Shoreditch · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Shoreditch
Perhaps you live in Shoreditch, something has felt wrong for a while, and you're not sure yet whether it has a name. That's a good enough reason to talk. My one counselling room is in Hove, well over an hour and a half south of Old Street, so our weekly hour would usually happen on a secure video call, with me on the screen each time and nothing to travel for.
The practical facts for Shoreditch
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Shoreditch by car
- About 103 minutes with clear roads (72.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- City & Hackney Talking Therapies
- 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.
Silicon Roundabout by day, Curtain Road by night
Shoreditch packs a great deal into a few streets.
Around the Old Street Roundabout the tech cluster keeps long, laptop-lit hours, and once offices empty, the clubs and pubs of Curtain Road and Old Street take over until late. It's a young neighbourhood too: in Hoxton East and Shoreditch ward, 31.6% of residents were aged 25 to 34 at the 2021 Census, against 13.6% across England. Most households here rent, privately or socially, and more than a third of households are one person living alone. The ward has two sides, with plenty of managers and professionals living near people in elementary jobs. None of that makes anyone unwell. But a place built around work and going out can leave little room to stop, and a flat on Kingsland Road or near Hoxton Square can feel very quiet after a loud week.
Coming in with a feeling rather than a label
General counselling is for the times you can't point to one clear problem. You might notice you're tired all the time, short with friends, or lying awake replaying a conversation from work. A startup that folded, a contract that ended, a relationship that drifted apart, a landlord's notice or a family back home who need more than you can give: any of these is a sensible place to begin. So is a vaguer feeling that the nights out have stopped being fun and the mornings after are getting harder. Over our first few meetings we sort through what's pressing on you, notice what feeds it, and settle on where to put our attention. Where a GP appointment or a specialist Hackney service would suit you better, I'll tell you straight and give you its name. I draw on several approaches, which the how I work page describes in full. Behind the work sit 25+ years of practice and my own recovery, so you won't need to tidy anything up before you say it.
What the Old Street pace leaves you carrying
Hours that never quite end
Work around Silicon Roundabout can spill into evenings and weekends, until switching off feels like something you've forgotten how to do.
Nights that used to be fun
Living near the bars of Curtain Road and Old Street, you might want to look at how often going out has become the way you cope.
A quiet flat after a busy day
More than a third of homes in Hoxton East and Shoreditch ward hold one person, and evenings alone can magnify whatever the day stirred up.
Renting and moving on
With most local households renting, a notice to leave or a rising rent can unsettle far more than where you sleep.
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 Shoreditch
Free help in Hackney can sit next to our sessions. City and Hackney Talking Therapies takes self-referrals from people struggling with worry or a heavy, flat mood. Mind in the City, Hackney and Waltham Forest leads the City and Hackney Wellbeing Network, and Shoreditch Trust runs We Connect Shoreditch, a free weekly drop-in with lunch. If drink or drugs are part of the picture, the City and Hackney Recovery Service is the local route.
- Free NHS talking therapyCity & Hackney Talking TherapiesFree 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 itCity and Hackney Recovery Service0345 144 0050Free and confidential.
- Local organisationGrief in Pieces: suicide bereavement support (Mind CHWF, part of Safe Connections)
- Local organisationSt Joseph's Hospice, Hackney: adult bereavement service
- Local organisationCity & Hackney Carers Centre
- Local organisationChoices: SCT's peer-led recovery community
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.
Local drop-in crisis support: City and Hackney Crisis Café (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 Shoreditch ask before starting
Can I get face-to-face counselling if I live in Shoreditch?
Sitting in the room with me means travelling to Intergen House in Hove, about 103 minutes by car from Shoreditch, which turns one hour into most of a day. For people in Hoxton or Haggerston, weekly sessions on secure video from home are usually far easier. An occasional Hove visit can still be arranged, perhaps for a first meeting or a longer 90-minute session.
How soon could I begin counselling from Shoreditch?
The opening step is 15 free minutes together, by phone or on screen. Should we both decide to go on, I'll name the weekly slots that are really free and you pick, so you aren't left on a list. City and Hackney Talking Therapies is also free, through the NHS, and you can approach it yourself for worry or persistent low mood.
I work long hours near Old Street. Can sessions fit around that?
Video helps here, because there's no travel to add on. You can join from home before or after work, or from a private room in your office if you have one, as long as nobody can overhear. We'd agree a regular time you can keep, and change it with notice if a deadline or a new contract reshapes your week.
Where can I go in Hackney if I need someone to talk to tonight?
East London NHS Foundation Trust runs the City and Hackney Crisis Café, and Central London Samaritans answer on 116 123 at any hour of day or night. When someone's life is at immediate risk, ring 999 straight away. For other Hackney and London crisis contacts, look at 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 Hoxton to Haggerston
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.