Stratford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Couples therapy and relationship counselling for Stratford
This is for couples in Stratford, East Village or Maryland who keep circling back to the same row, and for one partner who would like to begin alone. With Hove a 94-minute drive and no direct train from Stratford, sessions happen on secure video, whether you share one screen in the flat or join separately from work and home.
The practical facts for Stratford
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Stratford by car
- About 94 minutes with clear roads (70.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)
- Newham Talking Therapies, 020 8175 1770
- 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.
Thin walls, crowded platforms and a district still changing
If your first home together is a flat in East Village or a new block in Stratford City, the walls can be thin and the only place to cool off after an argument is the Olympic Park or the crowds at Westfield.
You may both squeeze through Stratford station, the busiest Underground stop outside zone 1, and arrive home with nothing left over for each other. Students and graduates from UEL, UCL East and the London College of Fashion meet partners here, then face decisions about money, moving in or leaving London. Older households around Stratford New Town and the Carpenters Estate have watched the area rebuilt since the 2012 Games, and change on that scale can unsettle what a couple wants from where they live. For families in temporary accommodation the strain is sharper still: The Magpie Project, a Newham charity, campaigns about children growing up in hotels with just a kettle, and that pressure lands on parents' relationships too.
How couples sessions unfold from E15
In a first session, each of you gets the same amount of room. I ask each of you what has gone wrong and what you hope might change, and I ask the other to listen without rushing to correct it. Then we look at the pattern rather than the latest incident: who pursues, who withdraws, and what the silence after a row is protecting. In a district this busy, much of what a couple brings is about time and space. One of you leaves early for the Elizabeth line while the other finishes late; the flat is too small to calm down in; the rent leaves little over for anything you do together. Sometimes the pressure is family, such as a parent in Newham who needs daily care, and Newham Carers Community can support the caring side while we explore how it is landing on your relationship. You can arrive unsure whether you want to stay together. We can work at repair, or at separating with care, keeping any children out of the middle. If your partner is not ready yet, you can begin on your own, and that is real work in its own right. The methods behind this integrative approach are explained on their own page, which leaves this one for what living in E15 asks of a couple.
Strains Stratford puts on a relationship
Home after the crush, nothing left
Two commutes through one of Britain's busiest stations can leave you both drained, so evenings shrink to logistics and the conversations that matter keep getting postponed.
A small flat with no exit
In a new-build in East Village or Stratford City there may be nowhere to cool off after a row, so an argument runs far longer than either of you intends.
From student couple to settling down
Meeting at UEL, UCL East or the London College of Fashion can be easy. Deciding about rent, debt and who moves where after graduating tends to be harder.
Caring for family in Newham
When a parent or relative needs looking after, Newham Carers Community supports the carer, while our sessions look at how the caring is reshaping you as a pair.
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 Stratford
Free help in Newham can sit beside couples sessions. Newham Carers Community, led by Age UK East London, supports people looking after a relative. Mind THNR offers broader mental health help, and Newham Talking Therapies takes a self-referral from each of you separately, should the rows in your E15 flat come with low mood or anxiety of their own. Mums with under-fives in temporary accommodation can use The Magpie Project's drop-in.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)Newham Talking Therapies020 8175 1770Free 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 Newham Rise (Newham Drug and Alcohol Service, adults)0800 652 3879Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationMind in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Redbridge (Mind THNR)Mental health charity.
- Local organisationSamaritans of RedbridgeSamaritans branch, 24/7 listening service by phone.
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
Local drop-in crisis support: Newham Together Café (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 Stratford ask before starting
Can we have couples counselling from Stratford if we work completely different hours?
Yes. Because we meet over a secure video link, one partner might log on from a quiet corner at Here East while the other stays in the Maryland flat, as long as both spots are private. We fix a regular slot that fits both rotas, and a 90-minute session often gives a couple more room than a single hour.
Is there free couples counselling in Newham?
The free services I can point you to in Newham mostly support individuals rather than couples. Newham Talking Therapies will hear from either of you directly about anxiety or low mood, Mind THNR offers wider support, and Newham Carers Community helps when caring is part of the strain. Your GP can tell you what else runs locally. Private couples sessions with me can begin once we have had the free consultation.
My partner won't come. Can I start relationship counselling in Stratford on my own?
You can. Working alone on a relationship still counts: you look at your own part in the pattern, what you want, and what you are no longer willing to put up with. A partner sometimes joins later once it is clear the sessions are not about blame. We meet by video from wherever in E15 you can talk privately, at a regular weekly time.
We met at university in Stratford and now argue about whether to stay in London. Can counselling help?
It can give the decision a calmer setting. Graduating from UEL or UCL East often forces choices about jobs, rent and family expectations that neither of you faced as students. In sessions we slow the argument down until staying and leaving can both be talked about for what they really mean to each of you, and then we look at what you could build either way.
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.
Book a first call, one of you or both
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.