Clapham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Clapham
If life in Clapham has gone grey, and you're still turning up to work and replying to messages while feeling almost nothing, depression counselling by secure video is one place to start. We go at the speed your energy allows, even if that feels slow. No GP referral is needed, and if you live in Lambeth or have a Lambeth GP, you can also refer yourself to a free NHS service.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call 999 or the Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. More urgent help is on this page.
The practical facts for Clapham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Clapham by car
- About 84 minutes with clear roads (50.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Clapham High Street, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- 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.
When the Common fills up and you stay in
On a warm evening Clapham Common fills with people and groups gather near the bandstand.
When you're depressed, all of that can sit just outside your window like a party you weren't invited to, even when you were. You decline, then stop being asked. In a shared flat, a closed bedroom door can hide how many hours you spend in bed, and flatmates assume you're busy or away. Living alone near Clapham South or on Nightingale Lane, whole weekends can pass without you speaking aloud. Sometimes there's an obvious reason: a death, a break-up, a career that stalled. Sometimes there isn't, which is often harder to explain to people who think you have it all. The flatness, the poor sleep, the loss of appetite or the constant grazing are not laziness, and they deserve to be taken seriously.
Beginning gently when everything takes effort
When you're low, even writing an email to a counsellor can take everything you have, so I keep the start simple. In early sessions I want to understand an ordinary day for you: when you wake, whether you eat, who you still talk to, and the critical voice that reads every slip as proof you're failing. Then we look for what's weighing you down. It might be grief that never had room, a loss of purpose, exhaustion from holding it together, or anger with nowhere to go. Human Givens thinking helps here, by asking which basic needs, such as connection, rest and a sense of achievement, have quietly been going unmet. We set goals small enough to manage on a bad day, perhaps a lap of the Common or one reply to a friend you've been avoiding, and a goal you don't reach just tells us what's in the way. At some point I'll ask, plainly and kindly, whether you've had thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life. If you have, we make a plan together, and the urgent help further down this page is there at any hour. Your GP looks after antidepressants, and our counselling can run alongside whatever you and they decide.
How flatness can settle into a Clapham life
A loss that went quiet
A death that left you strangely calm, then flat for months. Cruse Bereavement Support, Lambeth is free to use alongside our sessions if loss is underneath how you feel.
Summer on the Common, seen from indoors
Clapham Common is full of people on long evenings, and depression can make even crossing it feel like more than you have in you.
An NHS option for low mood
Lambeth Talking Therapies takes self-referrals for low mood and depression from adults who either live in Lambeth or are registered with a Lambeth GP.
Support that asks little of you
South East London Mind runs services in Lambeth, another source of support you can use alongside our sessions, at whatever pace a low day allows.
Free and low-cost support for Clapham
Lambeth Talking Therapies accepts self-referrals for low mood if you live in Lambeth or your GP practice is there. South East London Mind has Lambeth services, and Cruse Bereavement Support, Lambeth is there if grief is behind the flatness. After a death by suicide, South East London Suicide Bereavement Support offers specialist help. If both your home and your GP are on the Wandsworth side, ask your GP which NHS service applies. You can see me privately while using any of them.
- 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 organisationCarers' Hub Lambeth: Substance Misuse Carers service
- Local organisationLambeth Single Point of Access
- Local organisationThe Awareness Centre (TAC Clapham)Low-cost or fee-paying.
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.
The South London NHS Mental Health Crisis Text Service (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991.
What people in Clapham ask before starting
Is there free depression support for people living in Clapham?
If you live in Lambeth or are registered with a Lambeth GP, Lambeth Talking Therapies takes self-referrals for depression on 020 3228 6747, with no GP appointment needed. If neither applies, for instance your home and surgery are both on the Wandsworth side, your GP can point you to that borough's service. Cruse Bereavement Support, Lambeth helps when grief is part of it. You can use any of these and see me privately too.
Can I have depression counselling from Clapham if I can barely leave my flat?
Yes. Sessions are by secure video, so there's no 84-minute drive and no crowded train, just a screen and somewhere private. You can join from bed or the sofa if that's what you can manage. If a day comes when even logging on feels impossible, tell me, and we'll talk about what would make the next one easier.
Everyone in Clapham seems to be out enjoying themselves. Why do I feel nothing?
Feeling flat in a lively place can be especially lonely, because the contrast makes it look like a personal failing when it isn't. Your GP is the person to assess whether it's depression, and it's worth telling them if this has lasted for weeks. In counselling we don't need a label to start. We look at what has drained you and what might begin to return.
How soon could I start, and what if I feel worse while I wait?
After the free 15-minute call you'll know honestly how soon a regular time can begin. If things get darker in the meantime, don't wait for a slot. Samaritans answer free, day or night, on 116 123, and you can call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. If you might act on thoughts of ending your life, call 999 now.
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.
Reach out on a day you feel able
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.