Providence Row’s service, A Place Within, which offers psychotherapy support to people on the streets, has been announced as one of three winners of the London Homelessness Awards 2026. They will share a prize fund on £60,000. We talked to Cerowyn Browne, Women’s Specialist Outreach Psychotherapist, about her work.
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Meeting people where they are: psychotherapy on the streets
Providence Row’s A Place Within service provides psychotherapy support to people experiencing homelessness across London. Among those delivering the service is Cerowyn Browne, Women’s Specialist Outreach Psychotherapist, who works with women experiencing homelessness across five London boroughs, including women who may be part of the hidden homeless population.
For Cerowyn, the starting point is simple: psychotherapy needs to meet people where they are.
When people think about psychotherapy, they might picture a quiet room, two comfortable chairs and a no interruptions from the outside world. Cerowyn’s work at Providence Row is very different.
Cerowyn’s work means meeting people where they are, finding a client where they may be sleeping. Recently, she sat with a client in a doorway outside M&S, on the client’s coat and alongside her dog. The client was not going to leave her dog and could not travel very far, so the session had to come to her.
It was not a conventional therapy room. People would walk past, some may give the client money and occasionally Cerowyn needed to explain to a security guard what they were doing. But if that was the place where the client felt able to engage, that was where the work began.
The approach needs to be flexible. Cerowyn sometimes meets people in hostels or day centres, where it is possible to create something closer to a traditional therapy session. For someone experiencing intense anxiety or who is neurodivergent, however, sitting face-to-face in a room can feel overwhelming. Sometimes the best option is simply to go for a walk.
The issues women bring to therapy can be complex. There can be significant risks from others, including abusive relationships, exploitation and the dangers associated with rough sleeping. Women may also be experiencing suicidal thoughts, self-harm, trauma or self-neglect.
One of the most important aspects of outreach psychotherapy is that there cannot always be an assumption that there will be a next session. People may move between accommodation and rough sleeping, lose their phone or simply disappear from contact. If risks to the client or others arise, Cerowyn must address them there and then, rather than leaving them to the following week.
Urgent safeguarding concerns are prioritised, while the therapeutic work is carried out at a pace that is appropriate for each individual.
Much of her work involves grounding and helping people develop practical ways of managing overwhelming emotions, anxiety and trauma. Breathing, mindfulness, movement and awareness of their surroundings can sound very simple, but they can become valuable tools that people can use themselves when experiencing panic or flashbacks.
For women experiencing abusive relationships, therapy can also provide something incredibly valuable: a space that belongs to them. Those 50 minutes can be a rare opportunity to reflect on their feelings, relationships and what they want, without somebody else controlling the conversation. This can help them to connect to a sense of autonomy and reflect on what they want for themselves.
Cerowyn is passionate about working with people who are often among the most forgotten in society. What excites her about the work is the way it challenges conventional ideas about what therapy needs to look like.
A Place Within doesn’t ask people to fit the service. It adapts the service to fit them.
That requires flexibility, professional boundaries and effective safeguarding, alongside curiosity, humanity and trust.
And sometimes, it starts with sitting down on a pavement and having a conversation.
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For more information about Providence Row please go to ‘A Place Within’ | Providence Row. The London Homelessness Awards will be announced on December 3rd.