Guildford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Couples therapy and relationship counselling for Guildford
If you're looking for couples therapy in Guildford, I can offer it by secure video, with the two of you together at home. My only room is in Hove, about 70 minutes' drive away, so in-person sessions are possible but best kept for an occasional longer meeting. You can also come on your own.
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 (for one of you)
- 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.
Two careers, one commute, not much time left over
In Guildford, one partner may be on the fast train to Waterloo via Woking before it's light while the other works at the University of Surrey, on the Surrey Research Park or in one of the town's video-games studios.
If either of you works at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, a rota can make shared evenings hard to plan. By the time you're both home in Merrow, Burpham or Onslow Village, there may be little energy left for a difficult conversation, so it gets put off, or it happens late at night when you're both tired. If your friends, colleagues and neighbours all live in the same town, it can also feel awkward to sit with a couples counsellor you might later run into there. Couples therapy by video gives the two of you a protected hour, or longer, at home, with someone outside Guildford helping you hear each other.
Finding an hour you can both keep in Guildford
Couples work from Guildford starts with a practical problem: finding an hour when you're both home and both awake. If one of you is on the Waterloo line and the other is on shifts at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, an evening on video asks far less of you than a 70-minute drive to Hove after a long day. If one of you studies or works at the University of Surrey, term dates and exams can shape when the harder conversations are possible, and we can plan around them. If home is a shared house near the campus, or there are children in Stoughton or Burpham who might walk in, we can think about where and when you'd have the privacy to talk. In the sessions themselves, I hear from both of you equally and I don't take sides. We look at the pattern you both get pulled into, without deciding who is to blame. On video, the two of you share a sofa or a table at home, facing the camera together. If your partner isn't ready to come, you can start on your own and work on your side of the relationship, and they can join later if they choose.
Strains a Guildford week can put on a couple
Opposite ends of the commute
One of you leaves for Waterloo via Woking before it's light, the other works locally, and the only overlap is a tired hour at night. We look at what gets lost there.
Rotas at the Royal Surrey
Hospital shifts that don't match a partner's office hours, so plans fall through and resentment can build on both sides before anyone says it out loud.
Long hours in research or games
Work on the Surrey Research Park or in one of Guildford's video-games studios that spills into evenings, leaving a partner unsure where they come in the queue.
When one of you is caring
Looking after a parent, a child or a partner who is unwell, and the strain it puts on you both. Action for Carers Surrey can support the carer alongside our sessions.
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 Guildford
Free help can sit alongside couples sessions. Catalyst Support is a Surrey mental health and wellbeing charity, and Action for Carers Surrey supports people looking after someone. Where one of you worries about the other's drinking or drug use, i-access, Surrey's drug and alcohol service, offers information and carers support for family. If either of you reaches a crisis one evening, the Guildford Safe Haven in town is a walk-in alternative to A and E for adults aged 18 and over.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)Mind 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 organisationOakleaf EnterpriseLocal mental health charity.
- Local organisationGuildford SamaritansLocal Samaritans branch.
- Local organisationCatalyst Community Connections (Guildford and Waverley)Community mental health and wellbeing support.
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).
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 Guildford ask before starting
How do we start couples therapy from Guildford, and can we meet in person?
Begin by booking the free 15-minute consultation. You can take it together, or each have a separate call with your own questions. My only room is in Hove, about 70 minutes' drive from Guildford, so weekly sessions usually work best by video. An occasional longer session in the Hove room is possible, long enough to make the 44.3-mile drive worthwhile.
Does couples therapy work over video if we're both at home in Guildford?
It can. The two of you share one laptop or tablet in a private room at home, and we talk much as we would in the room in Hove. Video can be easier to fit around the Waterloo commute, shifts and childcare, and there's no long drive home afterwards with the session still ringing in your ears.
Where can we find free relationship support in Guildford?
None of the free Guildford services I can point you to is a couples service, but several help with pressures that bear on a relationship. Mind Matters Surrey, run by Surrey and Borders Partnership, offers NHS Talking Therapies to either of you for anxiety or low mood, on 0300 330 5450. Action for Carers Surrey helps if one of you is caring for someone.
What if my partner's drinking is the problem?
A partner's drinking affects you both, and we can work on the relationship while being honest about it. Specialist help with the drinking itself comes free from i-access in Surrey, which supports the person who is drinking and has information and carers support for family members, on 0300 222 5932.
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.
Make time to talk to each other properly
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.