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Online Anxiety Counselling · Belfast
Online Anxiety Counselling in Belfast
Online anxiety counselling for Belfast, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Belfast, from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter to the streets around the City Hall, with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you
In and around Belfast
Anxiety Counselling for Belfast, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Belfast: from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter to the Falls, the Shankill, east Belfast and the south of the city
- Known for
- The City Hall, the Titanic Quarter and the shipyard cranes
- Region
- Northern Ireland
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS psychological therapies (Northern Ireland)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Belfast
Why people in Belfast get in touch
Belfast asks a lot of people who are already wound tight. The city has remade itself quickly around the Titanic Quarter, Belfast Harbour and the offices that replaced the old Harland and Wolff work, and the pace of that change is felt in the jobs, the rents and the sense that everyone else is managing. Students at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University's Belfast campus fill Botanic and Stranmillis with a particular kind of first-year dread. Further out, in Andersonstown, Sydenham or off the Ormeau, the worry is more often about money, work and getting through the week. It is also a city where privacy is prized, so anxiety is frequently carried in full view and mentioned to nobody.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Belfast
Cathedral QuarterTitanic QuarterFallsShankilleast BelfastBotanicStranmillisOrmeauBallyhackamoreAndersonstownMaloneSydenham
Wherever you are in Belfast, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Belfast
Official figures for Belfast, for context rather than as a description of you.
In the Belfast council area, 21.3% of adults reported a high anxiety score (6 or above out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Northern Ireland average of 19.0%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
In the Belfast council area, 8.6% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, well above the Northern Ireland average of 5.2%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does anxiety counselling involve?
Anxiety counselling here is practical and solution-focused: we work on the worry, panic, social anxiety and over-thinking that are actually affecting your day, and on simple ways to settle a nervous system stuck on high alert.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the full anxiety counselling page sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and professional standards and registration covers accountability.
What do I need for an online session?
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link, held to the same BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call, you join from any private space on a phone, tablet or laptop.
Sessions are held online, by secure video, wherever you are in the city. Bradley works from Hove, so there is nowhere here to attend, which for many people in Belfast is a relief rather than a limitation. No building in your own area to be seen going into. No crossing town in traffic to make a fixed appointment. You can take the hour from a flat in Ballyhackamore or a quiet corner of a shared house near the university, with headphones and a door closed.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can anxiety counselling in Belfast help with?
Social anxiety
Help with confidence, self-consciousness and fear of judgement.
Chronic worry
Support for overthinking, catastrophising and decision paralysis.
People-pleasing
Working with the need for control and approval.
Sleep and tension
Calming a nervous system stuck on high alert.
Responding differently
Tools for when anxiety starts to take hold.
Anxiety Counselling in Belfast
Why people in Belfast come for anxiety counselling
Anxiety in a city brings its own texture: panic on public transport, health worry that turns every symptom into an emergency, or a social dread that has slowly reduced your world to work and the walk home. The approach is practical and solution-focused rather than open-ended. We identify the loop precisely, name what avoidance is costing you, and then test one specific change between sessions, which is where most of the movement actually happens. Sleep, caffeine and breathing get attention early because they are quick wins and they steady everything else. For some people the anxiety sits on top of older material, and if that surfaces we slow down and deal with it properly rather than skating over it. This runs alongside the statutory route, not instead of it. Your GP can refer you for talking therapies through Health and Social Care, and Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000 at any hour.
A free, unhurried first step
Not sure if it is right for you? A free fifteen-minute call is a no-obligation way to talk it through.
Book a free 15-minute callFinding support in Belfast
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Belfast, your GP can refer you to talking therapies and counselling through Health and Social Care. You can find support through Lifeline, Northern Ireland's crisis helpline, free on 0808 808 8000.
Private sessions with me usually mean you can start sooner and stay with the same counsellor throughout; I am glad to work alongside any NHS or GP support you already have.
Other local and national support verified for this area includes:
If you need urgent help now
This is not a crisis service. If anyone is in immediate danger call 999. For urgent mental health support, call Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can text SHOUT to 85258.
Belfast questions
Online Anxiety Counselling in Belfast: common questions
How soon can I be seen, given the waits people talk about?
Private appointments do not depend on a referral, so the first free 15-minute call is usually arranged within days and a regular weekly slot follows soon after. It is still worth asking your GP about talking therapies through Health and Social Care so both routes are open to you.
What are the charges?
One hour is £80. A 90-minute session is £100 and a two-hour one is £120, which suits people who would rather meet less often for longer. The 15-minute introductory call is free, and it exists so you can hear how this works before spending anything.
Which Health and Social Care route applies in Belfast?
In Northern Ireland the way in is your GP, who can refer you to talking therapies through Health and Social Care. There is no self-referral scheme here of the kind England runs. Lifeline is the free crisis line on 0808 808 8000, and AWARE NI runs groups across the city.
I share a house near the university. Where can I actually talk?
Most students manage with headphones and a bedroom door, and a surprising number take the session in a parked car for the sake of an hour nobody interrupts. If the timing is the problem, sessions can be set for mornings when a house tends to be empty.
Can panic on the bus or the train be worked on?
Yes, and that is one of the more practical pieces of the work. We look at what happens in your body before the panic peaks, what you are doing to avoid the situation, and then plan graded steps back into it, reviewing each one the following week.
Can online counselling really help with anxiety in a city as busy as Belfast?
Yes. For many people a video session from home feels calmer than travelling across a busy city to an appointment. You need only a private space and a steady connection, and Bradley works with people right across Belfast by secure video from his base in Hove.
How soon can I start anxiety counselling online in Belfast?
Usually within a week. After a free 15-minute consultation to check we suit each other, Bradley Riddell offers online anxiety sessions by secure video across Belfast, from the Titanic Quarter to Andersonstown. There is no waiting room and no journey through the Glider traffic to manage.
How much does anxiety counselling cost compared with the NHS in Belfast?
NHS talking therapies in Belfast are free, though waiting times vary and choice of counsellor is limited. Private sessions with Bradley are £80 for 60 minutes, 100 for 90 and 120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation first, so you can begin quickly and set your own pace.
Do you offer evening anxiety sessions online for people in Belfast?
Yes. Because everything is delivered online by secure video from Bradley's Hove room, some evening slots are available for Belfast clients juggling work or study near Queen's. All you need is a private space and a steady connection, whether you are in east or south Belfast.
Online Anxiety Counselling in Belfast, whenever you are ready
A free fifteen-minute call is the simplest place to start, no obligation, just a chance to see if we are the right fit.
Also available online across Northern Ireland: Lisburn, Newtownabbey, Bangor. See all of Northern Ireland.
Close to this in Belfast, there is depression counselling, trauma counselling and counselling and therapy.
You may also find it useful to read about the miracle question and settling a spike of urgency.
For anyone near the coast, the same anxiety counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.