The Hove Counselling Practice has widened its online couples therapy service to reach residents of Haywards Heath, providing sessions over MS Teams designed for commuter couples under relationship strain. The service responds to a well-documented problem: research that followed more than two million adults across a decade found that one-way commutes of forty-five minutes or longer raise the likelihood of separation by roughly 40 per cent, according to a study from Umeå University, Sweden. For partners already surrendering hundreds of hours a year to travel, the new provision takes away the practical obstacle of attending therapy in person, letting couples join from home or work without adding to an already overstretched schedule.
"Commuter couples rarely reach a crisis point overnight. The strain builds quietly — one partner comes home drained, the other reads that silence as distance, and resentment settles in without either person quite meaning it to," said Claire Sainsbury, the founder of The Hove Counselling Practice. "Asking those same couples to find a further hour to sit in a waiting room simply isn't realistic. Bringing the sessions to them removes the single barrier that stops most people from getting help."
Commuter couples in the area face particular pressures that build up quietly over time. Partners returning home after long journeys often arrive emotionally depleted, and those running households can read that exhaustion as disengagement, breeding mutual resentment behind outward politeness. While NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies offers self-referral support for anxiety and depression locally, relationship counselling for couples sits outside standard NHS provision. A common health-service intervention such as Couple Therapy for Depression was designed to treat depression in one partner rather than address relational drift or the aftermath of betrayal. Private therapy therefore remains the practical route to specialist couples support in Haywards Heath.
Delivery over MS Teams offers three clear advantages for couples short on time. Sessions are available until 9 pm on weekdays, removing any need for either partner to leave work early or travel to a clinic. Privacy is greater, with no waiting room to cross and no risk of running into acquaintances within overlapping professional or social circles — a real consideration in smaller communities. The clinical evidence is reassuring: meta-analyses confirm that video-based therapy produces outcomes on a par with face-to-face work, and studies show that the therapeutic alliance — the strongest predictor of a good result — carries across to screen-based sessions. Evidence also points to clients speaking more candidly from familiar surroundings, since the formality of a consulting room can hold back disclosure.
"There's a lingering assumption that therapy only works properly in person, and the evidence simply doesn't bear that out," Sainsbury said. "What predicts a good outcome is the strength of the working relationship between client and therapist, and that holds up perfectly well over a screen. If anything, many couples speak more freely from their own sitting room than they would in an unfamiliar consulting room."
Data security measures meet the standard required for handling sensitive relationship records, which often hold special categories of personal data under data protection law and demand the highest level of confidentiality. The BACP Ethical Framework requires accredited members to uphold the same professional standards across online, face-to-face and other methods of communication, keeping confidentiality protections consistent whatever the mode of delivery.
Outcome research, including studies published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, suggests that a sizeable share of couples who undertake therapy — often around 70 per cent — see meaningful improvement. Where a relationship has suffered gradual drift, patterns often shift within a handful of sessions once they are identified and addressed. Recovery from infidelity follows a longer path, typically two to five years, as couples return to earlier emotional stages whenever reminders surface. Research indicates that openly disclosing betrayal during therapy markedly raises the chance of a couple staying together, compared with concealment.
"Recovery after an affair isn't quick, and I'm always transparent with couples about that — it can take years, and old feelings resurface when something brings them back," Sainsbury said. "But honesty in the room changes the odds considerably. Couples who can speak openly about what happened are far more likely to stay together than those who keep things hidden."
The Hove Counselling Practice draws on Emotionally Focused Therapy, an attachment-based approach with a 70 to 75 per cent recovery rate in affair-related work, alongside cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.
"My aim is never to hold a couple together at all costs," Sainsbury added. "It's to give them clarity about where the relationship is heading — whether that means rebuilding something stronger or parting with mutual understanding."
Claire Sainsbury holds BACP accreditation — a credential requiring specific training, adherence to a published ethical framework and ongoing professional accountability — alongside a BSc in Psychology, a Master's in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice, and an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Therapy. With more than twenty years of experience, she has completed certified training in emotionally focused therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy and trauma work.
Couples sessions last fifty-five minutes and cost £110, while individual sessions are fifty minutes at £90. The practice operates Monday to Friday, 10 am to 9.30 pm, serving the fourteen-mile radius from Hove to Haywards Heath without asking couples to add travel time. Initial contact can be made through the website or by telephone, with no expectation beyond a first, no-pressure conversation.
More information is available at https://thehovecounsellingpractice.co.uk/online-couples-therapy-haywards-heath/
The Hove Counselling Practice provides individual and couples therapy across the Hove and Haywards Heath area, both in person and online via MS Teams. The practice specialises in relationship counselling, affair recovery and trauma work, drawing on Emotionally Focused Therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.