Ealing · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Ealing
Not sure yet whether you need counselling, therapy or just someone outside your life to listen? You can start here. I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist working one to one, and my only room is in Hove, 93 minutes' drive from Ealing. So from W5 we would meet by secure video, the same hour with the same person, and you'd come down to Hove only if you wanted to.
The practical facts for Ealing
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Ealing by car
- About 93 minutes with clear roads (76.1 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Ealing Talking Therapies, 020 3830 5640
- 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.
Green commons, a busy Broadway and little room to stop
By 1902 Ealing was already being called the Queen of the Suburbs, and the commons, Walpole Park and the streets around Pitshanger still carry that leafy feel.
Yet the London Plan counts it as a major metropolitan centre, and Ealing Broadway is one of west London's big interchanges, with Elizabeth line trains heading east and both the Central and District lines ending there. Students cross St Mary's Road to the University of West London, crews come and go from Ealing Studios, and the Broadway Centre is rarely quiet. A place this well connected makes it easy to keep moving. It can be much harder to notice that you've stopped sleeping properly, that you dread Sunday evenings, or that something old has come back and won't settle, and harder still to say so to anyone who knows you.
Getting in touch before you have the words
You don't need a tidy reason to get in touch. Some people arrive with something specific: a bereavement, a relationship ending, a manager who has started to frighten them, a body that keeps sounding alarms the GP can't explain. Others only know that life has lost its colour, or that the glass of wine after work in Ealing has started to matter more than it should. Any of that is a fair beginning. Over the first few weeks we map what is pressing on you and why it hasn't eased, then agree where our time should go. I'll also say so honestly if somewhere else would serve you better, and point you to it. My way of working is integrative; the details sit on the how I work page. I've practised for over 25 years and I'm in recovery myself, so you won't have to soften what you say to protect me.
Strains an Ealing week can bring
Always passing through the Broadway
Ealing Broadway sends trains east all day, and a life organised around the Elizabeth line can leave you constantly on the move and rarely still.
Studying on St Mary's Road
If you're at the University of West London, deadlines, money and being away from home can pile up quietly, and an hour by video fits between lectures.
Freelance hours near the studios
Work in and around Ealing Studios can mean long days, then nothing for weeks, and that uncertainty can follow you home and sit with you at night.
Wanting free support alongside
Ealing Talking Therapies accepts people referring themselves when worry or low mood dominate, and West London Mind offers low-cost counselling, either of which can run in parallel with our work.
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 Ealing
Paid sessions with me and Ealing's free or low-cost services can be used together. Ealing Talking Therapies, part of West London NHS Trust, lets you refer yourself when worry or low mood are the problem. West London Mind, whose main office is on South Ealing Road, runs Mind Within Counselling at low cost. Adults who care for someone can turn to Ealing Carers Hub, and Samaritans have a branch in South Ealing.
- Free NHS talking therapyEaling Talking Therapies020 3830 5640Free 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 itRISE (Recovery Intervention Services Ealing)0800 195 8100Run by Change Grow Live (lead provider). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationEaling Bereft Bereavement Support
- Local organisationMeadow House Hospice bereavement service
- Local organisationEaling Carers Partnership
- Local organisationBuild on BeliefRecovery community.
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.
Locally, the West London NHS Trust 24-hour mental health helpline (Single Point of Access) is on 0800 328 4444. Local drop-in crisis support: Circle (West London Mind children's crisis café) (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 Ealing ask before starting
Is sitting in a room with a counsellor possible when I live out in W5?
Face-to-face sessions take place in my one room in Hove, which is 93 minutes' drive from Ealing or a two-change train route via Farringdon and Brighton. Week to week, secure video saves you all of that and keeps the counselling the same. Should you want one in-person meeting, perhaps at the start, we can plan a Hove session around it.
How soon could I start seeing a counsellor if I'm in Ealing?
That depends on the hours I have free rather than on a queue. We begin with a free 15-minute conversation. Should you want to continue after that, I'll name the hours still free in my week. There's no referral and no waiting list to join. For anxiety or low mood, Ealing Talking Therapies on 020 3830 5640 takes your own referral as well, and you're free to use that service and mine at once.
Where in Ealing can I go tonight when everything feels too much?
Ealing Safe Space, run by Hestia for West London NHS Trust, is a drop-in crisis alternative open 2pm to 10pm daily at St Bernard's Hospital in Southall, for adults with an Ealing address or GP. The Trust's helpline on 0800 328 4444 answers 24 hours a day. Ring 999 if anyone's life is at immediate risk. Scroll to the urgent help section for further west London numbers.
What if I'm not sure counselling is right for me?
That uncertainty is normal, and the free first call exists for it. You tell me a little of what has been happening in Ealing lately, ask whatever you want, and we decide together whether another conversation makes sense. Nothing gets booked unless you choose it, and you can go away and think before deciding.
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 one conversation from W5
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.