Panic attacks
Support for racing thoughts, panic episodes and chest tightness.
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 (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 reach out
Belfast is a resilient, fast-changing capital still living with the legacy of the Troubles alongside the ordinary pressures of a modern city. Intergenerational trauma, community divisions and real deprivation in parts of the city all shape what people here carry, and privacy can matter all the more.
Belfast wraps around the Lagan and the great yellow cranes of the old Harland and Wolff yard, a city that has remade itself around the Titanic Quarter, Queen's University and a lively Cathedral Quarter. Days move between the Glider buses running east and west, the covered stalls of St George's Market, and the green rise of Cave Hill above the north of the city. Students fill Botanic and the Holylands, workers pour through the new Grand Central Station, and the ferries slip out towards Cairnryan and Liverpool. From Ballyhackamore's cafes to the murals of the Falls and the Shankill, it is a place of strong loyalties and warm humour, where a great deal of ordinary life is lived close to a complicated past.
Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.
Belfast is home to Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University's city campus, and to the Royal Victoria Hospital and Belfast City Hospital, with health and social care delivered by the Belfast HSC Trust.
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 anxiety counselling itself
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.
The approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main anxiety counselling page and on how I work.
How online sessions work
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
Reaching support in Belfast can be as simple as finding a quiet hour and a reliable connection. Sessions here are held online, by secure video, right across Northern Ireland, so you never need to cross the city or sit in a waiting room. Please know the counsellor is based in Hove and works UK-wide by video rather than seeing anyone in person here, which means help fits around your day wherever you are in the city.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online anxiety counselling in Belfast can help
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
Belfast keeps a fast pace: the Glider buses crossing east and west, students filling Botanic, the crowds moving through the new Grand Central Station. In a capital that has remade itself yet still lives close to a complicated past, anxiety can build quietly, a tightness that follows you from work to home and refuses to switch off. Anxiety counselling with Bradley Riddell offers an unhurried space to understand what keeps your mind racing and to loosen its grip. Sessions are held online by secure video from his Hove base, so you can talk from anywhere in the city without crossing town or sitting in a waiting room.
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, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Belfast questions
Online Anxiety Counselling in Belfast: common questions
Can I get online anxiety counselling if I live in Belfast?
Yes. I work with people right across Belfast, from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter outwards, and anywhere else in Northern Ireland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Can online counselling really help with panic attacks?
Yes. We work on what happens in your body when anxiety spikes and rehearse practical ways to settle it, which translates well to video sessions you do from a place you already feel safe.
What if my anxiety makes video calls themselves difficult?
That is common and completely workable. We can start with the camera off, keep early sessions short and build up at your pace; many anxious clients find home the easiest place to begin.
How long does anxiety counselling usually take?
It varies, but solution-focused work often makes a difference within a handful of sessions. We review together rather than committing you to an open-ended course.
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 pounds 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.
Can I see the counsellor in person in Belfast?
No. The counsellor is based in Hove and works only online, by secure video, with people across Northern Ireland. You can have sessions from home anywhere in Belfast, which many people find more private than attending somewhere in the city.
Does online counselling work as well from Belfast?
Many people find a video session from their own front room easier than travelling across the city. All you need is a private space and a steady connection, whether you are in the east, the north or the south of 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.
All counselling & therapy in Belfast: Addiction · Substance Use · Drinking Problems · Depression · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same anxiety counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.