Pimlico · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Pimlico
Whether you live in a Cubitt terrace or a Churchill Gardens flat, and whether or not you can yet say what is troubling you, you can talk it through one to one with a BACP-registered counsellor. My room is in Hove, well south of Pimlico, so our weekly hour would normally happen on a secure video call, with a trip down to Hove whenever you fancy one.
The practical facts for Pimlico
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Pimlico by car
- About 93 minutes with clear roads (52.5 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.
Stucco squares, post-war estates and Parliament next door
Pimlico packs a great deal into the strip between Victoria Station and the Thames.
Thomas Cubitt's cream terraces and garden squares, St George's, Warwick and Eccleston among them, sit a few streets from Churchill Gardens, where 1,600 council homes fill 32 blocks in the south-west corner, and from the Lillington and Longmoore Gardens estates. Dolphin Square is home to many MPs, and the National Audit Office works out of the old Empire Terminal on Buckingham Palace Road. The contrasts show up in the figures too. On Ofsted's measure, 60% of children in Pimlico South live in low-income families, while in Pimlico North the share is 35%. Neighbours here can lead very different lives on the same street, and that can make it hard to know who to talk to when something starts to go wrong, or whether your trouble is serious enough to count.
A first step when you are not sure what you need
Nobody asks you for a label, a GP letter or a neat account of the problem before you get in touch. A few people arrive with something definite, a bereavement, a relationship that has just ended, or a post near Westminster that now eats into every evening and weekend. Others can only say that sleep has gone ragged, that small things set them off, or that the glass of wine after work has quietly become the main event. Any of that is a reasonable opening. Over our first few meetings we sketch the shape of what is bearing down on you, which habits and circumstances hold it there, and where our hours together should go first. Should a different kind of help suit you better than talking with me, I will say so straight away and help you find it. My way of working is integrative, with Human Givens as one strand; a separate page on how I work describes the other threads. I have counselled for more than 25 years and know recovery from the inside as well, which means drinking, shame or a past you would rather not relive can all be spoken about here without anyone flinching.
Pressures between Victoria and the river
Working in Westminster's shadow
With Parliament close by and the National Audit Office on Buckingham Palace Road, some jobs here never quite switch off, and the pressure follows you home across the square.
Hardship and comfort, streets apart
Money worries on one Pimlico street and ease on the next can leave either neighbour feeling unseen, and a counsellor outside the area can hear both without assumptions.
Older and on your own
If you live alone near the Lillington and Longmoore Gardens estates, Age UK Westminster's Fit4Life group and ETAT's activities at the Thamesbank Centre can sit alongside our sessions.
When the worry is gambling
The GamCare drop-in at Hope in the Community Westminster, held fortnightly at the Gordon Hospital, gives gambling-harm advice, and our one-to-one sessions can carry on in parallel.
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 Pimlico
Free help in Pimlico can sit beside private sessions. Westminster Talking Therapies, part of NHS Talking Therapies, takes self-referrals from Pimlico residents when worry or low mood has taken hold. Hope in the Community Westminster at the Gordon Hospital on Bloomburg Street offers a non-clinical wellbeing space and Recovery and Wellbeing College workshops. Unpaid carers in Westminster can lean on Carers Network, and the Central London branch of Samaritans offers a listening ear at any hour.
- 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.
- Local organisationGamCare drop-in at Hope in the Community Westminster
- Local organisationAge UK Westminster: Fit4Life Exercise Pimlico and Hope in the Community Social
- Local organisationEncouragement Through the Arts and Talking (ETAT)
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 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 Pimlico ask before starting
Would I have to travel to Hove from Pimlico, or can we talk online?
Face-to-face sessions take place in Hove, roughly 93 minutes from Pimlico by road, or a direct Southern train out of London Victoria. Week to week, joining me on screen from your Pimlico home means the same counsellor with no trains to catch. If being physically in one room with me feels important, Hove appointments can be slotted in now and then, and the very first meeting can be one of them.
Can I refer myself to Westminster Talking Therapies?
Yes. When anxious feelings or a persistent low mood are what trouble you most, Westminster Talking Therapies, the NHS service provided by CNWL, accepts direct referrals on 030 3333 0000, and a GP can refer you too. Its waiting times vary. You are free to start private sessions with me while you wait for an NHS appointment, or to use both side by side.
How soon can Pimlico residents start sessions?
First comes a brief conversation where you can ask anything and get a feel for me. If you decide to carry on, I list the slots genuinely free in my diary and you choose whichever fits around your week, so nothing is left hanging on a waiting list. All a video session needs is a private corner of your Pimlico home and a steady internet connection.
Who can I call in Westminster if I feel unable to cope tonight?
Westminster residents can reach the CNWL 24/7 crisis line, run through its Mental Health Single Point of Access, on 0800 0234 650. Samaritans pick up on 116 123 day or night, and Central London Samaritans is the nearest branch. Ring 999 where someone is in immediate danger. These numbers are also gathered in the urgent help box on this page.
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 SW1 to Hove
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.