Wimbledon · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Anxiety counselling for Wimbledon
If anxiety in Wimbledon has you dreading the crush at the station or lying awake rehearsing tomorrow, counselling offers a steady weekly hour to understand what your nervous system is doing. We'd meet by secure video, which means the first step can be taken from a room that already feels safe.
The practical facts for Wimbledon
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Wimbledon by car
- About 74 minutes with clear roads (47.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Merton Talking Therapies, 0203 513 5888
- 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.
Four networks, one station, and a racing heart
Four networks meet at Wimbledon station: South Western Railway, Thameslink, the District line and Tramlink.
At rush hour that can mean a lot of people in not much space. If panic has ever caught you on a packed stairway there, you may have started leaving earlier, waiting at the far end of the platform or giving up on the District line altogether. A Saturday errand to the Centre Court Shopping Centre can start to feel like a test you might fail. Money worries add their own hum, and so does a job that keeps buzzing in your pocket after you get home. For others it's quieter: an evening in a flat in Wimbledon Chase or Abbey where the mind has nothing to do except picture what might go wrong. Whichever it is, the alarm in your body is going off far more often than the situation calls for, and that is something we can look at together.
Learning the alarm's habits, then easing its grip
We begin by getting to know your anxiety in detail, because a vague dread is harder to work with than a specific one. When does it start, what does your body do, what do you tell yourself, and what do you do next to make it stop? Over time you've probably built a set of safety habits: setting off early, sitting near the door, rehearsing conversations, asking for reassurance, avoiding the tram at busy times. Each one brings relief, which is why it sticks, though each one also tells your brain the danger was real. Part of the work is understanding where the alarm learned to go off so easily, and what else it might be carrying, perhaps grief, pressure at work, or a childhood where you had to stay watchful. Part is practical: ways to slow your breathing and steady your attention that you can use on a platform or before a meeting, and small steps between sessions, each one chosen by you. Solution-focused questions help us spot the moments when the anxiety already loosens, so we can build from there.
Wimbledon moments when the alarm goes off
Letting the District line go by
If you now let trains pass, or walk rather than take the tram, we can work out what that avoidance is protecting you from and ease it a step at a time.
When the Championships arrive
With the Championships on at the All England Club, the town is busier than usual, and someone who copes fine most of the year can suddenly feel cornered.
Money circling at night
Bills and rising costs can keep the mind turning in the small hours. The Wimbledon Guild offers financial help as well as counselling, which can ease the practical side.
A world shrunk to four walls
If anxiety has made leaving the house feel impossible, the Wimbledon Guild offers free online or telephone counselling for people who struggle to get out of the door.
Free and low-cost support for Wimbledon
Merton Talking Therapies, also known as Merton Uplift, is the free NHS service for anxiety in the borough, run by South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, and you can refer yourself on 0203 513 5888. The Wimbledon Guild's counselling takes self-referrals too, with an assessment in person. If you use either while also seeing me privately, it helps to tell both of us.
- Free NHS talking therapyMerton Talking Therapies0203 513 5888Free NHS talking therapy for anxiety, low mood and related difficulties. You can refer yourself, with no GP referral needed.
- If drinking or drug use is part of itVia Merton0300 303 4610Free and confidential.
- Local organisationWimbledon Guild counselling and support groups
For gambling, the National Gambling Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 8020 133 (NHS gambling support).
Private counselling with me can run alongside any of these; you do not have to choose one or the other.
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 need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
The South London NHS Mental Health Crisis Text Service is another option: text 80991 or WhatsApp 0303 330 1511. Local drop-in crisis support: Sunshine Recovery Café, Wimbledon; South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust Recovery Cafés (check opening times before you go).
What people in Wimbledon ask before starting
Is there free anxiety support in Wimbledon I can contact without my GP?
Yes. Merton Talking Therapies accepts self-referrals for anxiety on 0203 513 5888, and it costs nothing, though waiting times vary. The Wimbledon Guild's counselling also takes self-referrals, starting with an in-person assessment. To work with me, you book the free 15-minute call. If you end up using an NHS service and private sessions together, let each of us know so the two pieces of work fit.
Panic stops me using the trains and the tram. Can I still get anxiety counselling from Wimbledon?
Yes. Because we'd meet by secure video, the station never has to come into it, and you can join from the room where you feel calmest. Later, if you'd like to get back on the District line or the tram, we can plan that in steps small enough that you choose each one.
How soon could anxiety counselling begin if I live in Wimbledon?
Once we've spoken on the free 15-minute call, you'll know where things stand: I'll say when a weekly time is open, and nothing is booked until you choose. Before the call, it can help to notice when the anxiety peaks, whether that's the morning rush, a Sunday evening, or the moment you open the post.
My heart races and I feel dizzy in crowds in Wimbledon. Is that anxiety?
It might be, and your GP is the right person to rule out anything physical first, with the counselling side sitting with me. If your GP is satisfied, counselling can help you understand why crowds set your body off and what calms it, at a pace that doesn't overwhelm you.
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 short call, when you feel ready
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.