Stratford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Stratford
If you live or study in Stratford and something has been sitting heavily for a while, this is a sensible first step, even before you can name it. The counselling room is in Hove, over an hour and a half away by road, so from E15 our hours together happen on a secure video call: your own sofa, no Jubilee line, and a trip south only if you ever want one.
The practical facts for Stratford
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Stratford by car
- About 94 minutes with clear roads (70.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Newham Talking Therapies, 020 8175 1770
- 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.
Crowds at the interchange, quiet at home
Stratford station is the seventh busiest in Britain, and the busiest Underground stop outside zone 1, so a normal weekday can mean pushing through one of the most crowded interchanges in the country twice over.
Around it, the Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford City and the new campuses for UCL East and the London College of Fashion keep the place full of people from early until late. It is easy to feel carried along by all of that and still be quite alone inside it. Students arrive at the University of East London or the Park campuses far from family. Others have lived here since well before the 2012 regeneration and have watched the streets around Maryland or the Carpenters Estate change almost beyond recognition. Whichever describes you, a place this busy can leave very little room to stop and notice that sleep has slipped, that you feel flat most evenings, or that the worry follows you home.
Starting when you only know something is off
You are welcome to get in touch with something clear, such as a loss, a relationship ending or a job that is wearing you down. You are equally welcome with something vaguer: irritability you can't explain, dreading the crush at the station every morning, or noticing that a few drinks after work at Westfield have become a habit you would rather look at. Early on, we sort through the pressures in your life and ask which of them keeps the knot tight. For a student, that might be pressure at UEL or UCL East and a sense of being far from anyone who knows you. For someone who has lived in Newham a long time, it might be grief for a neighbourhood that has changed around you, or the strain of keeping a household going on a tight budget. Then we agree a focus. Should it turn out that another service fits your situation more closely, you will hear that from me in the consultation, along with where in Newham to find it. My approach is integrative, drawing on several traditions including Human Givens, and it rests on more than 25 years of counselling as well as my own recovery.
Pressures that come with living around E15
Twice daily through the crush
Commuting through the seventh busiest station in Britain can leave you wound tight before work has even started, and drained before you get home.
Studying a long way from home
Starting at the University of East London, UCL East or the London College of Fashion can mean deadlines, debt and few people close by who really know you.
A place that changed around you
If you remember Stratford before the Olympic regeneration, the new towers and crowds can bring an unsettled, displaced feeling that is hard to put into words.
Free support on your doorstep
You can refer yourself to Newham Talking Therapies when anxiety or low mood builds, or join a free East London Recovery College course while we keep meeting.
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 Stratford
Private counselling can sit comfortably beside the free help in Newham. Newham Talking Therapies, part of East London NHS Foundation Trust, is open to people referring themselves when worry or a heavy mood has set in. Mind in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Redbridge runs community support, and the East London Recovery College offers free courses for adults and carers. If evenings feel unmanageable, the Newham Together Café is a crisis café run by Mind THNR with the NHS trust.
- Free NHS talking therapyNewham Talking Therapies020 8175 1770Free 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 Newham Rise (Newham Drug and Alcohol Service, adults)0800 652 3879Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationSafe Connections Suicide Prevention (Mind THNR)Mental health charity.
- Local organisationNewham Carers Community
- Local organisationNewham Rise: support for family, friends and carers affected by someone else's drug or alcohol use (Change Grow Live)
- Local organisationBuild on Belief (BoB) Newham weekend serviceRecovery 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: Newham Together 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 Stratford ask before starting
Can I meet a counsellor face to face from Stratford, or does it all happen online?
Intergen House in Hove, where I see people in person, lies roughly 94 minutes from Stratford by road, and by rail you'd ride the Jubilee line to London Bridge or the Mildmay line to Clapham Junction before changing. So people in Stratford mostly meet me by secure video each week, which keeps the whole hour for talking. Should sitting across from each other feel important, we can plan an occasional extended session down in Hove.
How quickly can I get counselling in Newham without a long wait?
The first step is a free consultation of 15 minutes by phone or video, at a time that suits you. If we both feel it fits, I'll share which session slots are still open and the one that suits your week becomes yours, so there is no list to sit on. Video means there is no travel to plan around either.
Is there free NHS counselling in Newham as well?
Yes. Newham Talking Therapies, run by East London NHS Foundation Trust, lets you refer yourself for anxiety or low mood on 020 8175 1770, without going through your GP first. Waits vary, and some people use private sessions with me while they wait or alongside that service. Mind THNR also runs free local support across the borough.
Can a UEL or UCL East student in Stratford see a private counsellor by video?
You can. Whether you're at UEL, UCL East or the London College of Fashion, a shut bedroom in halls or a borrowed quiet room works, provided nobody can listen in. We can plan sessions around lectures and term dates, and your university's own student support can run alongside what we do together.
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.
One short call from E15 to begin
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.