Putney · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Putney
If you live in Putney and notice the same pattern returning, with partners, in your career or in that harsh inner voice, psychotherapy offers time to understand where it comes from. I work with adults over months rather than weeks, mainly by secure video from your home, with occasional sessions in my room in Hove.
The practical facts for Putney
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Putney by car
- About 80 minutes with clear roads (58.1 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Putney, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Wandsworth Talking Therapies, 0203 513 6264
- 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.
An old argument that still goes round in the head
In 1647, soldiers and officers sat in St Mary's Church by Putney Bridge and argued about who should have a say in how the country was run.
The Putney Debates are long over, but most of us carry a debate of our own. One part wants to rest and another insists you push on. One part longs to be close to someone and another keeps them at arm's length. In a fast-moving part of London, with six trains an hour to Waterloo and a town centre that's always busy, it's easy to stay ahead of those voices for years. A new job, a new flat in East Putney or a new relationship can feel like a fresh start, and then the old feeling arrives right on time. Psychotherapy is a place to slow down and listen to the whole argument.
What deeper work looks like, week by week
Psychotherapy with me is slower and more open-ended than short-term counselling. Rather than fixing one problem and stopping, we follow the threads that keep tying themselves into the same knot. That might be a habit of putting everyone else first, a temper that flares and then shames you, a pull towards drinking when things go quiet, or a sense of being on the outside of your own life. Over time we look at where those patterns took root, often in early family life, and how they protected you then even if they cost you now. One way I work is through Internal Family Systems, which treats those competing parts with curiosity rather than judgement. Nothing is rushed. Some weeks feel productive and some feel stuck, and both belong to the work. I'm a BACP-registered counsellor and a UKCP student member in psychotherapy training, and I bring more than 25 years' experience along with my own recovery. A rower on the Embankment will tell you that progress comes from steady strokes repeated over a long stretch of water, and longer therapy is much the same.
Patterns that long-term work can reach
Always on, never arrived
Keeping pace with a major London town centre and a busy commute, while a quiet sense of never being enough runs underneath every success.
The same relationship, again
Moving flats from West Putney to Putney Hill, changing partners, and still ending up in the same lonely place within a year or two.
Discipline that tips into control
The rigour that suits early training on the river at Putney Embankment, spreading until rest, food or feelings all have to be earned.
When grief stirs up old pain
A loss, perhaps a visit to Putney Vale Cemetery, that brings older hurts to the surface. Wandsworth Bereavement Service offers free support alongside our work.
Free and low-cost support for Putney
Longer therapy can sit alongside free help in Wandsworth. Wandsworth Talking Therapies offers shorter NHS work for anxiety and low mood, by self-referral. Allkind offers community mental health help across the borough, Rethink Mental Illness hosts its Putney Wednesday Club peer group, and anyone grieving can turn to Wandsworth Bereavement Service. If things become urgent, the Putney branch of Samaritans answers on 116 123.
- Free NHS talking therapyWandsworth Talking Therapies0203 513 6264Free 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 itWandsworth Community Drug and Alcohol Service (WCDAS)020 3228 1777Free and confidential.
- Local organisationInner South West London SamaritansSamaritans branch based in Putney.
- Local organisationLighthouse (Community Church Putney)Low-cost or fee-paying.
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 is another option: text 80991 or WhatsApp 0303 330 1511. Local drop-in crisis support: Tooting Recovery Café (Hestia) (check opening times before you go).
What people in Putney ask before starting
How long does psychotherapy usually last for someone in Putney?
There's no set length. A piece of work might take a few months on one pattern, or a year or more as deeper material comes up. We review together every so often, so you always know why we're continuing. From Putney, a regular weekly video slot tends to keep longer work steady.
Will months of psychotherapy hold up on a video call from Putney?
It can, provided you have a private space where you can speak freely and won't be interrupted. Familiar surroundings in Putney can make the deeper material easier to reach. With Hove about 80 minutes away by car, video keeps the weekly rhythm, and an occasional longer session in the room can be added if you'd like it.
Is there free psychotherapy in Wandsworth instead?
Help from the NHS in the borough is mostly shorter-term. Wandsworth Talking Therapies, run by SWLStG, accepts self-referrals on 0203 513 6264 for anxiety and low mood. A Putney GP can explain any other NHS options in Wandsworth. Private psychotherapy with me is for people who want longer, more open-ended work, and it can begin after a free 15-minute call.
Are you a registered psychotherapist?
I'm a BACP-registered counsellor and a UKCP student member, which means I'm in psychotherapy training under the UKCP rather than on its register. I've worked therapeutically for more than 25 years. You're welcome to question me about that training when we first speak.
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 a longer piece of work from Putney
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.