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Counselling
Counselling in Lewes and Brighton.
Weekly one-to-one counselling for adults, in person in Brighton or Lewes or online across the UK.
Online across the UK, or face to face in Brighton or Lewes. £80 per 50 minutes.
- BACP accredited, member 374395
- A free 15-minute call
- Face to face in Brighton, Lewes or online
- No minimum number of sessions
What is counselling actually like?
You talk, and someone listens properly, for fifty minutes a week. There is no script and no advice-giving. Over time the patterns become visible, and what felt like a personal failing usually turns out to have a history and a logic. While we are all different, most people begin to notice a difference somewhere between the fourth and eighth session.
What people bring.
You do not need a diagnosis, a crisis or a good reason. “Something is not right and I cannot name it” is a perfectly good place to start.
Anxiety.
A nervous system that has been running at capacity so long it has forgotten another setting exists. More about counselling for anxiety.
Stress and burnout.
Work that has stopped being survivable, and the kind of tiredness sleep does not touch. More about counselling for stress and burnout.
Family patterns and self-esteem.
Patterns that keep repeating with different people, difficult family history, and the low self-esteem that usually sits underneath both.
Change and transition.
Separation, job changes, illness, perimenopause, redundancy, moving country. Major changes that ask more of you than anyone acknowledges at the time.
Trauma.
Experiences that still shape how you respond long after everyone else considers them finished. More about counselling for trauma.
Being neurodivergent.
Diagnosed as a child, recognised as an adult, or still wondering. Therapy that works with how you are made rather than against it. More about neurodivergent-affirming therapy.
Feeling stuck without knowing why.
Nothing is obviously wrong and something clearly is. That is a common place to start, and there is usually plenty to work with.
When the words will not come.
Sometimes finding the exact words is the problem rather than the route to the answer. Alongside humanistic psychotherapy I am trained in writing therapy and creative arts counselling, so when talking is challenging, we have others.
Working this way lets you see an old pattern from a fresh angle, and express something that talking about it directly tends to slide around. It is always your choice, and the work goes at your pace.
More about writing therapy and working creatively, or how being autistic or ADHD changes the work.
How the work runs.
- Fifty minutes, usually weekly, at the same time
- In person in Brighton, Lewes or online
- No minimum number of sessions, and no contract term
- Open-ended, or with an ending in mind from the start
- Nothing happens that you have not agreed to
Fees, stated plainly.
So there is nothing to work out later.
The first call.
Free. Fifteen minutes by telephone, with no obligation to book anything afterwards.
Counselling.
£80 for a fifty-minute session, payable a week in advance.
Cancellations.
Twenty-four hours' notice moves a session rather than losing it.
Full details are in the terms and conditions. If money would be the reason you had to stop, say so early rather than late.
Who you would be talking to, and what I do not offer.
Both worth knowing before you ring rather than after.
My training.
A Postgraduate Diploma in Humanistic Psychotherapy from the University of Brighton, BACP accredited membership 374395, and regular clinical supervision throughout. More about my training and background.
What I do not offer.
I see individual teens (16+) and adults. I do not work with couples or with groups and I do not offer bereavement counselling. If one of those is what you need, your GP or the BACP directory is the better route, and I would rather say so here than on the phone.
Not the right thing if you need help today.
I work by appointment and I am not a crisis service. If someone's life is at risk, call 999. For urgent mental health support at any hour, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. Samaritans are on 116 123, free, day or night.
If you are weighing up counsellors generally, ten questions worth asking before you choose one, and what to expect from a first session.
Questions people ask first.
Do I need to know what is wrong before I ring?
No. Not knowing is an ordinary reason to get in touch, and working out what the thing actually is can be most of the work.
How many sessions will I need?
There is no honest general answer, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. Some people come for six weeks, some for two years. We review it as we go and you can stop whenever you want to.
Is online as good as being in the room?
For most people it works just as well, and for some it works better, particularly if being looked at directly is hard. What it needs is a private space where you will not be overheard.
Will you tell my GP?
Not without your written agreement, unless I believe there is a serious risk to your life or someone else's. The limits of confidentiality are set out in full in the terms and conditions.
What if we are not a good fit?
Then say so, and I will not take it personally. Fit matters more than almost anything else in counselling. I would rather help you find someone better suited than hold on to work that is not serving you.
In their words.
“Amy was really good in letting me talk and think through my emotions with my depression and anxiety. Helped lead my brain away from the negative and dark intrusive thoughts to more positive emotions/my true self. Can’t thank her enough for the support she has given!”
The first step is fifteen minutes.
Free, by telephone, and you decide afterwards. Nothing is committed on that call.
BACP accredited, member 374395. Brighton, Lewes and online across the UK.