Clapham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Clapham
This page is for people in Clapham who want to talk to someone and would rather keep the process simple. Sessions run by secure video, and my only room is in Hove, well outside London. Whether your address is on the Lambeth or the Wandsworth side of the Common, a short free call is the place to start.
The practical facts for Clapham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Clapham by car
- About 84 minutes with clear roads (50.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Clapham High Street, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- 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.
Between the Common and the Northern line
Clapham is a corner of south London that was home to 48,478 people at the 2021 census, and a lot of it runs on the Northern line.
Mornings go through Clapham North, Clapham Common and Clapham South, and evenings come back along Clapham High Street and Venn Street. It has one of London's largest Australian communities, and for anyone who moved here from the other side of the world, a full social calendar can sit alongside having very few people you'd ring at three in the morning. The Common itself covers more than 85 hectares, and a walk across it is one of the few ways to get some space in a crowded week. From outside, a Clapham week can look full and sociable, and that can make it harder to admit to anyone that you are struggling.
Weighing up your options from SW4
You might want to talk about anxiety that runs underneath everything, a mood that has dipped and stayed low, the end of a relationship, homesickness that never quite goes, or a weekend habit with alcohol or drugs that has started showing up on weekdays. You don't need it neatly explained before you book. From Clapham the decision tends to come down to a few practical things. If you live on the Lambeth side, Lambeth Talking Therapies is free for anxiety and depression and you can refer yourself. The Awareness Centre in Clapham has a low-cost service with trainee therapists, which may suit you better if sitting in a room in SW4 matters most. Working with me is arranged differently. I have more than 25 years of practice, we meet by secure video at a regular time you choose, there is no set number of sessions, and the arrangement is the same whichever borough your address falls in. If you share a flat, we'd think together about where you can talk without being overheard, whether that's a bedroom with the door shut or an evening once everyone else is out. If your family is in Australia, we can talk about the time difference, the calls home and the visits that never last long enough. Some of what I know comes from my own recovery, and medication stays a conversation for your GP.
What you could bring
Family in another time zone
Building a life in London while the people who know you best are asleep when you're awake, and missing them more than you admit.
Anxiety on the Northern line
A tight chest on a packed platform at Clapham North or Clapham South, and a working day that starts before you've caught your breath.
Drinking that has spread
Weekend drinking that now reaches into weekdays. We can look at it plainly, and on the Lambeth side the Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service is the free specialist route.
After a bereavement
A death close by or on the other side of the world. Counselling can sit alongside Cruse Bereavement Support, Lambeth, or South East London Suicide Bereavement Support after a loss to suicide.
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 Clapham
Free help in Clapham follows your home borough. On the Lambeth side, the Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service is the route for drink or drug worries, with Lambeth Harbour offering recovery and aftercare, and South East London Mind runs services in Lambeth too. Lambeth Single Point of Access is the way into adult mental health care there. Around the Common, a Wandsworth address means different services, and your GP can tell you which ones are yours.
- 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 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.
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 Clapham ask before starting
Which free services cover Clapham, Lambeth or Wandsworth?
It depends on your home address, because Clapham sits across two boroughs. On the Lambeth side, Lambeth Talking Therapies takes self-referrals for anxiety or low mood on 020 3228 6747, and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provides it. Wandsworth runs its own NHS talking therapy and drug and alcohol services, so on that side the Lambeth routes don't apply and your GP can point you to the right one. The Awareness Centre in Clapham has a low-cost service with trainee therapists.
Do you have a therapy room in Clapham?
No. My only room is in Hove, about 84 minutes' drive away, so from Clapham the work would mostly happen by secure video. Should you want an in-person meeting once or twice, a longer session in Hove can make the trip worth it. If you need someone you can walk to, a local therapist may suit you better.
I moved to Clapham from Australia and miss home badly. Should a therapist hear about that?
Yes, if it's weighing on you. Living far from family can mean missing birthdays and funerals, feeling guilty for staying, or no longer being sure where home is. Those feelings don't have to reach a crisis before they're worth talking about, and they can sit underneath other things, like anxiety or drinking more than you'd like.
How soon could I start counselling from Clapham?
On the free 15-minute call, give me the outline or the whole story, whichever is easier that day. I'll explain how I work and you can ask anything. Should the two of us agree to carry on, we'd fix a first session around your Northern line commute. I won't promise a date here, but I'll be straight with you about availability on the call.
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.
Start with a free 15-minute conversation
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.