Peckham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Depression counselling for Peckham
If life in Peckham has gone grey, whether after a death, a job ending or for no reason you can put into words, depression counselling gives you somewhere to say so without performing being fine. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor, and from Peckham we'd meet by secure video, so you don't have to manage a long trip on days when getting dressed is hard.
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 Peckham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Peckham by car
- About 90 minutes with clear roads (52.2 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Peckham Rye, change at East Croydon for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Talking Therapies Southwark, 020 3228 2194
- 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 you stop going to the places you liked
Depression often shows itself in what quietly drops away.
You used to spend a Saturday browsing the shops on Bellenden Road or walking a loop of Peckham Rye Park, and now you can't remember the last time. Things you used to make, whether music or meals for friends, have stopped. Work still gets done, mostly, and from outside you look fine, but evenings vanish into a screen and messages go unanswered because replying feels like climbing stairs. It can follow a bereavement, a break-up, redundancy or a move. It can also arrive with no cause you can point to, and that can feel even harder to own up to. In a family or community where you're the dependable one, saying you're not coping may feel impossible. In some men it shows up more as a short temper or heavier drinking than as sadness.
Small steps, taken at the pace of a heavy week
We start with how things really are, without you needing to justify any of it: sleep and appetite, who you still see, what you've stopped doing, and whether any part of the week is a little lighter. Then we look at what might be holding the low in place. Sometimes it's a loss that never had space to be grieved, sometimes a relentless inner critic, sometimes weeks that have lost all structure since a job ended. Changes stay small and realistic, such as answering one message, or an hour in Peckham Library with no aim beyond being there. Where grief sits underneath, we give the person you've lost proper time. Anything to do with medication is a conversation for your doctor, and counselling can run alongside whatever they suggest. Thoughts of self-harm or suicide can be said out loud in our sessions, calmly, and I'd much rather hear them than have you carry them alone. If those thoughts feel urgent, don't wait for our next session: the crisis numbers on this page, including the SLaM crisis text service, are there for exactly that moment.
Shapes low mood can take in Peckham
Out of work, out of routine
When a job ends, the days lose their shape and confidence goes with them. Pecan offers employment support in Peckham, and our sessions can work on the flatness that makes applying feel pointless.
Company without having to talk
Copleston Church and Community Centre runs art therapy and an art café that are open-access. Being among people without having to explain yourself can be a gentle first step out.
Worn out by caring
Looking after a relative while working can slowly empty you out. Mobilise, the online carers' hub the council lists for Southwark, can help with the practical load, and our hour is for you.
Grief that has gone quiet
Months on, others have moved on and you're still flat. Cruse Bereavement Support runs a national helpline, and in our sessions there is room for the person you lost.
Free and low-cost support for Peckham
On the NHS, low mood is covered by Talking Therapies Southwark, which South London and Maudsley runs and which you can contact yourself. South East London Mind runs services across Southwark, and if a death by suicide sits behind your low mood, the South East London Suicide Bereavement Service supports people bereaved in that way. You can use any of these alongside private sessions with me.
- Free NHS talking therapyTalking Therapies Southwark020 3228 2194Free 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 Southwark020 3404 7699Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationSouthwark Wellbeing Hub
- Local organisationMobiliseSupport for carers.
- Local organisationCopleston Church and Community Centre: Mental Health & Wellbeing ServicesCommunity centre running open-access mental health and.
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.
What people in Peckham ask before starting
Can I see someone on the NHS for depression in Southwark without a GP appointment?
Talking Therapies Southwark, run by South London and Maudsley, takes self-referrals for depression and low mood on 020 3228 2194. It's free, though there can be a wait, and you can contact it yourself. Private counselling is the other route if choosing who you see, or a regular time that suits you, matters most, and using both at once is fine.
I'm still going to work in Peckham and coping on paper. Am I too well for depression counselling?
No. Depression often hides behind a working week: you keep the job going and have nothing left for anything else. Numbness, tiredness and irritability count as much as tears, and you don't need a GP letter or a crisis to begin. We'd look at how long it has been like this and what has slipped away, and start from there.
Can depression counselling work by video from Peckham?
Yes, and with Hove a 90-minute drive away it's the practical choice. You can still join on weeks when going out feels impossible, and the work is the same as it would be in a room. If you'd ever like to meet face to face, a session in Hove can be arranged, but nothing about the counselling depends on it.
What can I do in Peckham if I feel unsafe at night before counselling has started?
Don't hold on until a session. If you might act on thoughts of suicide, call 999 or go to the emergency department at King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill. For urgent help that isn't an emergency, ring NHS 111. If speaking is too hard, the South London NHS crisis text service takes WhatsApp messages on 0303 330 1511, or text 80991. Samaritans answer 116 123 at any hour.
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, on whatever day you can manage it
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.