Gosport · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Trauma therapy for Gosport
If something frightening or overwhelming still shows up in your sleep, your temper or your body, trauma counselling is a place to work towards feeling safe again, at a pace you set. From Gosport we'd normally work by secure video, with you at home or anywhere private you trust, and you decide what you say and when.
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 Gosport
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Gosport by car
- About 82 minutes with clear roads (55.6 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, 023 8038 3920
- 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 it quietly in a naval town
In a town shaped by the Royal Navy, there can be an unspoken rule that you get on with it.
If you've served, you may have seen things in the course of your work that you've never described to anyone at home, and you may not want to. If you're the partner, you may be living with the effects, the startle, the short fuse, the nights awake, without ever being told why. Trauma here isn't only military, though. It can come from a crash, an assault, a sudden death, or from years of growing up with fear in the house. It can return through a loud bang, a smell, an anniversary, or something as ordinary as a raised voice in the ferry queue. None of that means you're weak. Your body may still be braced for a danger that has passed.
Getting steady before going near the memory
We take trauma work in stages, and you decide when each one begins. First comes steadiness: learning what pulls you back into the past and practising ways to return to the present, in your body as well as your mind. Only when that ground feels solid do we turn towards what happened, a piece at a time, and never further than you agree to. You won't be asked for a detailed account. Some approaches, such as the Rewind Technique, can work on a memory without you describing it aloud. We also make room for the parts of you that cope by staying busy, going numb or keeping guard, without demanding that they stop before they're ready. Saying no, pausing or changing direction is always allowed. If you serve, nothing you tell me goes to the Navy, although confidentiality has the usual limits around serious risk, which I'll explain at the start. If thoughts of self-harm or of not wanting to live are part of this, I'll ask gently, we'll plan for safety together, and the crisis numbers on this page are there between sessions. In an emergency, call 999 or NHS 111.
Where it might have come from
Things seen in service
If your work in the Navy put you in front of events most people never see, we can work with what stayed with you, without you having to describe it in detail.
Living beside someone's trauma
When a partner comes back from service on edge or withdrawn, the whole household feels it. Anchoring Minds offers peer support to naval families, and you can have sessions of your own.
Nights when it floods back
If panic or flashbacks hit hardest late at night, Shout answers a text of HANTS to 85258 round the clock, and the other all-hours numbers are lower down this page. In sessions we plan for those nights.
Fear that started at home
Growing up around shouting or violence, or living with it as an adult, can leave your body braced for years. If you're not safe now, the domestic abuse helpline further down comes 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 Gosport
Free local help can sit alongside trauma counselling. After a phone assessment, Solent Mind's Fareham and Gosport Wellbeing Service can point you towards crisis support and other help. For anyone bereaved by suicide, Cruse Bereavement Support has its Support After Suicide Service, covering Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. For anyone serving, and their families, there is peer support through Anchoring Minds.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Hampshire023 8038 3920Free 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 itInclusion Recovery Hampshire0300 124 0103Free 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.
In this area you can also text HANTS to 85258.
What people in Gosport ask before starting
Can I have trauma counselling from Gosport without going over every detail?
Yes. On the free call, one sentence will do: that something happened and it still affects you. Early sessions go on feeling steadier, and the story can wait. When we do turn to the memory, you choose how much to say, and some ways of working don't need you to describe it aloud at all. You can stop at any point.
Is there trauma support in Gosport for Royal Navy personnel and families?
Anchoring Minds, run by Solent Mind with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, offers peer support to serving personnel and their families. Where anxiety or low mood has set in since, NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire will take a referral straight from you on 023 8038 3920. Private trauma counselling with me is separate from the Navy and can run alongside either.
Is video safe enough for trauma work from Gosport?
It can be, as long as you have a private room where you won't be interrupted or overheard. After a hard session you're already home, with no ferry and two trains to face before you can settle. If home doesn't feel safe, tell me, and we'll think together about another option, including an occasional session in Hove.
My partner came back from service changed. Can I have trauma counselling for how it affects me?
Yes. Living alongside someone else's trauma can leave you anxious, lonely and on edge yourself, and that deserves attention in its own right. The sessions would be about you and what you need. If you're ever afraid of your partner, please turn first to the domestic abuse support higher up this page.
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 first call, with nothing you have to explain
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.