Bermondsey · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Bermondsey
Whether home is an estate flat near The Blue or a converted warehouse at Shad Thames, you can bring whatever is pressing on you, named or not, to a BACP-registered counsellor, one to one. My only room is in Hove, a 96-minute drive away, so from Bermondsey we'd normally meet by secure video: the same counsellor and the same full hour, from home, with a Hove visit whenever you'd like one.
The practical facts for Bermondsey
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Bermondsey by car
- About 96 minutes with clear roads (53.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Talking Therapies Southwark, 020 3228 2194
- 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.
Riverside warehouses, estate landings and a busy station
Bermondsey fits a lot of different lives into a small stretch of the south bank.
Converted warehouses at Shad Thames and Butler's Wharf look across at Tower Bridge, while around The Blue and down towards South Bermondsey the estates are older and money is often tighter. Southwark's public health team describes the area as a neighbourhood of contrasts: South Bermondsey ward has among the borough's highest rates of disability and unemployment, while the wards nearer the river see much less disadvantage. Either kind of life can wear a person down. You might push through the crowds at London Bridge, one of the UK's busiest stations, to a job that never quite switches off. You might be watching the old Peek Frean factory become Pearl Yard and wondering who the new homes are really for. If you work at Guy's Hospital, you may carry other people's hardest days home with you. Whatever shape yours takes, there is room to talk about it here.
Getting in touch before you have a label for it
You don't need a tidy description of the problem before you get in touch. Perhaps your nights have gone broken, you snap at whoever shares your flat, a loss was never properly mourned, or a Saturday wander through Maltby Street Market now feels like effort rather than pleasure. It might be a habit, a drink or a bet, that matters more than you'd like. In the first sessions we set out what is pressing on you now, what came before, and what tends to make it better or worse. From there we agree a focus and how often to meet, and I'll tell you honestly if your GP or a specialist service would suit you better, alongside our work or in place of it. I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist with more than 25 years' experience, and I've come through recovery myself, so you can bring shame, drinking or family rows without bracing yourself. I work integratively, with Human Givens as one strand, and you can read about the others on the how I work page. Sessions run for 60, 90 or 120 minutes, and you set the pace.
Strains between Tower Bridge and The Blue
Twice a day through London Bridge
London Bridge ranks among the UK's busiest stations, and squeezing through it at both ends of the day, with work emails still pinging at home, rarely leaves space to check in with yourself.
Riverside flats beside older estates
Living where expensive warehouse conversions sit next to council estates can sharpen worries about money, belonging and whether the neighbourhood is changing without you.
Long days caring at Guy's
If you work at Guy's Hospital or study on the King's College London Guy's Campus, you may spend every day holding other people's distress with nowhere to set down your own.
Free help from the borough too
Our sessions can sit beside free borough help: self-referral to Talking Therapies Southwark for worry or a flat mood, and the Southwark Wellbeing Hub on the Bermondsey side of the river.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. "Similar to England" means the difference is not statistically significant. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Bermondsey
Private sessions can sit beside Southwark's free help. For persistent worry or a mood that has sunk, Bermondsey residents can refer themselves to Talking Therapies Southwark, the NHS service for the borough, on 020 3228 2194. The Southwark Wellbeing Hub is a South East London Mind service, and unpaid carers looking after a grown-up relative can turn to Mobilise, an online hub listed by the council.
- Free NHS talking therapyTalking Therapies Southwark020 3228 2194Free 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 itCGL Southwark020 3404 7699Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationSouthwark Recovery Support Service (RSS)
- Local organisationSouth East London Suicide Bereavement Service (SLaM with South East London Mind)
- Local organisationBede House: Starfish (ending domestic abuse) and the Women's Safety AllianceBermondsey charity.
- Local organisationSouthwark Irish Pensioners Project
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 (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991.
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 Bermondsey ask before starting
Living near The Blue or Shad Thames, could I ever see you in person?
Intergen House in Hove is where I see people in person, and reaching it from Bermondsey means 96 minutes by car or a Thameslink ride out of London Bridge with a change at Brighton. For regular weekly work, secure video lets you keep the same counsellor without losing half a day to travel. If sitting in a room together matters to you, an occasional Hove session can be booked, perhaps as a longer 90 or 120-minute meeting.
How quickly could a Southwark resident near Bermondsey Street get a first session?
We begin with the free consultation, a short call to hear what's happening and check we're a good fit. After that I offer the times I actually have open, so you are choosing a slot rather than joining a queue. Where worry or a flattened mood is the heart of it, you can ring Talking Therapies Southwark yourself on 020 3228 2194, even once our sessions are under way.
Who can I contact in Southwark if I'm struggling tonight?
On a night when it all feels too much, a text to 80991 or a WhatsApp message to 0303 330 1511 reaches the NHS crisis text team covering South London. Samaritans are on 116 123 at any hour, and if anyone's life is in immediate danger, call 999. You will find all of these numbers, plus a few others, together in the urgent help box on this page.
Will video counselling work from a small or shared Bermondsey flat?
You need a door you can close, headphones and a steady connection. If the walls are thin or flatmates are around, a parked car, a borrowed quiet room or a time when the place is empty can all work. Because the free consultation can itself happen by video, you find out whether a screen suits your flat before booking a single paid hour.
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.
Fifteen minutes on the phone, then decide
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.