Brixton · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Brixton
Whether you're on Acre Lane, Coldharbour Lane or up towards Brixton Hill, you can come to counselling here before you know quite what kind of help you're after. I see people one to one, mostly by secure video from Brixton, because my only room is on Western Road in Hove, an 83-minute drive from SW2 and SW9.
The practical facts for Brixton
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Brixton by car
- About 83 minutes with clear roads (49.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Lambeth Talking Therapies, 020 3228 6747
- 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.
Where the Victoria line runs out and the market begins
Brixton sits 3.8 miles from Charing Cross, at the southern end of the Victoria line, and its Underground station handled about 20 million entries and exits in 2025.
For a lot of people the day begins on that busy commuter platform and ends back among Brixton Market, Brixton Village, the Ritzy and the big music venues. It is a multi-ethnic place with a large Afro-Caribbean community, whose history is kept at the Black Cultural Archives on Windrush Square. Lambeth Council's own reading of the 2025 deprivation figures names Brixton and Norwood as the borough's most relatively deprived neighbourhoods, so rent and debt can press on a household here alongside everything else. A neighbourhood this busy and this sociable can still leave you feeling you have nobody to say the difficult thing to.
Not sure what you need yet? That's a fine place to start
General counselling from Brixton is for the times when something is wrong and you can't yet sort it into a category. It might be worry that wakes you at four, a flatness that has lasted since a loss, a relationship that has gone quiet, money that keeps you up, or drinking after nights out that has started to creep into the week. You can bring it as it is. Our opening sessions sort through which strand is heaviest, what feeds it from one Brixton week to the next, and the change you'd most like to notice. My own recovery came before more than 25 years of practice, so a weekend after Electric Brixton that ran on too long, or a past you'd rather not repeat, is something you can say to me plainly. My approach is integrative, and you can read how I work on a separate page. If identity, heritage or how you have been treated because of who you are sits close to what's hurting, that belongs in the room too, and Black Thrive on Brixton Road works on mental health equity for Black communities if you'd like that alongside.
Things a Brixton life can bring to counselling
Money, rent and housing worry
Debt or a housing problem that won't let you rest. Brixton Advice Centre on Railton Road helps with the practical side, and counselling can hold the strain it leaves behind.
A crowded platform every morning
Starting each day in the rush at a station with about 20 million entries and exits a year, and arriving at work already wound tight.
Late nights that have stopped being fun
Living near the Academy, Electric Brixton and the clubs, where a social life built around nights out can turn into drinking or drug use you'd like to look at honestly.
After someone has been in prison
A partner, son or brother serving time at HMP Brixton on Jebb Avenue, or coming home from it, and the worry, shame or anger that goes with that.
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 Brixton
Brixton has free help close by. On weekdays the NHS runs community mental health care from the North Living Well Centre at 332 Brixton Road, and adults in the borough reach those services through Lambeth Single Point of Access. Mosaic Clubhouse on Effra Road offers recovery support for Lambeth residents, and its Evening Sanctuary runs 5pm to 11pm by referral. South East London Mind (SEL Mind), Lambeth services, and Brixton Advice Centre can help too.
- Free NHS talking therapyLambeth Talking Therapies020 3228 6747Free 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 itLambeth Drug and Alcohol Service020 3228 1500Free and confidential.
- Local organisationLambeth HarbourRecovery community.
- Local organisationCarers' Hub Lambeth: Substance Misuse Carers service
- Local organisationSouth East London Suicide Bereavement Support (SEL Mind with South London and Maudsley)
- Local organisationCruse Bereavement Support, LambethBereavement support.
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 (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991. Local drop-in crisis support: Mosaic Clubhouse Evening Sanctuary (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 Brixton ask before starting
Could I sit in a room with you, or is it video only from Brixton?
In person means coming to my room on Western Road in Hove, which is 83 minutes' drive from Brixton or a change of trains at London Victoria. Weekly sessions tend to hold better on secure video, taken from a closed room in your flat off Acre Lane or a private corner at work. You can still arrange an occasional session in Hove, and mixing the two is fine.
Is there free counselling in Lambeth I can refer myself to?
Yes. For persistent anxiety or a low mood, ring Lambeth Talking Therapies on 020 3228 6747 to refer yourself; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust runs it. If drink or drugs are the main concern, the Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service is free on 020 3228 1500. Seeing me privately can run in parallel with either service, or suit you if picking the person and the hour yourself matters more.
Where can I turn in Brixton if things get bad in the evening?
Late at night you can message 80991 by text, or 0303 330 1511 on WhatsApp, and the NHS crisis text line covering south London will answer. Mosaic Clubhouse Evening Sanctuary in Brixton is a free evening safe space from 5pm to 11pm, reached by referral, for example through NHS 111 (press 2) or your GP. If a life is in danger, ring 999 straight away. Our sessions are there for the steadier work in between.
I'm in Brixton and want to start soon. What happens first?
The first step from SW2 or SW9 is a free 15-minute call. Say only what feels right that day, and ask how video sessions would work from your flat or house. Should we agree to carry on, I'll name the hours actually free in my diary, and together we can place a weekly session clear of your rota, the crush at Brixton station or the walk to the school gate.
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 quiet first conversation from Brixton
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.