Islington · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Islington
If you live in Islington and something feels off, but you can't yet say what, that is reason enough to talk. My one room is in Hove, a long way past the end of the Victoria line, so most people from N1 or N19 see me on secure video instead, keeping the same BACP-registered counsellor and the same weekly slot with no Tube ride.
The practical facts for Islington
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Islington by car
- About 105 minutes with clear roads (55.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Islington NHS Talking Therapies, 020 3317 7252
- 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.
Georgian terraces, big estates and a borough on the move
Islington packs a great deal into a small patch of north London.
A Georgian terrace in Barnsbury or Canonbury can sit a street away from a large council estate, and the council's own state of the borough report notes that residents of deprived areas often live right alongside affluence. The population turns over quickly, too: 38% of residents are aged 20 to 35, against 27% across London, with students arriving for City St George's or London Metropolitan University and plenty of people in their thirties moving on. So much coming and going can leave you without the slow-built friendships that catch you when things wobble. Upper Street is busy most evenings, the Almeida and Sadler's Wells draw their crowds, and on match days Holloway fills up around the Emirates. None of that shows what is happening behind one particular front door. You may be new here and lonely, settled for years and worn thin, or somewhere in between with a feeling you can't place.
Starting with only a vague sense of unease
A first session asks nothing more of you than turning up as you are. You might arrive with something definite: a breakup, a parent unwell in another city, a job in Clerkenwell that has started to feel unmanageable. It could just as well be harder to name: a flatness that settles in on the walk home along Holloway Road, nights of broken sleep, a temper shorter than it used to be. Either is a sound starting point. In the early weeks we sort out together which threads are pulling hardest and why they hold, be it money and housing pressure, the loneliness of a borough where friends keep moving away, a long-running worry about health, or something older that has resurfaced. Once that picture is clearer, we settle on where our sessions should aim. Where your GP, for questions about medication, or one of the borough's free services would serve you better, I'll tell you plainly and point the way. My way of working is integrative and draws on several approaches, including Human Givens, and the how I work page sets them out. My own recovery brought me into this work more than 25 years ago, so nothing you describe about life in N1 or N19 needs tidying up first.
What an Islington life can put on your shoulders
New to the borough, few friends yet
Moving in to study at City St George's or London Metropolitan University, or for a first London job, and finding that a crowded Upper Street evening can still feel lonely.
Two Islingtons on one street
Living where a quarter of residents are in the most deprived areas, with affluence next door, can sharpen worries about money, housing and where you stand.
Hospital appointments weighing on you
Appointments at the Whittington in Archway or Moorfields on City Road, for you or someone you love, can bring a strain that is hard to carry alone.
Islington's free routes in parallel
Islington NHS Talking Therapies accepts self-referral for anxiety and low mood, and Islington Mind runs a recovery pathway, so free support can run beside our sessions.
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 Islington
Seeing me privately can run in step with the many free and income-priced services Islington offers. If worry or a heavy mood is the main trouble, Islington NHS Talking Therapies on 020 3317 7252 lets you refer yourself. Islington Mind offers a mental health recovery pathway, while the Claremont Project and The Stress Project run counselling priced by income for residents. The Lantern on Islington Park Street is a walk-in centre open every day of the year.
- Free NHS talking therapyIslington NHS Talking Therapies020 3317 7252Free 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 itBetter Lives (Islington's drug and alcohol service)020 3317 6099Free and confidential.
- Local organisationIslington Bereavement Service (St Joseph's Hospice)
- Local organisationCamden City Islington and Westminster Bereavement Service (CCIWBS): funded bereavement counselling in Islington
- Local organisationIslington Carers Hub
- Local organisationEagle Recovery Project
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 Camden and Islington Crisis Single Point of Access is on 0800 917 3333. Local drop-in crisis support: The Lantern, Islington (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 Islington ask before starting
Could I meet a counsellor in person while living in Islington?
Face-to-face sessions happen in my one room, in Hove, around 105 minutes' drive from Islington or a Victoria line and Southern train ride away. Weekly work from N1 or N19 is usually far easier by secure video. If you would value being in the same room occasionally, a 90- or 120-minute session in Hove makes the trip from Highbury and Islington worth taking.
Is there a wait before I can start counselling from Islington?
There is no queue to join. After a short free first conversation, you choose from the slots actually free in my diary and we begin. If your worries centre on anxiety or a persistent low mood, Islington NHS Talking Therapies on 020 3317 7252 is a free option you can contact yourself, alongside our sessions.
Is loneliness after a move to Islington something to bring to counselling?
It is. Moving to a borough where so many residents are young, and so many move on again, can leave you with plenty of neighbours and nobody to call. We can look at what the move has stirred up, what you need from the people around you, and how to build a life here at your own pace. Video means you can start before the boxes are unpacked.
Where can I go in Islington tonight if everything feels too much?
The Lantern, run by Hestia at 34 Islington Park Street, is a walk-in crisis centre for adults, open weekday evenings from 6pm to 10pm and weekend afternoons from 2pm to 6pm. The Camden and Islington Crisis Single Point of Access answers on 0800 917 3333, and Samaritans on 116 123. Call 999 whenever someone's life is at immediate risk. You will find further crisis numbers in the urgent help box.
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 short talk, wherever you are in Islington
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.