Croydon · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Trauma therapy for Croydon
If something frightening still follows you around Croydon, whether it happened last month or in childhood, trauma counselling lets you work with it at a pace you control. You won't be asked to describe more than you choose. Because my only room is in Hove, about 63 minutes' drive away, we'd meet by secure video.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call 999 or the Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. More urgent help is on this page.
The practical facts for Croydon
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Croydon by car
- About 63 minutes with clear roads (44.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from East Croydon to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Croydon NHS Talking Therapies, 0203 228 4040
- 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.
Carrying something heavy through ordinary days
What still follows you might be a night in the 24-hour A and E at Croydon University Hospital after an accident or an attack, or the hours you spent there waiting for news about someone else.
It might be a shift when you were the one working there. It might be something you lived through before you came to this country, carried quietly while you got on with building a new life. Or it might be a childhood where home was unpredictable and you learned to read every mood before you walked in. Afterwards, ordinary life can set the body off: a siren along London Road, a door slamming in a quiet flat, raised voices at the back of a tram. You might freeze, or need to leave without quite knowing why. Those reactions come from a nervous system that is still guarding you against something that has already ended.
Steadiness first, memories only when you're ready
The first task is to help you feel steadier. Early sessions are spent noticing how your body signals threat, where you tense and when your breathing changes, and finding a few reliable ways back to the present that suit you, perhaps pressing your feet into the floor or naming what's in the room around you. Only once those feel dependable do we move towards what happened, and then in small pieces, with you deciding how close we go. The Rewind Technique is one option for easing the charge on a memory without telling me the details. We also look with respect at what has kept you going: staying on alert, keeping busy, avoiding certain streets. Those strategies protected you once, and we loosen them only as fast as you can manage. If the trauma came through your work, at the hospital or anywhere else, it counts just as much. If you're already under NHS mental health care, we'd agree at the outset how our sessions sit alongside it. You can also pause or end the work whenever you need to, without giving a reason.
Help around trauma work in Croydon
Shock after a sudden death
When someone dies suddenly, shock and grief can knot together. You can ring Cruse Bereavement Support's national helpline between sessions, and with me the shock can be eased before the grief is faced.
When the whole household feels it
If you're supporting someone whose trauma shapes life at home, Mind in Croydon's carers' services offer mental health support and counselling for carers.
A calmer place than A and E
Run by Mind in Croydon, the Recovery Space in East Croydon is a non-clinical alternative to A and E when distress peaks, reached through a GP or another clinical referral.
Texting when talking is too much
If speaking feels impossible, South London and Maudsley's crisis text service takes WhatsApp messages on 0303 330 1511 and ordinary texts to 80991.
Free and low-cost support for Croydon
Mind in Croydon runs one-to-one counselling that you can arrange yourself by phone, and Croydon NHS Talking Therapies can help when anxiety or low mood has followed a frightening experience. If you need urgent help, Croydon Council's advice is to dial 111 and select mental health from the options. Private trauma work with me can continue beside any of these.
- Free NHS talking therapyCroydon NHS Talking Therapies0203 228 4040Free NHS talking therapy for anxiety, low mood and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). You can refer yourself, with no GP referral needed.
- If drinking or drug use is part of itCroydon Integrated Recovery Service (Drug and Alcohol Service - Croydon)0300 123 9288Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationMind in Croydon carers' services
For gambling, the National Gambling Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 8020 133 (NHS gambling support).
Private counselling with me can run alongside any of these; you do not have to choose one or the other.
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 have experienced rape or sexual abuse, at any time in your life, the Rape Crisis 24/7 Support Line is free on 0808 500 2222 for anyone aged 16 or over in England and Wales.
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
The South London NHS Mental Health Crisis Text Service (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991.
What people in Croydon ask before starting
Is there free specialist trauma support in Croydon?
The free routes in Croydon start with Croydon NHS Talking Therapies, which accepts self-referrals on 0203 228 4040 when anxiety or low mood follows something frightening, and Mind in Croydon offers one-to-one counselling. If someone at home is hurting or controlling you, the domestic abuse helpline on this page is free at any hour.
Will I have to describe what happened if I start trauma counselling from Croydon?
No. On the free call it's enough to say that something happened and that it still affects you. Early sessions focus on feeling steadier, and later there are ways of working with a memory without putting it into words. You choose what you share and when, and saying no to a question is always fine.
How soon could trauma counselling start from Croydon, and would it be by video?
After the free 15-minute call we can agree a first session, and you'll get a frank answer about when a weekly time is free. From Croydon it would be by video, from a private room where you feel safe. If home is connected to what happened, tell me, and we'll consider alternatives, including an occasional longer session in Hove.
What if memories hit hard at night in Croydon before my next session?
Early sessions can leave you shaky for a day or so, which is why we agree a plan for those evenings in advance. If it becomes too much, message the South London crisis text service on WhatsApp 0303 330 1511, ring 111 and ask for mental health support, or ring Samaritans free on 116 123. Dial 999 if you are in immediate danger.
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.
Take the first step at your own speed
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.