Marylebone · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Marylebone
If something in your Marylebone life feels heavy and you can't yet name it, start here. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor working one to one, with my only room down on the south coast. From Marylebone our sessions would normally run over an encrypted video link, so you talk to me from your own sofa with nothing to cross town for, and a visit to the room is there whenever you'd like one.
The practical facts for Marylebone
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Marylebone by car
- About 103 minutes with clear roads (55.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Westminster Talking Therapies, 030 3333 0000
- 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 West End district that rarely goes quiet
Marylebone packs a lot into a small patch of the West End.
Oxford Street, with Selfridges on it, marks its southern edge, the Chiltern Railways terminus and Baker Street bring people in all day, and most of Regent's Park lies inside its boundary. Students cross between the University of Westminster's Marylebone campus, the Royal Academy of Music and London Business School. Harley Street is known for its high concentration of doctors and medical practitioners, so it can feel strange to live among so much expertise and still not know who to talk to. Some people here live above the shops on Marylebone High Street, others in the flats around Lisson Grove and Church Street Market, and plenty only arrive each morning to work. Whichever of those is you, a district this busy can hide a private struggle well, sometimes even from the person carrying it.
Coming to counselling without a label for it
A first session asks for no label and no tidy summary. You might bring something specific, such as a relationship ending, a parent who is unwell or a course at one of the colleges that has started to feel impossible. Or it might be harder to pin down: a tiredness that sleep doesn't fix, a short temper with people you love, or evening drinks that have crept up without anyone noticing. Any of those is enough to begin with. Over our first few hours together we sketch out the pressures on you and the habits or memories that feed them, be it the pace of central London work, living far from family, or an older hurt that has come back to the surface. Then we agree where to focus. Should another service fit your situation more closely, I'll say so plainly and point you to it. I draw on several approaches, Human Givens among them, and there is more on the how I work page. Behind my 25-plus years of practice sits my own recovery, which tends to make it easier to say the things that feel unsayable.
Pressures that come with a Marylebone address
Living beside the medical quarter
With Harley Street's many doctors and practitioners a short walk away, help can seem everywhere at once, and choosing where to start can become one more thing you put off.
Study at a Marylebone college
Pressure at the University of Westminster, the Royal Academy of Music or London Business School can build quietly when everyone around you appears to be coping well.
A terminus and nine tube stations
Days run through Baker Street, Bond Street or the Chiltern line, and evenings come round with little energy left for the people and things you care about.
Low-cost help in a church crypt
St Marylebone HCC offers sliding-scale psychotherapy beneath St Marylebone Parish Church, including a separate programme for 18 to 25 year olds, if cost is a worry.
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 Marylebone
Westminster has free and sliding-scale help within walking distance, and private sessions with me can run beside it. Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust runs Westminster Talking Therapies, which Marylebone residents can approach directly about worry or low mood. St Marylebone HCC offers sliding-scale psychotherapy in person or online. Carers Network supports people looking after someone, and Central London Samaritans offers face-to-face emotional support at its Marylebone branch.
- Free NHS talking therapyWestminster Talking Therapies030 3333 0000Free 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 itTurning Point Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea (Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Service, DAWS)0330 303 8080Free and confidential.
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 CNWL Mental Health Single Point of Access is on 0800 0234 650.
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 Marylebone ask before starting
Can I see a counsellor near Marylebone in person?
My one counselling room is in Hove, about 103 minutes' drive from Marylebone, so meeting face to face means a trip to the coast. Most people from Marylebone choose secure video for regular sessions, which keeps the hour for talking rather than travelling. For anyone in W1 who wants the room itself, a 90 or 120-minute Hove session now and then makes the Victoria line and Southern train worth the trouble.
Is there a wait for counselling from Marylebone, and can I use the NHS too?
First comes a 15-minute phone or video conversation, where you can quiz me and judge whether talking to me from Marylebone feels right. Should we both decide to carry on, you choose from the slots genuinely open in my diary that week. Westminster Talking Therapies on 030 3333 0000 is also open to you by self-referral for anxiety or low mood, either while we meet or on its own.
What is St Marylebone HCC and could it suit me?
St Marylebone Healing and Counselling Centre is a charity in the crypt of St Marylebone Parish Church. It offers psychotherapy on a sliding scale, in person or online, with a dedicated programme for 18 to 25 year olds. It is a good local option to know about, and some people use it, or Westminster Talking Therapies, alongside private sessions with me.
Where can I talk to someone in Marylebone if it all feels too much tonight?
Central London Samaritans has its branch on Salisbury Place in Marylebone, with face-to-face support as well as calls, and the CNWL 24/7 crisis line is on 0800 0234 650. When a life is at risk right now, ring 999 straight away. Westminster's full set of crisis lines appears together 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.
A first conversation from Marylebone, by phone or video
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.