Panic attacks
Support for racing thoughts, panic episodes and chest tightness.
Online Anxiety Counselling · York
Online Anxiety Counselling in York
Online anxiety counselling for York, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across York, from within the walls and the centre to the streets around the Minster, 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 York
Anxiety Counselling for York, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of York: from within the walls and the centre to Clifton, Acomb and Heworth
- Known for
- The Minster, the city walls and the Shambles
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS Talking Therapies (find via the NHS finder)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in York
What is going on for people in York?
York looks calm from the outside, and that is part of the difficulty. In 2022/23, 26.2% of adults reported a high anxiety score, above the England average of 23.8%, which sits oddly against a city people visit to relax in. The tourism and heritage sector runs on seasonal hours and public-facing work, and being pleasant to strangers all day is tiring in a way that is hard to explain at home. Housing costs are high for the wages available. Students at the University of York arrive expecting somewhere gentle and find the same deadlines as anywhere. In Acomb and Holgate the worry is far more often the rent.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around York
CliftonAcombHeworthBishopthorpeFulfordFishergateHolgateDringhousesHuntingtonHeslington
Wherever you are in York, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in York
Official figures for York, for context rather than as a description of you.
26.2% 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 would we do together in anxiety counselling?
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 anxiety counselling in detail, alongside how sessions run and what they cost and my credentials and registration.
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.
I am in Hove, so there is nowhere here to attend and sessions happen by secure video. In a compact city where the same faces recur, that privacy is worth a good deal. Nobody notices you going anywhere, because you are at home in Fulford or Heworth with the door shut. It also means no walk through crowded streets beforehand, which for some people is itself the worst part of an appointment. The weekly time stays fixed.
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 York
Why people in York come for anxiety counselling
People here often apologise for coming. They say the city is lovely and they have no reason to feel like this, and then describe months of dread before shifts, checking, or lying awake rehearsing conversations. Anxiety counselling is practical and aimed at change. We take one recent episode and go through it properly: trigger, prediction, what the body did, and what you did afterwards to make it stop. Escape and reassurance are examined closely, because both work briefly and both teach the alarm that it was right. Then we test things in small steps you set. Sleep, seasonal hours and money pressure are all treated as part of the picture rather than excuses. There is no separately branded local NHS service to search for, so the route is the NHS Talking Therapies finder, open to self-referral across England. York Mind runs support locally.
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 York
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In York, you can refer yourself directly to NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression, with no GP referral needed. You can find support through the NHS Talking Therapies finder.
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.
York questions
Online Anxiety Counselling in York: common questions
I serve the public all day and hold it together until I get home. Is that anxiety?
It can be, and constant public-facing work is a genuine load rather than an easy job. Holding a pleasant face for eight hours and collapsing afterwards is a recognisable pattern, particularly in seasonal roles where the hours and the income both keep moving.
How do I get NHS anxiety support in York?
The NHS Talking Therapies finder is the self-referral route and covers England, so no GP appointment is needed to begin. People often search for a locally named service, cannot find one, and stop looking; the national finder is the right place rather than a substitute.
What will it cost me?
The opening 15-minute consultation is free and obliges you to nothing. Sessions are £80 / 60 min, and longer appointments are available at £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min. Payment is per session, so nothing is committed in advance.
Everyone tells me how lucky I am to live here. Does that make it harder to admit to?
Frequently, yes. Struggling in a place other people save up to visit can feel indefensible, so it goes unmentioned for longer. Anxiety does not consult the postcode, and having a pleasant view from the walls has never yet stopped anyone panicking.
I am a student at Heslington and my anxiety is worst before seminars. Can that be worked on?
Yes, and quite specifically. We would look at what happens in the hours beforehand, what you do to get through it, and how avoidance and over-preparation both feed the same fear. Sessions fit around a timetable easily because there is no travelling involved.
I'm a student at York, can counselling fit around term?
Yes. Because we meet online, sessions carry on through term, exams and trips home wherever you are. I work privately, separate from the university's wellbeing service, so you can use both if you wish, without interrupting the continuity of our work.
How soon can I start anxiety counselling online in York?
Usually within a week. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then a first session by secure video. I'm based in Hove and work online across York, so there's no waiting list and no walk through the tourist crowds or parking within the walls to arrange.
What do you charge, and how does it compare with the NHS in York?
Fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS talking therapies in York are free but can mean a wait; online and private, you can usually start sooner and keep a steady weekly time.
Can sessions be online in the evening rather than in person in York?
Yes. I work from Hove by secure video, not a room in York, so you join from home in Acomb or Clifton with no walk through the crowds. Evening slots are often possible, which suits anxiety that flares around a busy working day.
Online Anxiety Counselling in York, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Leeds, Hull, Harrogate. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
People who come for anxiety counselling in York often also look at depression counselling, trauma counselling and counselling and therapy.
There is more on this in my writing: settling a spike of urgency and the miracle question.
Within reach of Sussex? anxiety counselling is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.