Sutton · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Trauma therapy for Sutton
If something frightening is still with you in Sutton, an accident, an attack, a medical emergency or a childhood that never felt safe, trauma counselling lets you approach it at a speed you control. You don't have to describe what happened. My only room is in Hove, so we'd work over 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 Sutton
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Sutton by car
- About 61 minutes with clear roads (43.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Sutton Talking Therapies, 0800 032 1411
- 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 the body keeps guarding after it's over
In Sutton, what still follows you may have happened anywhere: a crash, a fall, an assault on the walk home, a train that braked so hard you were thrown.
For some people it began on a ward, during months of cancer treatment at the Royal Marsden on Downs Road, or sitting beside someone else through theirs, and a body that was braced for so long doesn't simply stand down. For others it goes back to a relationship, or to a childhood home where you learned to read every face before you spoke. Afterwards the alarm keeps ringing. A siren along the High Street, a hand on your shoulder in the crush at the station barriers, a hospital smell, a voice raised in the next flat, and your heart pounds, or you go blank and can't think. You may keep every hour full so the memory never finds a gap. These are protective reactions, still running after the danger has passed.
You set the speed, and we stop whenever you say
The first sessions stay with how you are now: learning how your body signals threat, the clenched jaw, the held breath, the urge to get out, and finding what brings you back: perhaps the weight of the chair beneath you, a cold drink, or picking out three sounds in the room. Only when those feel dependable do we move closer to what happened, and then in small portions, with you choosing how near we go. You don't need to tell the full story, or any of it. The Rewind Technique, for example, works on the charge a memory carries while the details stay with you. We also regard your survival habits with respect, the vigilance, the avoidance, the numbness, because they once protected you, and we loosen them only as fast as feels safe. Because sessions happen on screen, we end each one with time to settle and a plan for the following hour, whether that's a walk, a meal or a message to a friend. Should a mental health team already be involved in your care, we'll decide together at the start how our sessions sit with theirs. Pausing or ending the work is always your call, with no explanation owed.
When it follows you through a Sutton week
After months of treatment
Scans, surgery and long weeks at the Royal Marsden, yours or someone close to you, can leave your body on alert well after the treatment itself has ended.
Bracing on the platform
Something that happened on a crowded train or at the station, over in moments, that now leaves you braced for impact every time you commute to London Bridge.
Evenings when it surfaces
If memories crowd in after dark, the evening crisis cafe on Downs Road is open in person until 11pm, and the South London crisis text service answers texts to 80991.
Never quite off guard
Startling at doors, scanning rooms, sleeping lightly. Peer support from Sutton Mental Health Foundation at Belmont Connect can give you company between our sessions.
Free and low-cost support for Sutton
When anxiety or low mood has followed what happened, Sutton Talking Therapies takes self-referrals. Sutton Mental Health Foundation offers peer support at Belmont Connect and runs the evening Sutton Crisis Café, and Cruse Bereavement Support, Sutton, helps when a death is part of it. Where to turn after sexual violence, or as a veteran, is in the questions below. Private trauma work can run alongside each of these.
- Free NHS talking therapySutton Talking Therapies0800 032 1411Free 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 itInspire (Cranstoun Inspire), Sutton's Adult Drug & Alcohol Service020 8773 9393Free 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.
The South London NHS Mental Health Crisis Text Service is another option: text 80991 or WhatsApp 0303 330 1511. Local drop-in crisis support: Sutton Crisis Café (check opening times before you go).
What people in Sutton ask before starting
Who offers free specialist help after trauma in Sutton?
It depends on what happened. After a sexual assault, recent or long ago, NHS 111 will direct you to specialist support at any hour. If you served in the forces, ask your GP about the NHS mental health service for veterans. If the harm comes from someone at home, the 24-hour domestic abuse line in the free support section above is free to call. For anxiety or low mood that followed, Sutton Talking Therapies takes self-referrals on 0800 032 1411.
Would I need to go over what happened in my first sessions from Sutton?
No. A sentence such as 'something bad happened and I'm not over it' is all the free call needs. Early sessions concentrate on steadiness in the here and now. When we do turn towards the memory, some approaches let it be processed without you voicing the details, so the words can stay yours. Turning down a question is always allowed.
Is trauma counselling by video from home in Sutton safe?
A familiar room at home often feels less exposed than a stranger's consulting room, and it spares you an hour's drive back from Hove after a hard session. We plan each ending, leave time to settle, and agree what you'll do afterwards. If someone might overhear you, or if what happened took place at home, say so, and we'll look at other options, including an occasional longer session in Hove.
How soon can I begin trauma counselling from Sutton?
Book the free 15-minute call when you feel able, and I'll be straight about when a weekly slot is free. If it feels right on both sides, we book a first video session. Early sessions can leave you tired or shaky for a day, so we choose a time with room afterwards, not one squeezed between the train and a meeting.
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.
Begin when you're ready, and only as far as you choose
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.