Battersea · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Battersea
This page is for anyone in Battersea who feels something needs talking through but isn't sure what to call it yet. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor, and my only room is in Hove, roughly 85 minutes' drive away. So from SW11 we would normally meet on a secure video call, the same one-to-one hour without the trip, and you can come down to Hove whenever you'd like to sit in the room.
The practical facts for Battersea
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Battersea by car
- About 85 minutes with clear roads (51.1 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Wandsworth Talking Therapies, 0203 513 6264
- 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.
Living beside Europe's busiest station
Clapham Junction sits at the heart of Battersea, and between 100 and 180 trains an hour pass through it, with about 430,000 people moving through on a weekday.
That pace spills into everyday life. The redeveloped Power Station, now offices, shops and Apple's London base, pulls crowds towards Nine Elms, while north of the railway lines the mid-20th-century estates carry their own history, and people on the Winstanley and York Road estates are still waiting to hear what the council decides after its December 2026 Cabinet meeting. Waiting for news about your home can sit in your body for months. Older neighbours in Latchmere, St Mary's Park and Queenstown have spoken, in a 2025 Age Well Battersea study, about loneliness, money worries and feeling left behind by everything moving online. Then there's the park, 200 acres of it, where a lap past the Peace Pagoda can be the only quiet half hour in a week.
Coming in without a neat explanation
Most people who make contact don't arrive with a tidy label, and you needn't either. It might be something with a clear edge, like a separation, a redundancy letter, a parent who is ill, or a flat you might have to leave. Or nothing has a clear label yet: tiredness that sleep never shifts, a shorter fuse than you used to have, one weeknight glass of wine that has quietly become most of a bottle. Any of these is enough reason to talk. Early on, the two of us untangle what weighs heaviest and why it hangs around: the length of a London working week, feeling invisible among crowds on every platform at Clapham Junction, or an old hurt that has resurfaced. Then we settle on a direction together, and if some other kind of help would serve you better, you'll hear that from me straight. I've been counselling for over 25 years and came through recovery personally before I trained; the approach is integrative, and the how I work page covers the methods.
Pressures that come with SW11 life
A station that never stops
Changing trains at Clapham Junction twice a day, in the crush of the rush hours, can leave you wrung out before work has even started.
Home in the balance
If you live on the Winstanley or York Road estates, months of uncertainty over regeneration plans can wear on sleep, family life and your sense of being settled.
New offices, old pressures
Jobs around Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms can come with long hours and high expectations, and the stress tends to follow you home in the evening.
Growing older and isolated
Research in Latchmere, St Mary's Park and Queenstown found older residents facing loneliness and money stress, and talking one to one can ease some of that weight.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Battersea
Private counselling can run side by side with the free help in and around Battersea. Wandsworth Talking Therapies, part of SWLStG, takes self-referrals for worry and low mood. Sound Minds on York Road runs peer support through music, art and a community choir, and Thrive's Growing Out programme offers therapeutic gardening in Battersea Park. Battersea Befriending Network and the Katherine Low Settlement Elders Programme help people who feel cut off.
- Free NHS talking therapyWandsworth Talking Therapies0203 513 6264Free 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 itWandsworth Community Drug and Alcohol Service (WCDAS)020 3228 1777Free and confidential.
- Local organisationWandsworth Carers' Centre
- Local organisationSubstance Misuse Carer Support (Wandsworth Carers' Centre), for family and friends of people who drink or use drugs
- Local organisationWandsworth Bereavement Service
- Local organisationAllkind
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 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: Tooting Recovery Café (Hestia) (check opening times before you go).
If you drink heavily every day, or take drugs such as benzodiazepines or GHB daily, do not stop suddenly without medical advice. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Your GP or the local drug and alcohol service can arrange medically assisted withdrawal. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone in withdrawal is shaking visibly, unusually restless or agitated, confused, seeing or hearing things that are not there, or has a fit. For milder symptoms, such as a slight tremor or sweating, contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day (NHS guidance). Counselling works alongside medical support, not instead of it.
What people in Battersea ask before starting
Can I meet you face to face rather than on a screen, coming from Battersea?
My one counselling room is in Hove, about 85 minutes' drive from Battersea, so seeing me face to face means travelling to the coast. Video from home spares you that each week, and an occasional Hove session can be booked on a day that suits, should you want to share a room sometimes.
If I live near Clapham Junction, how soon could sessions begin?
You begin with a short free conversation, so we can both get a sense of whether working together feels right. If it does, I'll tell you which weekly times I have open and we pick one that suits you. There's no referral needed from your GP, and because sessions are on video, Battersea traffic and train delays won't affect whether you make it.
Can I use Wandsworth Talking Therapies and see you as well?
Yes, and using both at once is perfectly fine. SWLStG runs Wandsworth Talking Therapies, the borough's free NHS service, and you can contact it directly if worry or a sinking mood has taken hold. If you're also seeing me privately, it helps to mention it to both, so the support fits together and you aren't covering the same ground twice.
Can counselling help while I wait to hear about the Winstanley and York Road plans?
Uncertainty about where you'll be living is a real strain, and it's a reasonable thing to bring to counselling. We can give space to the worry, the anger or the tiredness it causes, and look at what helps you cope while the council's decisions are pending. Practical housing questions belong with Wandsworth Council, and the sessions can sit alongside that.
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.
Talking it through from Battersea
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.