Holborn · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Holborn
Whether you live off Leather Lane or spend your weekdays in chambers at Gray's Inn, you may want to talk to someone without yet knowing what it's about. I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist with one room, in Hove, 100 minutes' drive from Holborn. So from here we'd normally meet by secure video, the same sessions with the same person, and you can still come to Hove now and then if you'd like to.
The practical facts for Holborn
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Holborn by car
- About 100 minutes with clear roads (54.2 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.
Inns of Court, diamond dealers and a crowded Kingsway
Holborn has been tied to the law since medieval times, and the barristers and clerks around Lincoln's Inn and Chancery Lane still set much of its pace.
A few streets east, Hatton Garden runs on the diamond and jewellery trade, where a single deal can carry a lot of weight. Newer offices and hotels have filled in the gaps, and High Holborn moves at the speed of a central London transport hub. Camden's projections put only about 11,400 people living in the Holborn and Covent Garden ward, so the area can be busy all day and oddly quiet at night. Among those who do live here are older people on their own, and some parents stay close by while a child is cared for at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Pressure in a place like this tends to look like competence from the outside. Long hours, adversarial work, an unspoken rule about never showing strain, or a hospital corridor where you hold it together for someone else: any of those can leave you worn down long before you'd call it a problem.
Bringing something you can't quite name yet
There's no need to arrive with a neat explanation. It might be something specific: a case or a deal that went wrong, a partner who has started to feel like a stranger, sleep that has gone to pieces, or a child's long treatment that has left you running on empty. Or it's vaguer: a flatness a busy week once hid, irritation spilling onto those closest to you, or an after-work drink near Holborn Circus that is now the only moment you unclench. Early on, the two of us piece together what has been building and why it hasn't eased. That could be the culture of a profession where doubt reads as weakness, being alone in a part of London that empties in the evening, or something much older that the pressure has stirred up. Then we pick a focus, and should another service suit what you carry better, I'll be plain about that. Over 25 years of counselling, along with recovery of my own, means drink, shame or exhaustion can be spoken about here without anyone flinching.
Pressures that build in a Holborn week
Chambers, clerks and long briefs
Work around Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn can reward never showing doubt, which makes it hard to say out loud that you're struggling, even to yourself.
High stakes in Hatton Garden
In the diamond and jewellery quarter, a single transaction or a family business can carry money, reputation and loyalty all at once, and the worry comes home with you.
Beside a child at Great Ormond Street
If your child is being cared for at Great Ormond Street Hospital, you may be living near Queen Square for weeks, strong for them and with nowhere to put your own fear.
A busy area with few neighbours
Holborn fills with commuters by day and empties after they leave, so living here alone, or growing older here, can feel lonelier than the crowds suggest.
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 Holborn
Free support in Camden can sit alongside private sessions. NHS Camden Talking Therapies takes self-referrals from residents with anxiety or low mood. Mind in Camden and the wider Reach Out Camden collective offer community support, and Camden Carers helps anyone looking after someone else. Close to home, the Holborn Community Association runs wellbeing and creative activities at Holborn House and Millman Street, with a lunch club for over-55s.
- 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
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 Holborn ask before starting
Is in-person counselling possible if I live or work in Holborn?
My only counselling room is at Intergen House in Hove, which is 100 minutes' drive from Holborn or a Thameslink ride from Farringdon or City Thameslink with a change at Brighton. For that reason we'd usually meet by secure video, and the work is the same as it would be in the room. When meeting face to face feels important, a visit to Hove can be fitted in from time to time.
Could I join a video session from work in Holborn during my lunch hour or between meetings?
Yes, as long as you have somewhere private where nobody will listen in or interrupt for the hour. A booked meeting room near Kingsway or Chancery Lane can work, or you might prefer to join from home before or after work so you don't have to walk straight back to their desk. Headphones help, and we can agree what you'll do if someone knocks.
How do I get free NHS counselling if I live in Holborn?
Holborn is in Camden, so the NHS route is NHS Camden Talking Therapies, part of Camden and Islington NHS Talking Therapies, which used to be called iCope. Camden residents troubled by worry or low spirits can self-refer on 020 3317 6670. A Camden GP can make the referral instead if you'd rather. It's fine to use that service and see me privately as well.
What if I start a session in Holborn and realise I'm not safe tonight?
Tell me, and we'll stop and focus on keeping you safe first. Across Camden and Islington you can ring the Crisis Single Point of Access, run by North London NHS Foundation Trust, on 0800 917 3333. The Camden Crisis Sanctuary, run by Hestia, and Central London Samaritans are other places to turn. If a life is in immediate danger, dial 999. The urgent help box on this page lists these contacts.
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 short first call, fitted around a Holborn day
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.