Brighton · in person in Hove or online
Bereavement and grief counselling in Brighton
When a death has left you in Brighton carrying more grief than you can hold alone, bereavement counselling with me can happen in a quiet room on Western Road in Hove or over secure video. I'm Bradley Riddell, a BACP-registered counsellor. There are no stages to get through here, and no timetable for how you ought to feel.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call 999 or the Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night. More urgent help is on this page.
The practical facts for Brighton
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Brighton by car
- About 6 minutes with clear roads (1.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Brighton to Hove.
- Free bereavement helpline
- Cruse Bereavement Support helpline, 0808 808 1677
- 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.
Grieving while Brighton carries on around you
After a death, the city doesn't pause. The seafront still fills on a warm afternoon, trains still leave Brighton station for London, and North Laine is as busy on Saturday as it ever was. That can make a loss feel strangely private. You may have spent the last days in a corridor at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, and now a trip past it can bring those days straight back. You may be a student at Falmer or at the University of Brighton who heard the news far from home and went back to lectures before anyone knew. If you're part of the city's LGBTQ+ community, the person you lost may have been a partner or a friend who was family in every way that mattered, while a funeral somewhere else treated you as a guest. Grief like that can go unrecognised by the people around you. In counselling, it has room.
What grief counselling with me is like
Grief doesn't move through neat stages, and nobody can tell you how long it should last. In our sessions you set the pace. Some weeks you may want to talk about the person: what they were like, the last time you saw them, the things left unsaid. Other weeks it may be the paperwork, the empty chair at the table, or the friends who stopped calling. There's room for anger, guilt and even relief as well as sadness, especially after a long illness or a relationship that was hard. If you looked after the person who died, losing that role can leave its own emptiness on top of the loss. When a death was sudden, or by suicide, shock can sit underneath everything, and we go gently. In a city with this much nightlife, a drink can quietly become the way you get through the evenings afterwards. If that has started to worry you, you can say so here without being judged, and I bring my own lived experience of recovery to that conversation. Counselling gives grief somewhere to go, so that you're carrying it with someone beside you.
Losses that can bring you to counselling from Brighton
After the last days in hospital
If you spent someone's final days at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, the building and the road there can hold those memories. We can talk about them when you're ready.
When you were their carer
Caring for someone until they died can mean losing a role and a routine as well as a person. We make room for the tiredness, the guilt and the relief.
A loss others didn't recognise
If you lost a partner or chosen family within Brighton's LGBTQ+ community, your grief may have gone unseen. MindOut, the LGBTQ mental health charity, offers support too.
Bereaved while studying
News of a death can reach you between seminars at Falmer or on Lewes Road, among University of Sussex or University of Brighton friends who never knew them. Video sessions can carry on if you go home.
Free bereavement support for Brighton
When a death in Brighton or Hove was by suicide, Bereaved by Suicide Sussex, run by Cruse Bereavement Support, offers specialist help that can sit beside our sessions. Mind in Brighton and Hove offers local mental health services, and Brighton Hove and District Samaritans is the city's branch if a night feels too long to get through alone.
- Free bereavement helplineCruse Bereavement Support helpline0808 808 1677Free, from trained volunteers. Open Monday and Wednesday to Friday 9.30am to 5pm, Tuesday 1pm to 8pm.
- Free NHS talking therapyBrighton and Hove Wellbeing Service0300 002 0060Free NHS talking therapy for low mood or anxiety that has settled in after a loss. You can refer yourself, with no GP referral needed.
- If drinking or drug use is part of itBrighton & Hove Recovery Service01273 731900Run by Change Grow Live. Free and confidential.
- Local organisationThe Carers Centre for Brighton and Hove
- Local organisationCarers Hub Brighton & Hove
If someone at home is hurting, threatening or controlling you, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 2000 247.
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
In this area you can also text SUSSEX to 85258.
What people in Brighton ask before starting
How soon after a death can I start bereavement counselling in Brighton?
Whenever it feels right for you. You can get in touch within weeks of a death or years afterwards, and there's no wrong moment. On the free 15-minute call, you might mention who died and which part of losing them weighs on you most today, and then we'll agree a session time. You don't need a GP referral, and I'll be honest about when I have space.
Where can I find free grief support in Brighton and Hove?
The Cruse Bereavement Support national line is 0808 808 1677, and closer to home its Bereaved by Suicide Sussex team helps those left behind after a suicide. When grief has settled into a low mood or anxiety that won't lift, you can refer yourself on 0300 002 0060 to the Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service, which provides NHS Talking Therapies across the city. Our sessions can sit beside whichever of these you choose.
Can I have grief counselling by video from my home in Brighton?
Yes. On screen you can stay in your own Brighton home, with their photo or a jumper of theirs close by if that helps, and stay put on days when going out is hard. When you'd like a space apart from home, the Hove room is a short drive or one direct train from Brighton station. You can mix the two.
Since the funeral my drinking has crept up. Can we talk about both?
Yes. Drinking to get through the evenings after a death is understandable, and you can talk about it here without being judged. I have lived experience of recovery, so we can look at the grief and the drink together. If you drink heavily every day, speak to your GP or the Brighton and Hove Recovery Service before stopping, because stopping suddenly can be unsafe.
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.
When you're ready to talk about them
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.