Streatham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Counselling and therapy for Streatham
If you live in Streatham and aren't sure yet what kind of help you need, a first conversation is a good place to begin. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor offering one-to-one sessions by secure video, usually the practical choice from this part of south London, with my room in Hove there for an occasional visit in person.
The practical facts for Streatham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Streatham by car
- About 73 minutes with clear roads (47.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Lambeth Talking Therapies, 020 3228 6747
- 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 long high road, a young population and work without edges
Streatham High Road runs for 2.6 miles, and around half the units in the town centre are cafes and restaurants, according to a 2019 strategy written for Lambeth Council.
The same report put the local population at around 66,000, younger than the London average, with more people aged 25 to 44, and found that about 21% of residents were self-employed. In Streatham, then, worry often attaches to work that has no clear finishing point: a freelance month when the invoices go unpaid, a small business on the High Road, a job in health or education that follows you home in your head. With three stations and trains to Victoria and right through central London, it's easy to keep moving and much harder to stop. Streatham Common and The Rookery give you room to walk, and sometimes the same thoughts come along with you.
Not sure what you need? That's where we begin
You can get in touch without having a name for what's wrong. A person in Streatham might call because sleep has gone, because small things have started to set off big arguments, or because something from years back keeps surfacing at odd moments. Another might only be able to say that the last few months have felt grey. Our early conversations are about understanding what holds the difficulty in place and what a better week would look like to you, and from there we agree how to go about it. For someone self-employed, that might include guarding one regular hour when no manager or rota sets your diary. If your work is in health, education or public services, as a large share of Streatham's jobs are, we may look at how much of other people's distress you take on during the day, and where it ends up by the evening. I work integratively, choosing what fits the person in front of me, and the how-I-work page explains the methods. Behind that sits more than 25 years in this field, plus my own experience of recovery, which keeps me mindful of how much it can take simply to send a first message.
Pressures a Streatham week can bring to counselling
Work that's yours alone
About one in five Streatham residents were self-employed in 2019, and when the work rests on you, so does the worry about next month's income and the nights it keeps you awake.
A working day spent caring
Health, education and public administration provide the largest share of jobs in Streatham, and work spent caring for other people can leave very little room for yourself.
A busy road, a quiet flat
With cafes and restaurants along a 2.6-mile High Road, there's always somewhere to go out, which can make loneliness at home feel harder to admit to anyone.
When drinking becomes the way to cope
When the after-work drink near the High Road has started to feel necessary, that habit is welcome in the room, and Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service gives free specialist help 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 Streatham
Free help in Lambeth can run alongside paid sessions or come first. Lambeth Talking Therapies, a South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust service, takes your own referral for anxiety or low mood. South East London Mind runs Lambeth services, and the Lambeth Single Point of Access is how adults reach local mental health care through the Living Well Network Alliance. On a bad night, the crisis text line run by South London and Maudsley answers by WhatsApp or text.
- Free NHS talking therapyLambeth Talking Therapies020 3228 6747Free 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 itLambeth Drug and Alcohol Service020 3228 1500Free and confidential.
- Local organisationLambeth HarbourRecovery community.
- Local organisationCarers' Hub Lambeth: Substance Misuse Carers service
- Local organisationSouth East London Suicide Bereavement Support (SEL Mind with South London and Maudsley)
- Local organisationNehemiah (The Nehemiah Project)
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 (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991.
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 Streatham ask before starting
Could I come to sessions in person from Streatham, or is it all online?
Both are possible, though the only room is in Hove. It sits on Western Road, roughly 73 minutes by car, or a rail trip changing at East Croydon or London Victoria. Weekly sessions from Streatham usually happen by secure video instead, and we can arrange a meeting in the Hove room every so often, perhaps a longer 90-minute or 120-minute one so the trip feels worthwhile.
Is there a wait to begin therapy if I'm in Streatham?
The free 15-minute call comes first, so you can ask your questions and judge whether talking to me feels right. Once we both want to go ahead, I'll offer the times genuinely open in my week, and that first session can happen by video from your home in Streatham. For free support while you think it over, Lambeth Talking Therapies takes calls on 020 3228 6747.
Is there free counselling in Lambeth I could try first?
Yes. If you're mostly wrestling with anxiety or low mood, you can approach Lambeth Talking Therapies yourself with no GP letter, as it is the borough's free NHS Talking Therapies team. South East London Mind also runs Lambeth services, and Cruse Bereavement Support has a Lambeth branch if a death is part of what you're facing. Private counselling can come before, after or alongside any of these.
I'm self-employed in Streatham. How can therapy fit around unpredictable work?
Video makes it easier, because there's no travel either side and you can join from home or any private room. On the free call we can look at which times I have and how to hold a regular slot when your diary keeps shifting. When both income and hours feel uncertain, keeping one fixed hour for yourself can become a useful part of the work.
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 an unhurried conversation from Streatham
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.