Panic attacks
Support for racing thoughts, panic episodes and chest tightness.
Online Anxiety Counselling · Stoke-on-Trent
Online Anxiety Counselling in Stoke-on-Trent
Online anxiety counselling for Stoke-on-Trent, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Stoke-on-Trent, from across the six towns, Hanley and Stoke to the streets around the bottle kilns, 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 Stoke-on-Trent
Anxiety Counselling for Stoke-on-Trent, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Stoke-on-Trent: across the six towns, from Hanley and Stoke to Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton
- Known for
- The bottle kilns, the Potteries and the canals
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Talking Therapies
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Stoke-on-Trent
Why do people in Stoke-on-Trent reach out?
Stoke-on-Trent is six towns stitched into one, and worry travels between them freely. Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton, Fenton and Stoke each kept their own character while the pottery and mining work that held them up drained away. What replaced it is often less certain: agency hours, contracts that end without warning, a wage that has to be stretched. Anxiety grows well in that soil. In 2022/23, 25.6% of adults here reported a high anxiety score, above the England average of 23.8%. It shows up as a mind that will not switch off at two in the morning, working through next month's money for the hundredth time and getting nowhere new.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Stoke-on-Trent
HanleyBurslemTunstallLongtonFentonStokeMeirBentileeTrenthamBucknall
Wherever you are in Stoke-on-Trent, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Stoke-on-Trent
Official figures for Stoke-on-Trent, for context rather than as a description of you.
25.6% 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 is anxiety counselling, in practice?
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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the main anxiety counselling page for the methods, how I work, sessions and fees for fees and session lengths, and my BACP registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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.
There is no room in this city and never has been; Bradley works from Hove, so counselling for Stoke-on-Trent is delivered online by secure video. For anxiety that is genuinely useful. You are not adding a bus fare and an unfamiliar building to a week that already feels precarious, and a session can be taken from home in Bentilee or Meir between shifts. Appointments hold a regular weekly time. The 15-minute consultation at the start costs nothing.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Stoke-on-Trent
Why people in Stoke-on-Trent come for anxiety counselling
People here tend to arrive late, in the sense that they have put up with it for years first. That is partly local temperament and partly circumstance: when money is tight, paying attention to your own head can feel like an indulgence. What usually tips it is the body. Chest tightness that felt like something worse. Panic in a supermarket queue in Longton. Sleep that has gone. Anxiety counselling is practical and solution-focused, and we start with what is actually happening rather than a history. What sets it off, what you do next, what that does to the next occasion. Then we change one link in that chain at a time and see what moves. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Talking Therapies is the free NHS service covering this area, it takes self-referrals without a GP letter, and using it alongside private work is perfectly normal.
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 Stoke-on-Trent
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Stoke-on-Trent, you can refer yourself directly to Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent 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.
Stoke-on-Trent questions
Online Anxiety Counselling in Stoke-on-Trent: common questions
Money is tight. Is there any point starting if I cannot commit to months of this?
There is. Short pieces of anxiety work can be genuinely useful, and nothing here is sold as a course you must finish. You can book week to week and stop when you have what you came for. Say what you can manage at the free consultation and we will be honest about it.
What are the session fees?
£80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, with a free 15-minute consultation first. Most people having anxiety counselling stay with the hour. There is nothing to pay upfront and no charge for the consultation whether or not you decide to carry on afterwards.
How do I get to Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Talking Therapies?
You refer yourself. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Talking Therapies is the free NHS talking therapies service for this area and does not require your GP to make the referral, though a GP can help if you would rather. Waits vary, so registering early is sensible.
I work rotating shifts. Can counselling fit round that?
It can, within reason. A fixed weekly hour is best where possible, and where a rota makes that impossible we agree a pattern that works across the cycle instead. Bring the rota to the consultation and we can look at it properly rather than guessing.
Does it help if my anxiety is mostly about work and money rather than anything in my head?
It does, because the two are not separable. Real pressure produces real worry. Counselling will not pay a bill, but it can stop the worry running all night, help you think clearly about what is actually in your control, and take the panic out of the decisions.
How does online counselling work if I've not tried it?
It is straightforward. Sessions happen over a video call at an agreed time, from wherever you feel private, whether that is one of the six towns or somewhere quieter nearby. You need only a reliable connection and a space where you won't be interrupted.
How soon can I start online anxiety counselling in Stoke-on-Trent?
Getting started is straightforward. Stoke-on-Trent is served online from the Hove room, so there is no journey between the six towns to a clinic and no local list. A free 15-minute consultation is usually arranged first, then we agree a regular time that fits your week.
What are your fees, and is this NHS or private in Stoke-on-Trent?
This is private counselling, not an NHS service. Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first. You can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies through a Stoke-on-Trent GP, though waiting times vary.
Do you offer in-person or evening anxiety sessions in Stoke-on-Trent?
In-person is not offered, since the room is in Hove and Stoke-on-Trent is served by video. Wherever you are across the Potteries, that often proves simpler than travelling. Evening and out-of-hours times can often be arranged around work or study at Staffordshire University.
Online Anxiety Counselling in Stoke-on-Trent, 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 Midlands: Derby, Telford, Tamworth. See all of Midlands.
People who come for anxiety counselling in Stoke-on-Trent often also look at depression counselling, trauma counselling and counselling and therapy.
There is more on this in my writing: the miracle question and settling a spike of urgency.
Within reach of Sussex? anxiety counselling is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.