Maidstone · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Trauma therapy for Maidstone
Trauma counselling is for anyone in Maidstone still living with the after-effects of something that overwhelmed them, whether it happened last month or decades ago. You lead, and we go no faster than you can manage. Sessions from Maidstone happen over secure video, in whatever place feels safest to you, and you can begin without saying 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 Maidstone
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Maidstone by car
- About 78 minutes with clear roads (64.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Maidstone East, change at London Victoria for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, 0333 091 0414
- 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.
Jobs that put people near the worst moments
Some work in and around Maidstone brings people close to other people's worst moments.
If you work at HM Prison Maidstone, you may have seen things you've never said aloud at home. If your household is connected to Invicta Park Barracks, a posting may have changed something in the person who went, or in the people who waited. Trauma doesn't only come through a job, though. It can follow a collision you replay every time you drive, a frightening birth, a sudden death, an assault, or years of childhood spent bracing for the next outburst. It can also build from years of smaller frights with no single event to point to. Afterwards, ordinary moments can set off an alarm, like a slammed door in a quiet Bearsted street or a siren going past. The reaction lands in your body a beat before you know why. That is a nervous system that learned to protect you, and it isn't a failing in you.
Steadiness before stories, and you set the speed
You won't be asked to go back into what happened in the first sessions, and perhaps not for a while. We start by building a sense of safety in the present. That means learning your own warning signs, such as the jaw that clenches or the room that seems to slide far away, and finding out which simple things bring you back, because they differ from person to person. Since you'll be joining from home, we give endings care too: a few minutes at the close of each session to return to the here and now, and a rough idea of what comes next, perhaps a cup of tea or a short walk. When you choose to look at the memory, we take it in small pieces. The Rewind Technique allows a memory to be worked with without you telling me its details aloud. Alongside that, we look at what has kept you going, whether that's staying on guard or keeping busy until you drop, with respect and without blame. If self-harm has become one way of getting through, tell me, and we'll make a safety plan together, turning to the urgent contacts listed lower down whenever they're needed.
Where trauma can come from, and what's nearby
Working inside HM Prison Maidstone
What you've witnessed at work can follow you home, into your sleep and into how you react to raised voices. We can work with it confidentially, at a pace you choose.
Life around Invicta Park Barracks
Military households can carry the after-effects of service quietly. Whether you served or love someone who did, sessions are a place to set some of it down.
After a sudden or violent death
Grief after a sudden loss can carry shock as well as sorrow. The national helpline run by Cruse Bereavement Support takes calls about the grief, and our sessions can attend to the shock.
When it floods back at night
If flashbacks or dread become too much to manage alone, Kent and Medway Safe Havens are somewhere to go, and Samaritans answer 116 123 day or night.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Maidstone
When the aftermath shows up as anxiety or low mood, a self-referral to the county's NHS service, NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, can run alongside private trauma work. Mid Kent Mind offers weekday support from College Road, Cruse Bereavement Support helps after a traumatic loss, and Kent's Release the Pressure helpline is there when things feel unmanageable.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway0333 091 0414Free 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 itWest Kent community drug and alcohol service (Change, Grow, Live)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationMid Kent Mind Affordable Counselling
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 Release the Pressure Helpline - Kent is on 0800 107 0160. Local drop-in crisis support: Kent and Medway Safe Havens (Mental Health Matters) (check opening times before you go).
What people in Maidstone ask before starting
Is there a specialist trauma service in Maidstone I can use for free?
I can't name a dedicated free trauma service in Maidstone from the information I've checked. If you've felt anxious or low since what happened, NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway's self-referral line is 0333 091 0414, and your GP can explain what else the NHS offers. Mid Kent Mind and Cruse Bereavement Support offer wider help, and you can use private sessions alongside whichever of them helps.
I work at HM Prison Maidstone. Would my employer know I'm having trauma counselling?
I won't tell them. I have no contact with employers unless you ask me to, and confidentiality has only a few limits, mainly where someone's life or safety is at serious risk, which I set out in our first session. With video, there's no waiting room where a colleague could spot you. If your role has its own rules about reporting health matters, those are yours to decide, and we can talk them through.
Can I do trauma counselling from Maidstone by video, or do I need to be in the room?
Video works for trauma counselling, and from Maidstone it's how we would usually meet, because 78 minutes in the car each way, especially driving home after difficult work, isn't kind to anyone. What matters most is that you're somewhere private and settled. If you'd value meeting face to face later on, we can arrange a longer session in Hove for a day with nothing else in it.
I can't talk about what happened. Can I still start trauma counselling from Maidstone?
Book the free 15-minute call. You can call it something difficult and leave it there, and no referral is needed. To begin with we work on you feeling steadier, and later we can use methods that let us work with a memory without putting it into words. If something else would suit you better, such as NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway or your GP, I'll tell you honestly.
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 somewhere that feels safe to you
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.