Panic attacks
Support for racing thoughts, panic episodes and chest tightness.
Online Anxiety Counselling · Manchester
Online Anxiety Counselling in Manchester
Online anxiety counselling for Manchester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Manchester, from the city centre and the Northern Quarter to the streets around the canals, 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 Manchester
Anxiety Counselling for Manchester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Manchester: from the city centre and the Northern Quarter to Didsbury, Rusholme, Chorlton and Wythenshawe
- Known for
- The canals, the music venues and the two universities
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Manchester Talking Therapies
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Manchester
Why people in Manchester get in touch
Manchester runs fast and expects you to keep up. Rents climb, jobs in the media and tech sector around MediaCityUK or the firms of Spinningfields ask for availability rather than hours, and there is always something on that you are somehow missing. Anxiety in a city this busy tends to look like competence. You answer everything, you arrive early, you lie awake rehearsing a meeting. Locally, 24% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, just above the England average of 23.8%. Between the Northern Quarter, Ancoats and Fallowfield there are a great many people in shared flats managing that on their own, surrounded by other people doing exactly the same thing.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Manchester
the Northern QuarterAncoatsDidsburyChorltonRusholmeFallowfieldLevenshulmeWithingtonHulmeWythenshawePrestwich
Wherever you are in Manchester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Manchester
Official figures for Manchester, for context rather than as a description of you.
24% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, above the England average of 23.8%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Self-reported wellbeing: high anxiety score (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.
The approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the anxiety counselling page, alongside how I work and my BACP registration.
How do online sessions actually work?
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 happen online by secure video from Hove, which in a city with this much traffic and this little spare time is a straightforward advantage. Nothing has to be crossed town for and no hour is lost either side. Slots before work, at lunch or in the evening are usually available, and a session can be taken from a flat, a quiet room at home or a booked study space. For anxiety, cutting out the journey also cuts out an entire layer of anticipation.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does anxiety counselling address?
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 Manchester
Why people in Manchester come for anxiety counselling
People tend to get in touch once the anxiety has started shaping their work: emails reread five times, a presentation ducked, a promotion not applied for because the thought of it makes them feel sick. The counselling is practical and directed at change rather than at understanding alone. We produce a precise map of how yours runs, since a named loop can be broken and a vague dread cannot. What sets it going, what your body does, what you then avoid, and the bill that avoidance quietly runs up. Lowering the physical alarm comes first, as a skill you practise. Then graded steps test the specific prediction rather than the feeling. Manchester Talking Therapies takes self-referrals without a GP letter, and Manchester Mind is a further local organisation worth knowing about.
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 Manchester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Manchester, you can refer yourself directly to Manchester Talking Therapies for free NHS talking therapy, with no GP referral needed.
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 NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. The Samaritans are free, day or night, on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
Manchester questions
Online Anxiety Counselling in Manchester: common questions
My job expects me to be available constantly. Can counselling fit around that?
Yes. Early morning and evening slots are usually possible, and without travel a session fits inside a lunch hour. We also tend to look at the availability expectation itself, because a phone that is never off is a reliable contributor to the anxiety you are trying to reduce.
How do I get into Manchester Talking Therapies?
You refer yourself directly to that service, which takes self-referrals in England without needing a GP letter first. They ask a few questions about how things have been, then offer what fits. Waiting times vary, and there is no objection to running private sessions alongside while you wait.
What do you charge?
£80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, with a free 15-minute consultation before you decide anything. Anxiety work generally suits the hour taken regularly, since the change comes from repeated focused practice rather than from long single conversations.
I live in a shared flat in the city centre with no spare room. Where would I even do this?
Headphones make your side the only audible part, and plenty of people use a bedroom with the door shut, a parked car or a bookable room. If privacy is genuinely unreliable, sessions can be built so very little needs saying aloud, with the chat box used instead.
Everyone here seems to be doing brilliantly. Why does that make anxiety worse?
Because you are comparing your inside with everyone else's outside, and in a young, visible, heavily documented city that comparison runs constantly. It inflates the sense that you are uniquely struggling. Naming the mechanism helps, and so does testing what the comparison is actually based on.
Can counselling help if my anxiety is tied to work pressure in Manchester?
Yes. A great deal of the anxiety people bring is bound up with demanding jobs and long hours in a fast city. We'd look at how that pressure shows up in your body and thinking, and work on ways to steady it, all from the quiet of home with no commute added on.
How soon can I start anxiety counselling in Manchester?
We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then agree a regular weekly time that suits you. Because I work online across Manchester, from the Northern Quarter to Chorlton, there is no NHS waiting list to sit on, so your first full anxiety session can usually be arranged quickly.
What do you charge for anxiety counselling, and is there an NHS option in Manchester?
My fees are £80 for a 60-minute session, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, and the first 15-minute consultation is free. In Manchester you can also ask your GP about NHS Talking Therapies, which is free but often means a wait; private work with me can begin sooner.
Do you offer anxiety counselling in person or online for Manchester, and are evenings possible?
For someone in Manchester, anxiety sessions are held online by secure video or phone, which is more practical than travelling to my consulting room in Hove. Working from your own front room, whether in the Northern Quarter or Didsbury, often feels easier, and I can usually offer daytime or early-evening times.
Online Anxiety Counselling in Manchester, 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 North West: Bolton, Stockport, Oldham. See all of North West.
Close to this in Manchester, there is depression counselling, trauma counselling and counselling and therapy.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: the miracle question and settling a spike of urgency.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same anxiety counselling is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.