Soho · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Soho
Perhaps something has been wrong for a while and Soho's noise has made it easy to ignore. You would see me one to one, a counsellor registered with BACP. My only room is in Hove, 54.3 road miles from Soho, so we would almost always meet by secure video, the same counsellor from your own sofa with no commute, and Hove is there for an occasional visit if you'd like one.
The practical facts for Soho
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Soho by car
- About 101 minutes with clear roads (54.3 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.
Square mile of late nights, edit suites and neon
Soho packs a great deal into about one square mile between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road.
Westminster's own ward profile notes how many media and creative companies sit here, and the post-production suites tucked into its side streets run to deadlines that rarely respect evenings. Around them, the restaurants, theatres and bars keep the streets full long after offices empty, and Westminster's licensing policy names the West End, Soho included, as the one part of the city where the combined weight of licensed premises can be measured. Old Compton Street is the heart of London's best-known gay village, and Chinatown begins just across Shaftesbury Avenue. A neighbourhood built around other people's evenings out can make your own life feel oddly private. You can be surrounded by colleagues, crowds and friends of friends, and still have no one to whom you would say the real thing out loud.
When you only know that something has to give
General counselling suits people who cannot yet put a label on it. You might be running on adrenaline between a pitch and a grade, wondering when you last had an evening that wasn't work or a bar. A relationship may have ended, a parent may be unwell in another city, or old feelings about coming out or about family may have returned without warning. Some Soho evenings start with one drink and keep going, and you may be quietly asking whether that has become a habit. Any of these is a fair thing to bring to a first call. Early sessions are for sorting the noise: which parts of this weigh most, what feeds them from week to week, and where our hours together should go first. My approach is integrative, with Human Givens among its roots, and you can read more on the how I work page. With 25 years and more in this work, and recovery in my own past, I hear talk of drinking, sex, shame, money or ambition without flinching. Should another kind of help fit better at some point, I'll tell you honestly and point you to it.
Things Soho hours tend to pile on
Deadlines in the edit suite
Soho's concentration of media, film and post-production work can mean long hours in dark rooms, freelance uncertainty and a sense that you are only as good as the last job.
Living inside the nightlife
Westminster ties the West End's late-night trouble to how many people are out and intoxicated, and working or living among that can blur where your own limits sit.
Belonging and still feeling alone
Old Compton Street offers community and visibility, yet a scene built around going out can leave little room for grief, loneliness or quieter parts of who you are.
Family across two cultures
Next to Chinatown, family duty, language and expectations can pull in different directions, and the Chinese Information and Advice Centre gives free practical advice alongside our sessions.
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 Soho
Free help runs alongside private sessions here. Westminster Talking Therapies accepts self-referral for anxiety or low mood. 56 Dean Street chemsex support works with patients already registered at the clinic, and St Anne's Church on Dean Street hosts 12-Step recovery meetings and a monthly Grief Café. Central London Samaritans and Carers Network are there too, and the Chinese Information and Advice Centre helps people facing language barriers.
- 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 organisationBuild on Belief (BoB) Westminster weekend serviceRecovery community.
- Local organisationGrief Café at St Anne's Church, Soho (with The Good Grief Trust)Free monthly bereavement drop-in.
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 Soho ask before starting
Can I meet a counsellor in person somewhere near Soho?
In person, I'm at Intergen House in Hove, roughly 101 minutes by car from Soho, or a Southern train from Victoria. Our regular sessions would therefore happen by secure video, from your flat or any quiet room you can book near work. If being physically in the room matters to you, an occasional Hove session, perhaps a longer 120-minute one, can be planned in advance.
How quickly could I start counselling if I work in Soho?
It begins with a free 15-minute conversation by phone or video, which fits into a lunch break. If we agree to go ahead, I offer the slots I actually have and you pick one, with no referral needed. For a free NHS option, Westminster Talking Therapies takes self-referrals on 030 3333 0000 when worry or a persistent low mood is what you mainly want help with.
Can I talk about chemsex or the scene without being judged?
Yes. Sex, drugs, partying and how they connect with confidence, shame or loneliness can all be spoken about plainly here. If chems are part of your life and you are registered at 56 Dean Street, its chemsex support team offers risk-reduction help and relapse prevention, and our counselling can run alongside that. Turning Point Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea also gives drug and alcohol support across the borough.
Who can I call tonight if things feel too much in Westminster?
For a mental health crisis in Westminster, the CNWL crisis line, its Single Point of Access, is staffed 24 hours a day on 0800 0234 650. Samaritans pick up at any hour on 116 123, and the Central London branch is part of that network. If someone's life is in immediate danger, call 999. More numbers appear 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.
Fifteen minutes on a call, from anywhere in W1
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.