Tonbridge · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Trauma therapy for Tonbridge
If something that happened, once or over years, still reaches into your sleep or your body here in Tonbridge, trauma counselling offers a careful place to work on it. You decide what we look at and when. Sessions are by secure video, from a room you've chosen because it feels safe.
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 Tonbridge
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Tonbridge by car
- About 70 minutes with clear roads (43.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- 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.
Alarms that still go off years later
Whether something was traumatic depends on how it landed on you, and it doesn't have to sound dramatic when told.
It might follow a crash on a road you still have to drive, an emergency that you or someone close to you only just came through, or a death so sudden there was no goodbye. It can build over years rather than one day: bullying at school that the adults missed, or a childhood spent watching a parent so closely that you still scan every room you walk into. Afterwards, the body keeps its own record. A car door slammed in Trench Wood or a raised voice in a queue can set your heart racing before you know why, or shut you down so completely that people take you for calm. Those reactions are protection that has outlasted the danger, and they can be worked with.
Building safety before going near the memory
Trauma work with me goes at a pace you lead. The first stage is about steadiness: noticing the early signs that a memory is pulling you back, and finding what brings you into the present, perhaps the weight of your feet on the floor, the sounds in the room or a phrase that tells you where you are. Because we work over video, we also plan the close of each session and the hour that follows it, so the work doesn't spill into your evening. Only when you feel ready do we come to what happened, bit by bit, and some approaches, the Rewind Technique among them, don't need you to describe a memory aloud. The ways you've coped, such as staying busy, staying watchful, going numb or avoiding certain roads, get respect here as strategies that once made sense. You can stop at any point without explaining why. If it's still happening, or you're afraid of someone at home, your safety comes before anything else, so start with the domestic abuse helpline shown on this page.
Support around the edges of the work
After a sudden death
When a death comes without warning, shock can sit inside the grief. Cruse Bereavement Support's national helpline can support you alongside our sessions.
When it all feels too much
If memories crowd in and you can't settle, Release the Pressure is on 0800 107 0160, and Kent and Medway Safe Havens, run by Mental Health Matters, are another place to turn.
After something on the railway
Tonbridge is one of Kent's busiest stations. If an incident on a platform or a train, as a passenger or as staff, has left you dreading the commute, we can work on it at your pace.
Free help for what followed
Fear or a flat mood that set in after something frightening is within the remit of NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway, a free service open to self-referral.
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 Tonbridge
West Kent Mind, which covers Tonbridge and Malling, offers low-cost counselling for adults in Sevenoaks or online. Between sessions, you could also contact Live Well Kent and Medway about wellbeing support. Private trauma counselling with me can sit beside either, and the urgent contacts on this page are there if things become too much.
- 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 organisationWest 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 Tonbridge ask before starting
Is there a specialist trauma service in Tonbridge?
I don't know of a dedicated trauma service in Tonbridge. If anxiety or low mood started after what happened, you can self-refer to the free NHS Talking Therapies Kent and Medway service by calling 0333 091 0414. West Kent Mind offers low-cost counselling, and after a bereavement the Cruse Bereavement Support national helpline is there too. If someone is hurting you now, ring the domestic abuse number given on this page first.
Will I have to go over the details again if I start trauma counselling from Tonbridge?
Only if you choose to. During the free call, saying that something happened is enough. The early sessions build steadiness, and when we do turn towards a memory, some ways of working don't ask you to put it into words at all. You decide what you share, and you can ease off or call a halt whenever you need.
Can trauma counselling by video from Tonbridge feel safe enough?
It can, if you choose the place with care. A room with a closed door, a time when no one will walk in, and something steadying within reach all help. We finish each session with time to settle and a plan for afterwards. If nowhere at home feels safe, say so, and we'll look at alternatives, including an occasional session in Hove.
I'm in Tonbridge and it happened decades ago. Is it too late for trauma counselling?
It isn't too late. Reactions laid down long ago can still be worked with now, and carrying something alone for years is nothing to be ashamed of. You don't need to be sure it counts as trauma, and you don't need a referral. The free 15-minute call asks for no more detail than you're ready to give.
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, on your terms
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.