Hackney · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Hackney
Perhaps life around Mare Street, Dalston or Clapton has felt off for months, with nothing obvious to point at, and a first conversation is a sensible place to begin. I see people individually, as a counsellor. With my room 97 minutes' drive away in Hove, our sessions from Hackney would run over secure video, plus an occasional face-to-face hour on the coast if you want one.
The practical facts for Hackney
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Hackney by car
- About 97 minutes with clear roads (72.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- City & Hackney Talking Therapies
- 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.
Crowded streets, rented rooms and little quiet
At the 2021 Census Hackney was the third most densely populated local authority area in England, and you feel it on a Saturday at Ridley Road Market or along Broadway Market, or on a warm evening when London Fields fills up.
Most households here rent, many in shared flats where the only private space is a bedroom. Living like that can be lively and sociable. It can also mean that a landlord's text, a housemate moving out or a tight month decides how settled you feel. Being surrounded by people from Dalston to Upper Clapton doesn't stop loneliness, and the pubs, markets and arts venues that make the place fun can make it easy to fill every evening instead of noticing what you're carrying. Often the first sign is small: sleep slipping, a shorter temper, or a feeling that you're only just keeping up.
When you don't yet know what kind of help you need
It's common to reach for the word counselling before you know what you want from it, and that's a perfectly good place to start. You might arrive with something specific, such as a relationship ending, a death in the family, trouble at work, or a parent who has been in and out of Homerton University Hospital. Or you may only know that you feel flat, on edge or not quite yourself, or that weekend drinking now spills into Tuesday. In the early sessions we untangle what weighs heaviest and why it hasn't eased, whether that's the strain of staying afloat in Hackney, being far from family, or an old hurt that has woken up again. From there the two of us settle on a focus for the work. Where another kind of help would serve you better, such as your GP for questions about medication or the borough's recovery service for drink or drugs, I'll tell you and help you find it. I work integratively, drawing on approaches that include Human Givens, and the how I work page sets them out. I came to this work through recovery of my own and have practised for more than 25 years, so you can bring the awkward parts without polishing them first.
What living in Hackney can load onto you
Renting and never quite settled
With most Hackney households renting, socially or privately, a rent rise, repairs that never come or yet another move can keep you braced and unable to rest.
Money that won't stretch
In the 2025 deprivation figures Hackney had England's third-highest share of people in income-deprived households, at 40.0%. If bills are what keep you awake, that belongs in the room too.
Young borough, lonely evenings
With a median age of 32, Hackney can look as if everyone else has their circle sorted. Feeling alone in a full flat-share is real, and worth talking about.
Free help you can use as well
Anyone in the borough can approach City and Hackney Talking Therapies directly about worry or low mood, and Off Centre gives free counselling to young people who live, work or study in Hackney.
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 Hackney
Private sessions can sit alongside Hackney's free services. You can refer yourself to City and Hackney Talking Therapies, run by Homerton Healthcare, for anxiety or low mood. Mind in the City, Hackney and Waltham Forest runs the City and Hackney Wellbeing Network. Centre for Better Health offers low-cost counselling in person on Darnley Road, while Derman and Coffee Afrik CIC support particular communities across the borough.
- Free NHS talking therapyCity & Hackney Talking TherapiesFree 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 itCity and Hackney Recovery Service0345 144 0050Free and confidential.
- Local organisationGrief in Pieces: suicide bereavement support (Mind CHWF, part of Safe Connections)
- Local organisationSt Joseph's Hospice, Hackney: adult bereavement service
- Local organisationCity & Hackney Carers Centre
- Local organisationCore ArtsNot-for-profit social business at 1 St Barnabas Terrace.
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.
Local drop-in crisis support: City and Hackney 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 Hackney ask before starting
Could I meet you in person rather than on screen, living in Hackney?
My only room is in Hove, about 97 minutes' drive from Hackney, so our weekly sessions would be by secure video, and a trip down to Hove now and then is always possible. If you need a room in Hackney itself, Centre for Better Health sees people in person at 1a Darnley Road, with sliding-scale fees for daytime sessions.
How long would a Hackney resident wait for a first session?
First comes a quarter-hour consultation by phone or video, at no charge. Should it feel right to carry on, you choose a weekly slot from the real gaps in my diary, and there's no waiting list to sit on. While you make up your mind, City and Hackney Talking Therapies will accept a referral from you directly about anxiety or low mood.
Where can I go in Hackney if I'm in crisis tonight?
The City and Hackney Crisis Cafe, run by East London NHS Foundation Trust, offers mental health crisis support locally, and Central London Samaritans answer on 116 123 at any hour. If a life is at immediate risk, call 999. More crisis contacts for City and Hackney appear in the urgent help section.
I live in a Hackney flat-share. Can I have video sessions without being overheard?
Yes, with a little planning. Headphones mean only you hear my side, and we can book a time when housemates tend to be out. If you're aged 11 to 25 and would prefer free support in person, Off Centre offers counselling for young people who live, work or study in Hackney.
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 brief first call, wherever you are in Hackney
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.