Belgravia · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Belgravia
Perhaps something has been wrong for a while and you live or work in Belgravia, but you couldn't yet put a name to it. That is a sound enough reason to talk. I'm a counsellor working one to one, and because my room is in Hove, about 94 minutes' drive away, we would usually meet by secure video, with a session in Hove whenever you would like one.
The practical facts for Belgravia
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Belgravia by car
- About 94 minutes with clear roads (53.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Westminster Talking Therapies, 030 3333 0000
- 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.
Stucco squares, embassies and a lot of closed front doors
From Eaton Square to Chester Square, Belgravia looks composed from the pavement.
The cream terraces, the mews behind Kinnerton Street and the flags outside the embassies on Belgrave Square all suggest order. Behind those doors, life can be more solitary than outsiders imagine. The council-adopted Belgravia Neighbourhood Plan records that 48% of occupied homes here held just one person at the 2011 Census, and about one in five homes stood usually empty. By day, the district fills with people arriving to work in offices, shops and hotels, then thins out again after dark. Diplomatic postings bring households in and, in time, move them on. Next door, Victoria station and the coach station keep the whole area in motion. It is easy, in a place this polished and this busy, to feel that your own difficulty should stay private, and to keep it that way for far too long.
When you can't yet say what is wrong
There is no need to arrive with a tidy explanation. Some people come with a clear event, such as a separation, a bereavement, a posting that has ended, or a role that now leaves them dreading Monday. Others notice only that they sleep poorly, feel hollow in a home that seems too large, or reach for a glass earlier in the evening than they used to. Any of those is a reasonable first conversation. Our opening hours go on mapping the weight you carry and what holds it there: loneliness behind a grand front door, a demanding London career, family left behind for an overseas posting, or an older hurt resurfacing. Next comes choosing a focus, and should another kind of help fit better, I'll be frank about it and help you reach it. After 25 years and more as a counsellor, and having lived through recovery myself, nothing about drinking, shame or long-hidden things will shock me.
What a Belgravia life can put on your shoulders
Living alone behind the stucco
With nearly half of occupied homes here holding one person, evenings in a quiet mews or mansion flat can leave a great deal of time alone with your thoughts.
A posting that keeps you moving
Embassy and diplomatic life around Belgrave Square can mean a spell in one city, a household rebuilt with every move, and friendships that are hard to keep.
Working here, living elsewhere
Around 17,000 people work in Belgravia in finance, professional services, shops and hotels, and long days there can crowd out any time to notice how you are.
Caring for someone older
If you look after a parent or partner, Carers Network supports unpaid carers across the area, and the Songhaven concerts at St Paul's Knightsbridge welcome people living with dementia and those who care for them.
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 Belgravia
Free support in Westminster can run alongside our sessions. For anxiety or low mood, Westminster Talking Therapies accepts self-referrals. If alcohol or drugs are the concern, Turning Point Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea offers assessment and treatment, and the Al-Anon Sloane Square Breakfast group meets weekly for families and friends. The Victoria Library mini-hub hosts coffee mornings and wellbeing activities, and Central London Samaritans are there to listen.
- Free NHS talking therapyWestminster Talking Therapies030 3333 0000Free 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 itTurning Point Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea (Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Service, DAWS)0330 303 8080Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCarers Network
- Local organisationSonghaven dementia-friendly concerts at St Paul's KnightsbridgeFree dementia-friendly concerts for older people.
- Local organisationVictoria Library mini-hub (Westminster City Council)Low-cost or fee-paying.
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.
Locally, the CNWL Mental Health Single Point of Access is on 0800 0234 650.
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 Belgravia ask before starting
Is an in-person session possible from Eaton Square or anywhere else in Belgravia?
My one counselling room is at Intergen House in Hove, about 94 minutes by road from Belgravia, or a direct Southern train from Victoria. Week to week from SW1, secure video gives you one counsellor at a fixed hour, minus the travel. Should being together in person matter, an occasional Hove session can be booked, and that can even be the first one, before we carry on online.
Can I refer myself to NHS talking therapy in Westminster?
Yes. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust runs Westminster Talking Therapies, which you can ring yourself on 030 3333 0000 about worry or persistent low spirits. You can use it alongside private counselling or instead of it, and if you are on a waiting list there, sessions with me can carry you in the meantime. Your GP is the right person for any questions about medication.
How quickly can a Belgravia resident get a first counselling session?
We begin with a brief conversation of around 15 minutes, by phone or video, at no cost. Should it feel right on both sides, you choose from the real gaps in my week, so waiting is usually short. Tell me on that first call if your days in Victoria or Knightsbridge run late, and we'll find an hour around them.
Is video counselling private enough if I'm worried about being recognised?
Video sessions are secure, and nobody sees you walk into a waiting room, which can feel reassuring in a small, well-known district like Belgravia. All it takes is somewhere private: a study, a bedroom, even a parked car. With others in the house, headphones help; confidentiality has a few standard limits, and I go through them in our first session.
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.
Begin with one short conversation from SW1
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.