Counselling for Otford

Getting here from Otford

Otford is about twelve minutes from Borough Green by car, east along the A25 through Kemsing, or via the A225 and the Sevenoaks bypass depending on where in the village you start.

Otford station is on the same Maidstone East line as Borough Green & Wrotham, which for regular commuters makes an appointment on the way through genuinely simple.

Who I see from Otford

Otford is a well-off commuter village at the meeting point of two railway lines, and the presenting problems reflect that. A great deal of what I see from this direction is high-functioning: people running substantial jobs, drinking a good deal more than they intend to, managing anxiety nobody around them suspects, and finding it almost impossible to say any of it out loud.

That profile is exactly the one that tends to delay getting help longest — because from the outside nothing is obviously wrong, and there is a great deal to protect.

When success is part of the problem

There is a specific difficulty that comes with doing well. The higher the external picture, the greater the gap between it and how things actually feel, and the more there is to lose by admitting the gap exists. People in that position often arrive years later than they should have, having managed it privately for a very long time.

It is workable, and one of the first useful things is simply saying it to another adult who has no stake in the picture you have been maintaining.

What I work with

The approach is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, supported by CBT where a specific belief or behavioural loop needs breaking.

Practical details