Twickenham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Psychotherapy for Twickenham
Psychotherapy is slower than a short course of counselling. It is for what keeps returning however well you understand it: the way you go quiet when someone gets close, or the drive that never lets you rest. For adults in Twickenham I offer open-ended work, usually weekly by secure video, because my only room is in Hove.
The practical facts for Twickenham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Twickenham by car
- About 83 minutes with clear roads (56.9 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Twickenham, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free NHS talking therapy
- Richmond Talking Therapies (NHS Richmond Wellbeing Service), 020 3513 4455
- 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.
Playing on, and other rules learned early
Twickenham is home to the Rugby Football Union, and Harlequins play at the Stoop, so rugby is hard to miss here.
Sport can teach a great deal that is good. It can also teach that pain is something you play through and mention later, or never. A rule like that can outlast the pitch by decades, turning up in someone who handles everyone else's crises calmly and can't say what they feel themselves. The same shape turns up in lives that have nothing to do with rugby. Think of a commuter who has spent two decades on the Waterloo trains being the dependable one, or someone who grew up in Whitton or Fulwell and still feels responsible for keeping the whole family steady. A student at St Mary's University may only feel worth something after a good result. Longer work gives you room to examine rules like these, where they came from and what they cost, without rushing to tear them down.
What months of work can reach that weeks can't
Shorter counselling usually aims at one problem within a set number of sessions. Psychotherapy asks what keeps recreating the problem. We start with what is hurting now, and over time we follow it back: what was expected of you as a child, which feelings were welcome at home and which weren't, and the role you took on to keep things calm. Often the pattern shows itself between us as well. You might notice yourself apologising for being low, or wanting to cancel when a session gets close to something. We look at that gently, since it belongs to the work as much as anything you bring. I have been in practice for more than 25 years and I'm registered with BACP. With UKCP I'm a student member, and I don't hold UKCP registration. One approach I draw on, Internal Family Systems, suits this kind of work because it treats the part of you that pushes hard, or the part that shuts down, as something with its own reasons. How many sessions it takes is left open from the start. Every so often we look back together at what has shifted and what still sticks, and you decide whether to carry on, pause or stop.
Patterns that deserve a longer look
Always the steady one
You grew up in Whitton, Fulwell or Heathfield as the child who held things together, and you still can't stop doing it, even when it is wearing you out.
Taught to play through pain
Rugby, at the Stoop or anywhere else, can teach real toughness. Longer work looks at where that lesson still serves you and where it keeps people at arm's length.
Achievement as a hiding place
Exams, a degree at St Mary's University or years of early trains: success that kept you too busy to notice what you were feeling underneath.
After ARC, still circling
Richmond Borough Mind's ARC service gives free short-term support. If it helped but opened a deeper question, open-ended work can take up that thread.
Free and low-cost support for Twickenham
Open-ended private work is one option among several. On the NHS, Richmond Talking Therapies offers free help with anxiety and low mood, without a GP letter. Richmond Borough Mind, with its head office in Twickenham, runs ARC for free short-term emotional support. If things become urgent out of hours, the Twickenham Recovery Hub near Twickenham Green is a crisis café you can drop into.
- Free NHS talking therapyRichmond Talking Therapies (NHS Richmond Wellbeing Service)020 3513 4455Free 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 itWithYou Richmond020 3228 3020Run by We Are With You (WithYou). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationARC – Active Resilience in the Community (Richmond Borough Mind)Free short-term emotional wellbeing support, self-referral,.
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 is another option: text 80991 or WhatsApp 0303 330 1511. Local drop-in crisis support: Journey Recovery Hub, Twickenham (check opening times before you go).
What people in Twickenham ask before starting
Are you a UKCP-registered psychotherapist for people in Twickenham?
No. BACP registers me as a counsellor, while UKCP counts me as a student member and not a registrant. If you need a psychotherapist with full UKCP registration, the UKCP register lets you check anyone you are considering. If open-ended work with someone who has practised for over 25 years suits you, the free call is a good place to talk about fit.
Should I try ARC or Richmond Talking Therapies before psychotherapy?
You can, and both are free. ARC, run by Richmond Borough Mind from Twickenham, offers short-term emotional wellbeing support, and Richmond Talking Therapies, on 020 3513 4455, is the NHS choice if what troubles you most right now is anxiety or a low patch. Psychotherapy suits patterns that have repeated for years. Trying one doesn't rule out the others, and they can overlap.
Can longer-term psychotherapy really work over video from Twickenham?
It can. Depth depends on trust and regularity, and both can grow over a screen. From Twickenham, video is also what keeps the work steady, since Hove is 83 minutes away by car. You'll need privacy, a reliable connection and a little time afterwards before you go back to the rest of your day.
How long does psychotherapy go on for, and when could I begin?
There's no set length. Some pieces of work last several months and others go on longer, and we review together as we go so the work doesn't drift. Starting means a free 15-minute call. If the call leaves us both keen to continue, we settle on a weekly time, and I'll tell you honestly how soon one opens up.
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.
Fifteen minutes to see whether we fit
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.