Richmond upon Thames · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Richmond upon Thames
Perhaps something has felt off for a while and you live in Richmond, Kew, Ham or nearby, but you couldn't yet put a name to it. That's a sound enough reason to talk. As a BACP-registered counsellor I keep a single room on the Sussex coast in Hove, so from this borough we would normally meet over secure video, with an occasional visit south if you want one.
The practical facts for Richmond upon Thames
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Richmond upon Thames by car
- About 88 minutes with clear roads (70.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Richmond, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Richmond Talking Therapies (NHS Richmond Wellbeing Service), 020 3513 4455
- 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 green, comfortable borough where struggle can stay hidden
From the outside, Richmond looks like a place that has things worked out.
There's the Park, the towpath along Richmond Riverside, the Georgian houses around Richmond Green and a Saturday crowd on George Street and Hill Street. Yet comfort on paper and ease inside rarely match. Trust for London puts the borough's poverty rate at 14%, against 26% across London boroughs, while pay inequality runs higher than the London average, so neighbours can be living very different lives a few doors apart. The 2021 Census also gave Richmond upon Thames the joint highest median age in London, at 41. An older borough can mean a life stage of its own, midway through a career, looking out for ageing parents or watching grown children leave. When every surface looks settled, admitting that you lie awake at three in the morning can feel like breaking an unspoken rule.
When you can't yet say what the trouble is
A rough outline is enough to get in touch with. Work at one of the big offices in town might have started to swallow your evenings. A marriage might have gone quiet, or a parent in Petersham or North Sheen might need more of you each month. Sometimes it's harder to describe: a dull flatness, a short temper at home, or a glass of wine that has turned into most of a bottle. Any of these is a fair starting point. The first few weeks are for mapping the load, what sits heaviest and which habits or circumstances feed it, before we settle on a focus. I'll also be straight with you about whether one-to-one counselling with me suits what you need, and point you to other help where that serves you better. I draw on several schools rather than one, and you'll find those methods described on a separate page about how I work. Over 25 years of counselling and my own recovery mean you needn't brace for a reaction when drinking, shame or family secrets come up.
What a Richmond life can quietly carry
Fast trains, long days
The quickest trains to Waterloo stop only at Clapham Junction, which makes a London job easy to reach and hard to leave behind at the end of the day.
Caring for an older generation
With the borough's median age the joint highest in London, you may be looking after a parent. Richmond Carers Centre supports carers, and our sessions can hold what that costs you.
Plenty, side by side with less
Low overall poverty sits alongside wide pay gaps, and the strain of keeping up, or of quietly falling behind, is something you can bring and talk through honestly.
Alone in a busy, beautiful place
Walking Richmond Park or the riverside surrounded by people can still leave you feeling unseen. Loneliness is a reasonable thing to start counselling with.
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 Richmond upon Thames
Private sessions can sit alongside the borough's free help. Richmond Talking Therapies, the NHS Richmond Wellbeing Service run by SWLStG, accepts self-referral when low mood or anxiety is the main worry. Richmond Borough Mind offers community support, and the Vineyard Community Centre Crisis Drop-In in central Richmond helps people facing a crisis on weekday mornings.
- Free NHS talking therapyRichmond Talking Therapies (NHS Richmond Wellbeing Service)020 3513 4455Free 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 itWithYou Richmond020 3228 3020Run by We Are With You (WithYou). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationRichmond Carers Centre
- Local organisationCruse Bereavement Support Richmond upon ThamesBereavement support.
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 is another option: text 80991 or WhatsApp 0303 330 1511.
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 Richmond upon Thames ask before starting
Is an in-person session possible if I live in Richmond?
My only room is in Hove, roughly 88 minutes' drive from Richmond, so in-person sessions involve travelling south. Week to week, video from home in Richmond, Kew or Ham saves you that trip, and we can arrange a session in Hove whenever sitting in the same room would help. You might choose to travel down once at the start and continue online after that.
If I live in Richmond upon Thames, how soon could sessions begin?
Everything opens with the free 15-minute call. Should we both feel it's worth continuing, I'll offer whichever weekly hours are genuinely open, you take the one that fits around Richmond life, and there's no waiting list. Separately, Richmond Talking Therapies on 020 3513 4455 takes self-referrals from borough residents for low mood or anxiety, and you can use both if that suits you.
Who can I contact in south-west London if things feel urgent tonight?
In south London you can text 80991, or send a WhatsApp message to 0303 330 1511, to reach the NHS crisis text service, which runs around the clock. Ring 999 straight away when someone's life is at immediate risk. Further crisis numbers for Richmond and the wider area are in the urgent help box on this page.
I live comfortably in Richmond. Is it fair to want counselling?
Yes. Having a secure home or a good job doesn't switch off grief, loneliness, a strained marriage or a habit you're uneasy about, and it can make them harder to mention to anyone. Counselling is for whatever is troubling you, at whatever scale. Nobody needs to qualify by being in crisis first.
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 conversation from Richmond
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.