Chichester · in person in Hove or online
Couples therapy and relationship counselling for Chichester
If the two of you in Chichester keep landing in the same argument, or have quietly stopped arguing at all, relationship counselling gives you an hour in which both sides get heard. I see couples together, and partners who come on their own, in a private room in Hove or by secure video. Sessions of 90 or 120 minutes are there if one hour feels too short for two.
The practical facts for Chichester
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Chichester by car
- About 48 minutes with clear roads (30.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Chichester to Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)
- 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.
Two working weeks that rarely line up
A lot of Chichester's work runs to awkward rhythms.
Tourism and leisure jobs fill the evenings and weekends, which are exactly when a partner on office hours is free and alone. A day in the public sector, whether that's the council, Chichester College or a ward at St Richard's Hospital, can leave one of you emptied out by teatime. And a growing number of people here are self-employed, which can mean income that rises and falls, a laptop open on the sofa, and a partner who has quietly become the unpaid bookkeeper. Add a parent in Whyke or Summersdale who needs more help each month, or children to ferry across the city, and a couple can turn into two people running a small firm called the household. The rows may start over the bins, though what sits underneath is usually who notices what needs doing and who has stopped asking for help.
Sitting down together, or one of you first
Nobody is on trial in a first couples session. I ask each of you in turn what brought you now and what you most want to change, and I make sure the quieter partner is heard as fully as the one who talks more. Over the following weeks we look for the loop you both fall into, perhaps one of you raising the money worry and the other hearing blame, and we slow it down until each of you can see your own part in it. Self-employment brings its own strain here. When one partner's business is the family income, a poor month can end up being argued about as if it were a verdict on the relationship. If trust has been broken, or one partner's drinking has become a worry for the other, those can be talked about too, at a speed you can both bear. Sometimes only one of you is ready, and coming alone is a real option, because changing your own side of a pattern can shift the whole thing. I won't decide who is right, and I won't steer you towards staying or parting. Joint sessions aren't safe when either partner fears the other. There's more on that in the safety section on this page.
What can pull two Chichester lives apart
Opposite ends of the week
One of you works tourism and leisure hours through evenings and weekends while the other keeps weekdays, until time together shrinks to a tired half-hour.
The business at the dinner table
Self-employment can blur work and home until every conversation drifts back to invoices, and one of you feels more like staff than a partner.
A parent across the city
Supporting an ageing parent in another part of Chichester can leave little for each other. Carers Support West Sussex helps whoever is doing the caring.
Parting without a war
If you've decided to separate, sessions can help you agree how to talk, especially when children will be moving between two homes in the city.
If you are afraid of your partner
Couples counselling is not safe or suitable where one partner is afraid of the other. You can book the free call on your own. What you tell me on your own is not passed to your partner without your agreement, except where someone's safety is at serious risk; I explain those limits on the free call. In your message, tell me the safest way and time to contact you. Video sessions from a shared home are not private if you could be overheard or your devices are checked. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
If there is violence, threats or controlling behaviour, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 2000 247. The Men's Advice Line is on 0808 801 0327. If you are worried about your own behaviour towards a partner, the Respect Phoneline is on 0808 802 4040 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm).
Free and low-cost support for Chichester
Couples work with me is private, and there is free help each of you can use alongside it. Carers Support West Sussex supports people caring for a relative, including someone who drinks or uses drugs, and West Sussex Wellbeing has council-run help for family and friends. Each of you can also approach NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies yourselves about anxiety or low mood, through the West Team that covers the city.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)NHS 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.
- Local organisationWest Sussex MindMental health charity.
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.
If you, or someone you live with, drink heavily every day, or take drugs such as benzodiazepines or GHB daily, do not stop suddenly without medical advice. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Your GP or the local drug and alcohol service can arrange medically assisted withdrawal. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone in withdrawal is shaking visibly, unusually restless or agitated, confused, seeing or hearing things that are not there, or has a fit. For milder symptoms, such as a slight tremor or sweating, contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day (NHS guidance). Counselling works alongside medical support, not instead of it.
What people in Chichester ask before starting
One of us works weekends in Chichester. Can we still have couples counselling together?
Yes. On the free call we'll look at when you're both genuinely free, rather than assuming an office week, and I'll tell you which regular times I have open. If getting to Hove together is impossible some weeks, video keeps the session going, with each of you joining from wherever you can talk without being overheard. Starting doesn't have to wait until your rotas line up.
Is there free relationship support in Chichester, or is it only private?
Your GP is the best person to ask about any free couples counselling in Chichester. There is free help for each of you separately. Chichester Counselling Services is a local charity offering general counselling. If anxiety or low mood is part of it, either of you can refer yourself to NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies, whose West Team covers Chichester, on 01273 265967.
My partner won't travel from Chichester to Hove for counselling. Can I come on my own?
Yes. Working on your side of the relationship is worthwhile in itself: how you react when things get tense, what you've stopped asking for, and what you actually want. A partner sometimes joins later, once it's clear the sessions aren't about blame, and sometimes never does. If the drive is the obstacle rather than the idea, video may be an easier ask.
Should we come to the Hove room or use video from home in Chichester?
Think about where you can talk most honestly. Intergen House is neutral ground, reached in roughly 48 minutes by road or on a through train, so neither of you is on home turf, and the trip back gives things time to settle. Video saves the travel and suits weeks when work runs late. You can mix the two, and the choice can change as things improve or get harder.
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.
One short call, with one of you or both
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.