Croydon · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Croydon
This is for adults in Croydon who keep meeting the same problem in a new form: another job that sours in the same way, another relationship that ends where the last one did. I offer open-ended psychotherapy, usually weekly and by secure video, at a pace that gives older material time to surface.
The practical facts for Croydon
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Croydon by car
- About 63 minutes with clear roads (44.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from East Croydon to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Croydon NHS Talking Therapies, 0203 228 4040
- 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 town that people arrive in, carrying their history
Perhaps you came to Croydon for work, for more space than central London allowed, or because family were already in Thornton Heath or Norbury, and part of you hoped the move would leave some old difficulties behind.
The address changed, and some of the old habits came along. A Croydon week can be crowded with trains, deadlines and children, and underneath it sits something laid down long ago that still shapes how you love, argue, rest and ask for help. You may only notice it when the same thing happens for the third or fourth time, with a different manager, partner or friend: the same silence after a disagreement, the same urge to leave once someone gets close. Psychotherapy is a place to look at that older material carefully, while the life you've built carries on around it.
Following a pattern back to where it started
This kind of psychotherapy has no time limit. We meet at the same time each week and, instead of working through a set plan, we follow what you bring and notice what recurs. You might start by talking about a manager who makes you feel about twelve years old, and realise over a few months that the feeling is far older than the job. You might find that you always end up looking after everyone, or that closeness makes you want to leave. Patterns like these usually made sense once, often in a family where you had to adapt to get by, and they tend to appear in the therapy too, perhaps as a fear of taking up too much of my time. When that happens, we can look at it together while it is happening. Internal Family Systems is one way I may work here, getting to know the parts of you that keep an old pattern going. Because the work runs over months, we also plan around holidays and breaks, and agree together how we'd bring it to an end when the time comes.
Old patterns in a Croydon life
The same row at a new address
You moved to Croydon for a fresh start, to a flat near East Croydon or a house in Addiscombe, and the old arguments and fears unpacked themselves with the boxes.
After a short NHS course
If a course with Croydon NHS Talking Therapies, run by South London and Maudsley, helped with anxiety or low mood but the older pattern is still there, longer work can pick up from that point.
When a crisis keeps coming back
If you have needed the Recovery Space or A and E more than once, longer work alongside your GP's care can look slowly at what builds up before each crisis.
A private hour in a full house
Weekly video from Croydon needs a room where nobody can overhear, which a shared house in Selhurst or a busy family home in Purley may not offer. A parked car or a booked room at work can do.
Free and low-cost support for Croydon
If weekly private work over many months isn't possible just now, Mind in Croydon runs one-to-one counselling that you can arrange yourself by phone, and Croydon NHS Talking Therapies offers free, shorter help for anxiety and low mood. For young people, Croydon Drop In offers free counselling and support. If an old bereavement sits under the pattern, Cruse Bereavement Support has a national helpline. Psychotherapy with me can run in parallel with any of them.
- Free NHS talking therapyCroydon NHS Talking Therapies0203 228 4040Free 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 itCroydon Integrated Recovery Service (Drug and Alcohol Service - Croydon)0300 123 9288Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationMind in Croydon carers' services
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 Croydon ask before starting
How is psychotherapy different from the free counselling I could get in Croydon?
Croydon NHS Talking Therapies usually offers a set course of sessions focused on current anxiety or low mood, and that suits many difficulties well. The psychotherapy I offer runs for as long as it stays useful, and it gives time to patterns that repeat across years, such as how you choose partners, handle conflict or treat yourself when things go wrong. On the free call we can talk about which fits what you're carrying.
Can I start long-term psychotherapy from Croydon without travelling to Hove, and how soon?
Yes. From Croydon, weekly psychotherapy runs by secure video, because a 63-minute drive each way, or the direct train from East Croydon to Brighton and on to Hove, is hard to keep up for months. What long work needs is a reliable weekly time and growing trust, and neither needs a shared room. Once we've had the free call, I'll let you know plainly when a weekly time opens up.
Are you a UKCP-registered psychotherapist, if I'm comparing therapists in Croydon?
No. I'm a UKCP student member, which means I'm in psychotherapy training and not yet on the UKCP register. I am a BACP registered member, and I've worked for more than 25 years. If registration with a particular body matters to you, it's a fair question to put to any therapist you're considering, and you can ask me anything about my training on the free call.
What if longer therapy stirs things up between sessions while I'm in Croydon?
Deeper work can unsettle you, so we pace it and check each week how things have been. If things become urgent, Croydon Council advises calling 111 and choosing the mental health option, and lists the Recovery Space, run by Mind in Croydon, as an alternative to A and E, reached through your GP or another clinical service. The South London crisis text service takes WhatsApp messages on 0303 330 1511 or texts to 80991, and if anyone is in immediate danger, call 999.
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.
Begin with a conversation about the longer view
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.