Hampstead · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Hampstead
When life up on the hill in NW3 has begun to weigh more than it should, and you cannot yet say what kind of help fits, general counselling gives you somewhere to begin. I see people one to one, and because my only room is in Hove, 110 minutes away by road, sessions from NW3 run on secure video, with the same counsellor each week and nothing to commute to.
The practical facts for Hampstead
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Hampstead by car
- About 110 minutes with clear roads (84.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Camden Talking Therapies, 020 3317 6670
- 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.
A hilltop village with a teaching hospital at its foot
Hampstead can look settled from the outside: Church Row and its parish church, the Heath at the end of the road, Keats House and Fenton House a short walk apart.
Behind the front doors, life is more mixed. Hampstead Town ward has an older population than Camden as a whole, with 18.76% of its roughly 8,200 residents aged 65 or over against 12.02% across the borough, so plenty of households here are adjusting to a partner or parent whose health is changing. Down the hill on Pond Street, the Royal Free Hospital is the area's largest employer, and its clinical and support staff work shift patterns that leave little room for their own worries. Most of the ward's streets sit in the least deprived deciles, yet income deprivation among older people reaches decile 4 in parts of it. Comfort and strain often share the same terrace here.
Arriving with a feeling rather than a label
A neat explanation isn't required before you make contact. You might arrive after a parent's worrying test results or a run of hospital appointments, after retiring and finding the days strangely empty, or simply because the walk across the Heath no longer lifts you the way it used to. Someone working at the Royal Free might bring the weight of having carried other people's emergencies for too long. Others come with grief, a marriage where the talking has thinned out, or a wine habit that has grown without anyone mentioning it. Our early sessions sort out which strand weighs most, what holds it there, and where we will put our attention first. If your GP, a specialist team or a free Camden service would serve you better, I'll tell you and help you find the way there. Internal Family Systems sits among the approaches I blend, and the full list lives on my how I work page. Very little you tell me will come as a surprise; I have my own recovery behind me and have spent more than 25 years in practice.
What Hampstead households find themselves carrying
Looking after a frail parent nearby
With nearly one in five Hampstead Town residents aged 65 or over, looking after a frail parent or partner is a familiar task here, and Camden Carers offers free support to whoever is doing the caring.
Shifts at the Royal Free
Working at Hampstead's largest employer, on Pond Street, can mean nights, weekends and other people's crises, with your own worries pushed to the back of the queue.
Illness changing the household
The ward records more dementia, cancer, stroke and heart conditions than the rest of Camden, and news like that alters a home's whole rhythm long before anyone talks about it.
A good postcode, a tight budget
Some older residents live on limited incomes despite the address; the Hampstead Wells and Campden Trust gives hardship grants in NW3, applied for through a referring organisation.
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 Hampstead
Free help in Camden can sit beside our work. You can refer yourself to NHS Camden Talking Therapies on 020 3317 6670 when worry or a lowness that won't lift is uppermost. Mind in Camden and Reach Out Camden offer community mental health support, Camden Carers backs people looking after a relative, and Hampstead Community Centre on the High Street holds a weekly seniors' coffee morning.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Camden Talking Therapies020 3317 6670Free 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 Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service (Change Grow Live Camden)020 7485 2722Free and confidential.
- Local organisationAmparo suicide bereavement support, North Central London
- Local organisationCentral London Samaritans
- Local organisationDeath Café at Rosslyn Hill Chapel
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.
Locally, the Camden and Islington Crisis Single Point of Access is on 0800 917 3333. Local drop-in crisis support: Camden Crisis Sanctuary (Hestia) (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 Hampstead ask before starting
Could I come to your room in person from Hampstead?
In-person sessions take place in Hove, roughly 110 minutes' drive from NW3, or a train trip that changes at West Hampstead and again at Brighton. Because that's a long way to travel every week, regular sessions from Hampstead are held on secure video, and the Hove room is there for the odd session whenever you'd value one.
Is there a wait for counselling in Hampstead, and is there a free NHS option?
Beginning with me means a short free call; if it feels right to carry on, I will show you which weekly times I currently have available, with no waiting list in between. For anxiety or low mood, NHS Camden Talking Therapies, run by North London NHS Foundation Trust, takes self-referrals on 020 3317 6670, so you can approach both at once if you like.
I'm looking after my mum in Hampstead and feel worn down. Would counselling help someone in a caring role?
Yes. Caring for someone whose health is failing brings exhaustion, guilt, love and sometimes resentment, often in the same afternoon, and those feelings deserve an hour of their own. Video sessions mean you needn't leave the house for long. Camden Carers and the Henderson Court Day Care Centre, run by Age UK Camden, can help with the practical side and with respite.
I work shifts at the Royal Free. Could weekly sessions bend around a hospital rota?
Royal Free shift patterns can be worked around: we find a recurring time that suits your rota, and on video you can log on at home after a shift on Pond Street without crossing town. If your rota changes from month to month, tell me at the outset and we'll plan around it. Working in healthcare yourself is no reason to carry what the job brings home alone.
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 first word from NW3, at your own pace
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.