Uxbridge · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Couples therapy and relationship counselling for Uxbridge
This page is for couples in Uxbridge, or for one partner who wants to talk about the relationship alone. Hove is about 86 minutes' drive from the town, so sessions would normally run on secure video, side by side on a single laptop or from two different rooms, with an occasional session in the Hove room if you'd like to sit in it together.
The practical facts for Uxbridge
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Uxbridge by car
- About 86 minutes with clear roads (72.6 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)
- Hillingdon Talking Therapies, 01895 206 800
- 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.
Sharing a postcode, keeping opposite hours
In Uxbridge a couple can share a home and keep almost opposite hours.
One of you might be on nights at Hillingdon Hospital or training as a nurse at the Buckinghamshire New University campus, while the other follows the Brunel teaching year, keeps office hours at the Civic Centre or leaves on an early Metropolitan train for Aldgate. Brunel describes itself as one of the largest employers in the area, with around 2,500 staff, so a university calendar can shape a household as much as any rota. Weekends get swallowed by errands at The Chimes, family visits and the jobs that piled up during the week. The town sits on the Buckinghamshire edge along the River Colne, close enough for an evening walk by the Grand Union Canal, and yet it is possible to let whole weeks pass with the two of you in separate rooms on separate screens. A relationship can drift like that without either partner choosing it.
Couples work when your shifts barely overlap
Coming to couples counselling doesn't mean the relationship is failing. It can be the first time in months that both of you sit down with the same hour protected. We start by hearing how each of you sees things, without deciding who is right, and then look at the cycle you get caught in: one pushes for closeness while the other retreats into work or a phone, or one carries all the planning while the other feels managed. Money, children, in-laws and caring for a parent all find their way in. If drinking has become part of the friction, we can talk about that too. Sometimes the work is about recovering trust after an affair; sometimes it is about ending things in a way that protects the children and your dignity. You can also start alone if your partner isn't ready, and look at your own part in the pattern. Having counselled for upwards of 25 years, and been through recovery myself, I can hear the unflattering things said out loud without judging either of you, and I stay on the side of neither partner.
Strains an Uxbridge relationship can carry
Opposite rotas on Pield Heath Road
When one partner works shifts at Hillingdon Hospital, a video session can be timed to the gap between rotas, so neither of you gives up sleep to attend.
Brunel term and the rest of life
Marking peaks and research deadlines at Brunel University London can make one partner vanish into work for weeks, and the other quietly stop asking for time.
An elderly parent in the picture
Carers Trust Hillingdon supports unpaid carers in the borough, which matters when an ageing parent's needs start to fall more on one of you than on the other.
Starting out together
With Uxbridge College opening an employment hub in September 2026 to help young people into work, first jobs, first flats and first money decisions can all land on a young couple at once.
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 Uxbridge
Alongside couples sessions, Mind in Hillingdon runs The Free Counselling Service, and Hillingdon Talking Therapies accepts a direct referral from either of you when worry or low mood sits heavily. Carers Trust Hillingdon is there for whichever of you looks after a relative. If a partner's drinking is the main worry, the Al-Anon Uxbridge Daytime Tuesday group welcomes family and friends in person.
- Free NHS talking therapy (for one of you)Hillingdon Talking Therapies01895 206 800Free 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 itARCH Hillingdon020 3838 7850Run by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationSamaritans of Hillingdon
- Local organisationHarlington Hospice & Michael Sobell House: Bereavement Counselling
- Local organisationFootprints bereavement group (St Margaret's Church, Uxbridge)
- Local organisationHillingdon Hospital Bereavement Office
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
Locally, the CNWL Mental Health Single Point of Access crisis line (London boroughs including Hillingdon) is on 0800 0234 650.
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 Uxbridge ask before starting
Can we have couples counselling from Uxbridge if one of us works nights at Hillingdon Hospital?
Yes. Sessions run on secure video, so we can choose a time that falls between shifts rather than straight after a night. You can log in from two different private places, perhaps one at home and one in a quiet room before a shift. If the rota changes from month to month, we agree the next few dates together at the end of each session.
Is there free relationship support in Hillingdon?
Free help in the borough that either of you can use on your own includes The Free Counselling Service run by Mind in Hillingdon, and Hillingdon Talking Therapies, self-referral on 01895 206 800, for anxiety or low mood. Both can run alongside joint sessions. Private sessions with me as a couple have no waiting list: after the free consultation, you pick a first slot that fits both your weeks in Uxbridge.
Do we have to travel to Hove together for relationship counselling from Uxbridge?
No. Getting to the Hove room takes roughly 86 minutes by road, longer by Tube and train, so couples work from Uxbridge runs over secure video. Couples who want to be together in the Hove room with me can travel down from Uxbridge for a 90-minute session, perhaps early on or at a turning point in the work.
My partner won't come along; is it still worth seeing you alone from Uxbridge?
You can, and it is often a sensible place to begin. On your own, we look at what keeps happening between you, what you want, and what you're no longer willing to carry. Sessions happen by video from home or anywhere private in Uxbridge. Should your partner want to come in later, we first agree how to keep things even-handed for you both.
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.
A shared hour for the two of you, from Uxbridge
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.