Woking · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Trauma therapy for Woking
If something frightening has stayed lodged in your body, whether from last year or from long ago, trauma therapy gives it careful, unhurried attention. I work with people in Woking by secure video, so you can remain somewhere that already feels safe. What we look at, and when, is your call, and the full story never has to be told.
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 Woking
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Woking by car
- About 73 minutes with clear roads (57.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Woking, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Mind Matters Surrey, 0300 330 5450
- 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 into an ordinary Woking day
Trauma is often invisible to the people around you.
It might be one night at St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey that your mind keeps returning to. It might be a collision, an assault you've never told anyone about, or years of living with someone whose moods decided whether the house was safe. It may have happened in another country altogether, before Woking became home, and the memories travelled with you. Afterwards life carries on, with the school run in St John's or the shopping in the town centre. Part of you, though, stays braced. You might startle at a siren, sleep in short stretches, avoid a road or a smell or a certain tone of voice, or feel oddly blank when you expected to feel something. That is a nervous system still on guard, and after what happened it makes sense that it would be.
Steadiness first, memory only when you're ready
Trauma work with me moves in stages, and you set the pace of each. We start in the present. Early sessions are about noticing the signs that your body is being pulled back into alarm, and finding a few dependable ways to return to now, which might be pressing your heels into the floor, or a slow breath you've practised until it comes easily. That groundwork comes first, however long it takes. Only once you feel steadier do we turn towards what happened, never more of it than you can hold at once, and there are ways of working, such as Brainspotting, that don't depend on you putting the memory into words. We also respect the ways you've coped, such as keeping busy or going numb, because they got you this far. You can pause or stop any session without explaining why. If the person who hurt you is still in your life, or you're frightened right now, your safety comes first, and the domestic abuse helpline further down this page is where to turn before anything else.
Where a frightening time can leave its mark
An emergency at St Peter's
A frightening admission, or a loved one's emergency at St Peter's Hospital, can replay long after everyone else has moved on. We settle your body before going near it.
Something that happened elsewhere
If what happened took place in another country, before you settled in Woking, it still counts. It can surface years later at a sound, a smell or an anniversary.
When a death came suddenly
An unexpected death can leave images and alarm tangled up with the grief. Cruse Bereavement Support covers Surrey North and South West Surrey, and can hold the loss alongside our work.
Evenings when it floods back
If memories crowd in after dark, Woking Safe Haven takes adults in distress between 6pm and 11pm all year round, in person in Westfield or virtually.
Free and low-cost support for Woking
The free help I can point to from Woking isn't trauma-specific, but it can still help. Mind Matters Surrey accepts self-referrals when fear or low mood set in after something frightening. Catalyst Support, a charity working on mental health and wellbeing across Surrey, is another door. At any hour, the county's crisis helpline is on 0800 915 4644. Each of these can sit beside trauma therapy with me.
- Free NHS talking therapyMind Matters Surrey0300 330 5450Free 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 iti-access0300 222 5932Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCatalyst Counselling: families, friends and carers (Catalyst Support)
- Local organisationSearchLight Counselling and Therapy
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 Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644. Local drop-in crisis support: Woking Safe Haven (check opening times before you go).
What people in Woking ask before starting
Who can I contact in Woking for free help after something traumatic?
Nothing in Woking's free provision that I know of is aimed at trauma alone. For worry, panic or low mood that began after the event, free NHS Talking Therapies are available through Mind Matters Surrey, and self-referral is open on 0300 330 5450. Your GP can talk you through NHS options beyond that, and Woking Safe Haven runs an evening drop-in for adults in distress.
Will I have to go over the details of what happened, even by video from Woking?
No. How much you tell me is up to you, and that can mean nothing at all about the event itself. Early sessions focus on how you're coping now and what helps you feel steadier. When we do approach a memory, some ways of working let its content stay private to you, and stopping is always allowed.
Can trauma therapy be done safely online from Woking, rather than in Hove?
Yes, with some care. We agree beforehand what you'll do if you feel overwhelmed during a session, and the last minutes are kept for settling. Because you're already home when we finish, there's no 73-minute drive while you're still shaken. Pick a room where you won't be interrupted, and if headphones help you feel more contained, use them.
How do I start trauma therapy from Woking if I've never told anyone what happened?
The free 15-minute call doesn't require you to say what happened; 'something frightening that still affects me' is plenty. Before the call ends you'll hear when a regular time could open up, and you decide whether to take it. If things become too much before we begin, the 24/7 crisis line on 0800 915 4644 is there, and 999 is for immediate danger.
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 where you set the terms
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.