Dorking · in person in Hove or online
Trauma therapy for Dorking
If something that happened, recently or long ago, still reaches into your sleep, your body or your closest relationships, trauma counselling gives it careful attention. I work with adults from Dorking by secure video, or in Hove if you'd rather share a room. You set the pace, and nothing has to be told before you're ready.
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 Dorking
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Dorking by car
- About 54 minutes with clear roads (38.1 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Dorking Deepdene, 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 a quiet place doesn't quieten the body
A Dorking week of drop-offs at The Priory School and shifts at Dorking Community Hospital can look entirely ordinary from outside, with trauma carried quietly underneath it.
It may date from a single event, a collision on a narrow lane, a frightening admission to hospital, a death with no warning, or something in London that was never spoken about at home. Or it may have built slowly, through a childhood spent watching for danger or a relationship where you learned to make yourself small. Long afterwards, the nervous system stays on duty. A siren, a door banging or a particular smell can send your heart racing, or shut feeling down so thoroughly that you go blank. With the Surrey Hills on three sides, open country can be where you breathe out, or, if something happened out walking or on a quiet road, the very place you now avoid. These reactions are the body's protection, still switched on long after the danger has passed.
Feeling steady comes before any remembering
Trauma work with me starts in the present. The early sessions are about feeling steadier: recognising the first signs that you're being pulled back into what happened, and finding what brings you back, such as your feet on the floor, the sounds in the room, or naming where you are and what day it is. We go no faster than your nervous system can manage. When you feel ready, and not before, we approach the memory in small pieces. You'll never be asked to describe it in detail, and the Rewind Technique, for example, works with a memory without asking you to tell it. We also look kindly at the ways you've coped, the vigilance, the busyness, the drinking or the numbness, as the sensible responses they once were. You can stop or change direction in any session without explaining. If what happened involves someone you still live with, or you're frightened at home, safety comes before any of this, and the domestic abuse line on this page is the place to start. If you're under NHS care for what happened, our work can sit beside it.
Where old fear can surface in Dorking
Carrying a shift home
Staff at Dorking Community Hospital, carers and anyone in a frontline job can bring home moments that keep replaying long after the shift has ended.
A death without warning
Shock layered over grief when someone died suddenly. Cruse Bereavement Support, with Surrey branches and a national helpline, can run alongside our work.
For a teenager or young adult
If the person affected is aged 11 to 24, Heads Together Counselling in Dorking offers free counselling, and as a parent you can still have sessions of your own with me.
When nights are the worst
If memories crowd in after dark, the Surrey and Borders Partnership crisis helpline answers around the clock on 0800 915 4644, and Samaritans are on 116 123.
Free and low-cost support for Dorking
I can't name a specialist trauma service in Dorking itself. If anxiety or low mood took hold after what happened, Mind Matters Surrey offers free NHS Talking Therapies and accepts self-referrals. Mary Frances Trust's Community Connections groups can be a steady place to be among people, and Action for Carers Surrey supports anyone who has been holding someone else together through the aftermath. Private trauma counselling can sit alongside these.
- Free NHS talking therapyMind Matters Surrey0300 330 5450Free 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 iti-access0300 222 5932Free 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 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.
Locally, the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644.
What people in Dorking ask before starting
I've never told anyone in Dorking what happened. Do I have to tell you?
No. On the free call you need only say that something happened, or not even that. The early work is about steadiness in the present, and when we come to the memory, there are ways of working that don't depend on telling the story aloud. You decide what's shared and when, and pausing is always allowed.
Is there a specialist trauma or PTSD service near Dorking?
There isn't one I can name in Dorking itself. For anxiety or low mood that began after a frightening event, the free NHS route is Mind Matters Surrey, an NHS Talking Therapies service you can contact yourself on 0300 330 5450. If your trauma involves a sudden death, Cruse Bereavement Support can help, and if someone is hurting you now, please start with the domestic abuse line given on this page.
Should I come to Hove for trauma counselling or work by video from Dorking?
Either can work. Hove is about 54 minutes away, close enough for in-person sessions if being in the same room helps you feel safer, though plan the trip home with care. Video means a session ends where you already are, with nothing to drive afterwards. We can start one way and change if it isn't right for you.
I work at Dorking Community Hospital. Can I have trauma counselling my employer won't know about?
Yes. I don't contact employers, and what you say stays private between us, apart from the few exceptions I explain at the start, such as a serious risk to someone's safety. With my only room in Hove and sessions available by video, you're very unlikely to meet a colleague in a waiting room, and we can look for times that sit outside your shifts.
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.
A careful first conversation, whenever you're ready
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.