Orpington · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Orpington
If you're in Orpington and the days have gone grey, with getting up a struggle and very little felt by the end of it, we can meet for depression counselling over secure video. No label or GP letter is needed to begin, and we'd start at whatever pace your energy allows.
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 Orpington
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Orpington by car
- About 67 minutes with clear roads (54.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Orpington, change at London Bridge for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- NHS Bromley Talking Therapies, 0300 003 3000
- 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 a busy suburb carries on without you
From the outside, Orpington keeps moving: frequent trains pulling out for London, the High Street and The Walnuts busy, pupils heading to St Olave's or Newstead Wood.
Depression can make all of that seem to happen behind glass. It doesn't always look like sadness. It can be sleeping badly or far too much, no longer bothering with the walk round Priory Gardens or Goddington Park, turning down things you used to enjoy, and an inner voice that calls it laziness. Sometimes it follows something you were told to be happy about, like a new baby. Sometimes it follows something slower, like weeks of rehabilitation at Orpington Hospital after an illness or operation, or years of caring for someone whose needs always came first. Grief can also settle into a flatness that outlasts the tears, until you're managing every practical task and feeling nothing about any of it.
Asking very little of you at the start
When you're depressed, everything costs more energy, counselling included, so the first sessions ask very little of you. We look honestly at how your days actually go: when you wake, what you eat, who you speak to, and what has quietly dropped away. Then we look at what might be weighing on you, which is rarely one thing. It could be exhaustion that has built over years, a loss nobody made room for, the change in who you are that comes with a baby or with retirement, or anger that has turned inwards. Steps stay small enough to manage on a bad day, perhaps sitting outside for ten minutes or answering one message. If grief is part of it, we give it time instead of pushing you to move on. I'll also ask directly, and without alarm, whether thoughts of self-harm or suicide have been part of this. If they have, we'd plan together for the worst moments, and the urgent help section further down lists numbers you can ring day or night. Take questions about antidepressants to your GP, and counselling with me can continue alongside any medication.
Low mood in an Orpington life
After a new baby
If the months after a birth feel heavy instead of happy, South East London Mind's Bromley services include Mindful Mums and Being Dad, alongside anything your GP suggests.
Recovering slowly from illness
Weeks of rehabilitation and therapy at Orpington Hospital can leave you stronger in body and still low in spirit, and that low mood deserves attention of its own.
Caring for someone unwell
Supporting a relative through mental illness can wear you down without anyone noticing. South East London Mind offers Mental Health Carers support, and Bromley Well helps unpaid adult carers.
A voice on Station Road
Bromley and Orpington Samaritans listen 24/7, and their branch is at 9b Station Road in the town, there for the nights when talking to anyone at all would help.
Free and low-cost support for Orpington
NHS Bromley Talking Therapies is free and takes self-referrals, including for low mood. If grief is underneath the flatness, Cruse Bereavement Support has a Bexley and Bromley branch, and South East London Mind runs a Suicide Bereavement Service for those bereaved that way. Private counselling can go alongside any of them.
- Free NHS talking therapyNHS Bromley Talking Therapies0300 003 3000Free 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 itChange Grow Live (CGL) Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service020 8289 1999Free and confidential.
- Local organisationBromley Well (unpaid adult carers support)
- Local organisationBromley and Orpington SamaritansLocal Samaritans branch.
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 WhatsApp Service () is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511.
What people in Orpington ask before starting
Is there free NHS counselling for depression for people in Orpington?
Yes. You can refer yourself to NHS Bromley Talking Therapies for depression by calling 0300 003 3000, without seeing a GP first. If you need a fuller assessment, the Bromley Mental Health Hub's public line is 020 8659 2151, option two, on weekdays, for Bromley residents aged 18 to 64. Seeing me privately needn't wait for either.
I've felt low for months since having my baby in Orpington. Who should I talk to?
Please tell your GP or health visitor as well, because the medical side of how you're feeling after a birth needs their view. South East London Mind's Bromley services include Mindful Mums and Being Dad. Counselling with me can sit alongside, a place to say the things that feel unsayable about early parenthood, including not feeling what you expected to feel.
Can video counselling from Orpington help when I can hardly leave the house?
That's one of the reasons to work this way. The Hove room is 67 minutes' drive away, and video removes the trip completely, so a session can happen from bed or the sofa if that's what today allows. A regular time and a private space matter far more than how you look. If a screen ever feels too far away, tell me and we'll think again.
What's the first step for depression counselling from Orpington when I've no energy?
Send a line or two using the contact form, even just your name, and we'll find a time for the free 15-minute call. On the call I'll say when a weekly time could open up. You don't have to explain everything at once, and you don't need to wait for a GP appointment before you get in touch.
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 small step, when the day allows
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.