Islington · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Couples therapy and relationship counselling for Islington
When a relationship in Islington has narrowed to logistics and late-night rows, or to careful politeness, couples counselling gives the two of you a set hour to understand what is happening. The drive to Hove takes around 105 minutes, so sessions from Islington run over secure video, whether you share a screen at home or join from two separate places, and either of you can begin alone.
The practical facts for Islington
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Islington by car
- About 105 minutes with clear roads (55.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)
- Islington NHS Talking Therapies, 020 3317 7252
- 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.
Small homes, high rents and partners weighing a move
Couples in Islington often live closer together than they would choose.
Around 40% of homes in the borough are socially rented, compared with 23% across London, and private rents are high, so plenty of relationships play out in a one-bedroom flat in Holloway or a shared house off Caledonian Road with nowhere to retreat after an argument. The population is young and it moves: people arrive to study or work, and a good number leave in their thirties, so a couple may be weighing whether to stay, start a family elsewhere or follow one partner's job. When the council asked residents in 2025 what mattered most for a good life, friendships and relationships came in the top three, alongside health and financial stability. Living next door to affluence while counting every pound can strain a household too. So can opposite shifts at the Whittington, early starts in Clerkenwell, or match-day crowds around the Emirates spilling past your door.
What couples work looks like from N1 to N19
In each session I divide my attention fairly between you both. My task is to make the repeating cycle visible to both of you, rather than to rule on who began it. It might be one of you pressing for a conversation while the other goes quiet, a row that always comes back to money or housing, or resentment over who is carrying more. If you met while studying at City St George's or London Metropolitan University, the relationship may be young and still finding its shape now that student life has ended. If your families live far away, there may be no one nearby to take the pressure off, and that deserves naming. Where one partner's drinking sits at the centre, the Better Lives Family Service can support the worried partner, while our sessions stay focused on the two of you. When just one partner is ready, that partner can begin alone and look at their own part in the arguments that keep repeating. Couples counselling needs both partners to feel safe, and anyone who feels frightened at home should read the safety information on this page first.
What follows Islington couples through the front door
No room to cool off
In a borough of high rents and small homes, a disagreement in a flat in Holloway or Archway can leave neither of you anywhere to go and calm down.
Stay in the borough or leave
Islington's population turns over fast, with people in their thirties moving out, and deciding whether to stay, move away or follow a job can pull a couple apart.
Shifts that never overlap
One of you working nights or weekends at the Whittington, the other on daytime hours in Clerkenwell, and the only shared time is tired and late.
Drink or drugs in the middle
When drink or drugs worry one of you, the Better Lives Family Service offers that partner its own support while our joint sessions carry on.
If you are afraid of your partner
Couples counselling is not safe or suitable where one partner is afraid of the other. You can book the free call on your own. What you tell me on your own is not passed to your partner without your agreement, except where someone's safety is at serious risk; I explain those limits on the free call. In your message, tell me the safest way and time to contact you. Video sessions from a shared home are not private if you could be overheard or your devices are checked. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
If there is violence, threats or controlling behaviour, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 2000 247. The Men's Advice Line is on 0808 801 0327. If you are worried about your own behaviour towards a partner, the Respect Phoneline is on 0808 802 4040 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm).
Free and low-cost support for Islington
Alongside our couples sessions, each of you can draw on free or low-cost help across the borough. Should anxiety or low mood be weighing on one of you, Islington NHS Talking Therapies takes self-referrals on 020 3317 7252. The Claremont Project offers psychotherapy priced by income, including for relationship difficulties, to adults registered with an Islington GP, and the Maya Centre provides free counselling for women on low incomes.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)Islington NHS Talking Therapies020 3317 7252Free 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 itBetter Lives (Islington's drug and alcohol service)020 3317 6099Free and confidential.
- Local organisationIslington MindMental health charity.
- Local organisationIslington Bereavement Service (St Joseph's Hospice)
- Local organisationCamden City Islington and Westminster Bereavement Service (CCIWBS): funded bereavement counselling in Islington
- Local organisationIslington Carers Hub
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
Locally, the Camden and Islington Crisis Single Point of Access is on 0800 917 3333. Local drop-in crisis support: The Lantern, Islington (check opening times before you go).
If you, or someone you live with, drink heavily every day, or take drugs such as benzodiazepines or GHB daily, do not stop suddenly without medical advice. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Your GP or the local drug and alcohol service can arrange medically assisted withdrawal. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone in withdrawal is shaking visibly, unusually restless or agitated, confused, seeing or hearing things that are not there, or has a fit. For milder symptoms, such as a slight tremor or sweating, contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day (NHS guidance). Counselling works alongside medical support, not instead of it.
What people in Islington ask before starting
Could the two of us see you in person, coming from Islington?
In person means coming to Intergen House in Hove together, around 105 minutes by car or a train via London Victoria or King's Cross St Pancras. For weekly work from Islington, secure video is far kinder to two busy diaries. If you would both value sitting in one room with me, an occasional longer session in Hove can be planned.
If one of us works away from Islington for weeks at a time, can we still have couples sessions on video?
Yes. Each of you joins from somewhere private, perhaps one at home in Islington and the other at a parent's house or on a work trip, and we all appear in the same video call. A pair of headphones each and a decent signal make it smoother. If hospital shifts or a job in the City keep moving your hours, we find a time you can both reliably keep.
Is there free or cheaper relationship support in Islington?
The Claremont Project near the Angel offers psychotherapy with trainee therapists, relationships included, at rates set by income for adults registered with an Islington GP. Islington NHS Talking Therapies can help either of you with anxiety or low mood, and the Maya Centre offers free counselling to women on low incomes. Any of these can sit alongside our couples sessions.
My partner won't come. Is it worth seeing a relationship counsellor alone from Islington?
You can. On your own we look at your half of the pattern: how you respond when things get tense, what has gone unsaid, and what you hope the relationship can become. Change on one side often shifts things at home, and a partner may choose to join later. Should home ever feel unsafe with your partner, turn to the safety information on this page before anything else.
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 first conversation, together or on your own
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.