Eastbourne · in person in Hove or online
Trauma therapy for Eastbourne
If something frightening still lives in your body, as startle, nightmares or a sense of always being on guard, I work with adults from Eastbourne on trauma, either on secure video or face to face in my room in Hove, around 45 minutes by car. How fast we go is your call, and nobody will press you for details of what happened.
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 Eastbourne
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Eastbourne by car
- About 45 minutes with clear roads (27.2 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Eastbourne to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Health in Mind, 0300 0030 130
- 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 calm town can't calm your body
Eastbourne can be a quiet place to live, and that quiet can make it confusing when your body won't settle.
Perhaps you left a controlling relationship and moved into a flat in Upperton or Roselands, and you still check the window when a car slows outside. You may have done everything right to get safe, and your body still hasn't caught up. Trauma can arrive later in life too. A fall or a frightening stay in hospital can shake someone who has lived calmly in one of the town's retirement communities for years, and it can feel embarrassing to be this unsettled now. Others carry something from much further back, from childhood or from before they moved to the coast, which a later loss or a quieter life has brought to the surface. That jumpiness and watchfulness is your body doing its best to keep you safe, so that's where the work starts.
Steadiness first, and you hold the pace
Trauma work with me usually comes in stages, though not in a rigid order. We begin by making you steadier: learning to notice the moment a memory starts pulling you back, and finding your way to the room again through your breathing and your feet on the floor. Once that steadiness holds, we approach what happened, a small piece at a time, and you decide how near to go. You don't need to give me the full story. Brainspotting, one of the approaches I use, doesn't depend on you putting the memory into words. Alongside that, we notice how the past is shaping the present, such as taking the long way round a particular street or never quite trusting a calm day. If you've left an abusive relationship, your safety now comes ahead of everything else, and the domestic abuse helpline further down this page is free, day or night. If hurting yourself has been a way of getting through, you can say so here, and we'll plan for safety together without judgement. If you're at risk right now, who to call is listed in the urgent help panel.
What trauma can look like here
After a shift in the emergency department
Working in the 24-hour emergency department at Eastbourne District General Hospital, and carrying home moments from a shift that come back when you try to sleep.
Something on a late hotel shift
Working nights in one of the Victorian hotels on the seafront, when an aggressive guest or an emergency you handled alone stays with you long after the shift ended.
Frightened, and far from home
Something alarming that happened while you were here as a language student, with your family in another country and English not your first language. We can go slowly and check meaning as we go.
When it comes back in the evening
Staying Well Eastbourne, at The Printworks on Wharf Road, offers out-of-hours crisis support on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons. Walk-ins are paused for now, so ring 0800 023 6475 option 1 first.
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 Eastbourne
Mind in Brighton and Hove runs mental health services in East Sussex. For specialist help, see the East Sussex mental health directory, a searchable list kept by the county council. The Old Bank Wellbeing Trust and Sussex Community Counselling (SCDA) both offer lower-cost counselling in Eastbourne. Eastbourne and District Samaritans are based at The Haven on Bolton Road, and on 116 123 at any hour. Walk-ins at Staying Well Eastbourne are paused for now, so phone 0800 023 6475 option 1 before going.
- Free NHS talking therapyHealth in Mind0300 0030 130Free 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 itSTAR Drug and Alcohol Service (East Sussex STAR)0300 303 8160Run 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).
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.
In this area you can also text SUSSEX to 85258.
What people in Eastbourne ask before starting
Do I have to describe the trauma in detail to start therapy from Eastbourne?
No. On the free 15-minute call, 'something happened a few years ago' is all you need to say. The first sessions are about steadiness, giving you ways to calm your body before the memory itself is anywhere near the conversation. When we do turn to it, you decide how much to say, and some of the work can happen without telling the story aloud at all.
Is there any free trauma support in Eastbourne?
When fear, low mood or anxiety has stayed with you since a frightening experience, Health in Mind, which runs NHS Talking Therapies across the county, takes self-referrals on 0300 0030 130. On Brassey Avenue, The Old Bank Wellbeing Trust offers a bursary scheme for people on a low or no income. Other services across the county are gathered in the East Sussex mental health directory. Private trauma therapy can sit alongside any of these.
Is trauma therapy by video from Eastbourne as safe as coming to Hove?
Usually, as long as we plan for it. At home we make sure you have a door that closes and nobody listening, and we leave a few minutes at the end to settle before you return to your day. The room in Hove is quiet and private, but the trip back along the coast needs thought after a heavy session. You can try both and choose.
I'm retired and still shaken after a break-in at home in Eastbourne. Is trauma therapy for someone my age?
Yes. Trauma isn't about age, or about how serious an event looks from outside. If you've been jumpy, sleeping badly or avoiding parts of your own home since it happened, that deserves attention. We'd go gently, by video if travelling to Hove is difficult, and start with helping you feel settled in your own home again.
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.
Start slowly, with a call that asks nothing of you
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.