Peckham · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Couples therapy and relationship counselling for Peckham
This page is for couples in Peckham who keep having the same argument, whether it starts with money or with what your families expect. You can come together, or one of you can start alone. My only room is in Hove, so sessions from Peckham run by secure video, sitting together at one screen or joining from different places.
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 (for one of you)
- 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.
Rotas, rent and relatives in a Peckham home
Two adults in a Peckham home can keep things running on hours that hardly meet.
One of you might pull out of Peckham bus garage for an early duty while the other is finishing a late close on Rye Lane, so the day's handover happens by text. Space can be tight as well. In a flat on one of Peckham's regenerated estates, or a shared house off Queens Road Peckham, finding a room where two adults can talk without being overheard is not always easy. Then there are the families. Peckham is among the most ethnically diverse areas in the country, so two partners may have been raised with very different ideas about marriage, in-laws, faith and who decides what. Couples can hold a lot of difference. It gets harder when there's never a calm hour to talk, and every hard subject is left for the hallway late at night.
What couples work looks like when families have a say
In the first session each of you gets time to say, without interruption, why you've come and what worries you about the months ahead. I won't side with either of you, and nobody gets a ruling on who is right. I listen for the pattern you both keep falling into, such as one of you pressing on a subject while the other goes quiet. When that loop is out in the open for the two of you, we slow it right down while we talk and ask what each of you is hoping for from the other at the moment it begins. When two families or two cultures meet in one home, we can talk about what each of you was raised to expect and which of those expectations you both want to keep. Respect for parents and elders can sit alongside a marriage that is yours to run, and working out where that line falls takes time. If money is the flashpoint, we look at how you talk about it as well as the numbers. If an affair or a hidden debt has broken trust, repair is slow, and we go at a speed you can both manage. Sessions are open to any couple, married or not, whatever your genders or faiths.
What wears on couples in Peckham
Duty rosters that never match
One of you starting an early turn from Peckham bus garage, the other working late, and the only overlap a few minutes at the door. We can protect one hour that belongs to you both.
Families with firm opinions
Parents or in-laws with firm views on how you should live, whether they live round the corner or overseas. We look at what you both want to keep, and where you draw the line together.
When money becomes the argument
Pecan runs a food bank, the Peckham Pantry and employment support for local people. That practical help can ease the pressure while our sessions look at how the two of you talk about money.
When one partner is sinking
Should one partner be battling anxiety or low mood, Talking Therapies Southwark is open to self-referral, and our joint sessions can make room for how it is landing on the relationship.
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 Peckham
The free services I can name in Southwark work with individuals, so they're most useful when one of you wants support of your own. Talking Therapies Southwark, which South London and Maudsley runs, helps adults with worry or low mood without needing a GP to send them. The Southwark Wellbeing Hub from South East London Mind is another starting point. Either can run beside couples sessions with me.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)Talking 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 organisationMobiliseSupport for carers.
- Local organisationCopleston Church and Community Centre: Mental Health & Wellbeing ServicesCommunity centre running open-access mental health and.
Private counselling with me can run alongside any of these; you do not have to choose one or the other.
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.
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 Peckham ask before starting
Is there free couples counselling in Peckham or anywhere in Southwark?
I can't name a free service in Southwark that sees couples together. The free routes I know of are for individuals: Talking Therapies Southwark takes self-referrals on 020 3228 2194 for anxiety or low mood, and South East London Mind runs the Southwark Wellbeing Hub. If what you need is both of you in the same session, private couples counselling with me is the route, by video from Peckham.
Our families are closely involved in our marriage. Can couples counselling from Peckham respect our faith and culture?
Yes. Faith, culture and what your families expect are part of your relationship, and we treat them with respect in the session. I won't push either of you towards my own views. Together we look at what you were each brought up with and what you want as a couple, and you decide what we discuss. If either of you feels the sessions lean towards the other's background, say so and we'll adjust.
What if only one of us in Peckham is willing to start?
Then you start. We'd look at your half of what happens between you: how you react when things heat up, what you've been holding back, and what you'd like to be different. When one of you starts responding differently, that can change how things go between you, even before your partner joins. Should your partner want to come in later, we'd agree first how to make the sessions feel even-handed to them.
We work different shifts. How soon could couples sessions start from Peckham, and would we have to travel?
You wouldn't have to travel. Hove is about 90 minutes from Peckham by car, so the sessions happen by video. Either of you can book the free call, and I'll tell you honestly which regular times I have and how soon. If your rotas change week to week, we agree a time you both guard, and on a clashing week one of you can join from somewhere else private.
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, with or without your partner
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.