · in person in Hove or online
Psychotherapy for Petworth
If you live in or near Petworth and keep meeting the same difficulty in your relationships or in how you treat yourself, you may want more than a short course of sessions. I offer longer psychotherapy, usually weekly by secure video, with time in my Hove room whenever you'd value it. With no station in Petworth itself, the screen is often the steadier choice from week to week.
The practical facts for Petworth
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Petworth by car
- About 48 minutes with clear roads (27.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Pulborough, change at Barnham for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – West Team, 01273 265967
- 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 past in good repair
Petworth looks after its history. The 17th-century house and its Capability Brown park are cared for by the National Trust, and the town even has its own Cottage Museum. The parish is small, 3,027 residents at the 2011 Census, and in a place that size you can be known by your family's name before anyone knows you. Living somewhere that keeps its past so carefully, you may start to notice what you have kept from your own. It might be the way you go silent when someone is disappointed in you, a habit of taking on everybody's load, or a relationship that ends at the same point as the last one did. Perhaps you grew up here and the role you were given as a child still seems to follow you down the street. Perhaps you moved here for a slower life and found the old feelings came with the furniture. Psychotherapy is for patterns like these, the ones you half understand and still repeat.
What a longer piece of work involves, from under an hour away
Sessions are usually weekly, at a fixed time, with no set number. Early on we look at what keeps happening, and when. Over the months that follow we trace where those reactions were first learned, catch them as they show up in your week, and sometimes notice them in how you respond to me. Internal Family Systems is often part of this: a way of meeting the parts of you that criticise or shut down, so they stop running things without your say. It is slower work than a short course. Where a pattern grew up in a family that still lives nearby, we can also think about how to be with them now, without needing everything settled before the next visit. From Petworth the distance gives you a real choice. The drive to Hove is under an hour, so you could mix weeks on video with an in-person session every so often, or stay online throughout. Either way, keeping a regular time matters more than where we meet. On credentials, I hold BACP registered membership and am a student member of UKCP, not a UKCP-registered psychotherapist, and I'm happy to talk about my training whenever it matters to you. At intervals we review together whether the work is still worth your time.
Patterns that can follow you through a settled life
Grown up here, still in role
In a small parish, the part you played at school or in your family can stick for decades. Longer work looks at which of those roles you still want, and which you'd rather put down.
Under an hour, when you choose
At about 48 minutes' drive, Hove is close enough for a longer session in person now and then, with video keeping the weeks in between unbroken.
After a shorter course elsewhere
Perhaps the West Team of the local NHS Talking Therapies service has already helped with anxiety or low mood. Longer work can turn to the older patterns underneath.
Caring for the parent who shaped you
Looking after an ageing parent can reopen childhood dynamics. Carers Support West Sussex helps with the practical load, while we work on what it stirs up.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. "Similar to England" means the difference is not statistically significant. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Petworth
Shorter or free help can come first, or run beside this work. NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies covers Petworth through its West Team and accepts self-referrals for anxiety and low mood. West Sussex Mind offers support across the county, and Carers Support West Sussex helps if looking after someone has become part of your life. If drinking or drugs sit alongside the patterns, West Sussex Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN) is the free county service.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS West Sussex Talking Therapies – West Team01273 265967Free 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 Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live. Free 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.
In this area you can also text SUSSEX to 85258.
What people in Petworth ask before starting
Is a 48-minute drive from Petworth too far for weekly psychotherapy?
It depends on your week. The drive can give you time to gather yourself before and to settle afterwards, which suits this kind of work. Over months, though, winter roads and busy spells add up, and gaps matter in longer therapy. Video from Petworth keeps it steady, and you can still come to Hove whenever being in the room feels important.
How is psychotherapy with you different from the free help near Petworth?
NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies, which covers Petworth through its West Team, is free, open to self-referral, and centred on anxiety or low mood. Psychotherapy with me is private and open-ended, and looks at patterns that have run for years. My memberships are BACP (registered member) and UKCP (student member), so please ask me anything about what that means.
How does psychotherapy begin from Petworth, and do I need my GP?
No referral is needed. The free 15-minute call is where to begin, and a few words about what keeps coming back are enough. If longer work seems right to us both, we look for a weekly time you can protect for months, around work and any drives to Hove. The first few sessions then let you judge whether the fit is right.
What if longer therapy stirs up more than I can manage at home in Petworth?
It can feel rawer for a while, so we pace the work and check in at the start of every session. If things feel urgent between sessions, text SUSSEX to 85258 for crisis support, ring NHS 111 for urgent mental health help, or call 999 if anyone is in danger. We'll also plan what helps you settle after a session at home.
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.
Begin with the pattern you'd most like to understand
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.