Peckham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Peckham
If you live in Peckham and you've been thinking about talking to someone, this page sets out plainly what I offer. I'm a counsellor and psychotherapist who works mostly by secure video. My only room is in Hove, about an hour and a half's drive away, so from Peckham we would almost always meet on screen.
The practical facts for Peckham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Peckham by car
- About 90 minutes with clear roads (52.2 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Peckham Rye, change at East Croydon for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Talking Therapies Southwark, 020 3228 2194
- 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.
Rye Lane noise, and the quiet after it
Peckham is busy in a way that can be good company.
It's one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the UK, and its sizeable British Nigerian community gave it the nickname Little Lagos. Rye Lane is the main shopping street, Bellenden Road has its small independent shops, and Peckham Rye Park is there when you need air. With no Underground, life moves by train from Peckham Rye, Queens Road Peckham or Nunhead, and by bus, so the days can be long before you've even started work. Somewhere in all that movement, your own worries can get pushed to the back of the queue. If you'd rather talk to someone from outside the area, in your own room and on your own terms, video sessions with me allow for that.
What we'd talk about, and what else is near you
Living this close to Denmark Hill, you may know King's College Hospital or the Maudsley from the inside, as a patient, a relative or someone who works there. If you're on the staff, a counsellor with no link to either hospital can make it easier to speak freely. You can bring worry, low mood, grief, money stress, the tiredness of holding a family together, or drinking or drug use you'd like to look at honestly, and you don't need to explain it neatly. In a place as mixed as Peckham, your faith, culture or family expectations may be part of what you carry, and they're welcome in the room without you having to defend them. If you've lost someone to suicide, the South East London Suicide Bereavement Service, run by SLaM with South East London Mind, exists for exactly that. Talking Therapies Southwark covers anxiety and low mood on the NHS. Private counselling with me can sit alongside either, with a counsellor you choose and a time that fits around shifts, buses and family.
You don't need a reason that sounds big enough
Holding everyone together
Being the person the family relies on for money, advice and calm. If that includes unpaid caring, Mobilise is the council-listed online hub for carers in Southwark.
Work that comes home on the bus
Peckham has never had the Underground, so long shifts can mean long bus and train rides home, and a mind that won't settle when you finally stop.
Grief nobody talks about
A death, or a loss others don't always see, such as a miscarriage. Cruse Bereavement Support, signposted by Southwark Council, runs a national helpline, and counselling with me can sit beside it.
Drinking or using more than before
Weekends that stretch into Monday, or cannabis to get to sleep. CGL Southwark helps with the substance itself, and our sessions can look at the job it's been doing for you.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. "Similar to England" means the difference is not statistically significant. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free and low-cost support for Peckham
Private sessions can sit alongside free local help. Pecan, the Peckham community charity, runs women's hubs and support for people who are isolated, and Copleston Church and Community Centre holds open-access wellbeing activities such as an art café and mindfulness. The Southwark Wellbeing Hub, run by South East London Mind, is another place to start.
- Free NHS talking therapyTalking Therapies Southwark020 3228 2194Free 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 Southwark020 3404 7699Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationMobiliseSupport for carers.
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.
The South London NHS Mental Health Crisis Text Service (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991.
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 Peckham ask before starting
Where can I find free counselling around Peckham?
For anxiety and low mood, Talking Therapies Southwark is the free NHS service, run by South London and Maudsley, and you can refer yourself on 020 3228 2194. South East London Mind also runs the Southwark Wellbeing Hub. Private counselling with me is there if you'd prefer to choose your own therapist and session times.
I want to talk about my drinking or drug use. Where can I go in Southwark?
CGL Southwark is the free adult drug and alcohol service for the borough, on 020 3404 7699, and the Southwark Recovery Support Service is peer-led. Detox and residential care come through those services, and my part is outpatient talking therapy. Counselling with me can run alongside those services, looking at what sits underneath the drinking or using.
Would I ever need to travel to Hove from Peckham?
You wouldn't have to. With a 90-minute drive, or a rail trip from Peckham Rye that changes at East Croydon, weekly visits from Peckham aren't realistic, so sessions run by secure video. One in-person meeting in Hove is still possible, ideally booked as a longer session.
I've never had counselling before. How would it start from Peckham?
We'd begin with the free call, where you can say as little or as much as you like and ask about anything. In the first full session I'll ask what's been happening and what you'd want to change, and you set the pace. Nobody in Peckham needs to know, because sessions happen on a screen, in private.
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.
Talk it over first, for free
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.