Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Bristol
Online Counselling and Therapy in Bristol
Online counselling and therapy for Bristol, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bristol, from the harbourside and the centre to the streets around the Suspension Bridge, 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 Bristol
Counselling and Therapy for Bristol, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bristol: from the harbourside and the centre to Clifton, Bedminster, Stokes Croft and Easton
- Known for
- The Suspension Bridge, the harbourside and the Downs
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Bristol
What brings people in Bristol to counselling?
Bristol moves quickly and it is easy to feel you are lagging behind it. Everyone appears to be starting something, and you are managing to get through the week and no more. Nothing has broken. You are just aware, walking up through Montpelier or waiting at Fishponds, that the ordinary interest has drained out of most of it. Rent takes what it takes. The job in a fast, target-driven industry takes the rest. Friends have scattered to Knowle and Horfield and everyone is busy. When there is no single event to point at, people tend to wait, then wait longer, and the waiting is generally the worst part of it.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bristol
CliftonBedminsterStokes CroftEastonBishopstonSouthvilleRedlandMontpelierFishpondsKnowleHorfieldSt Pauls
Wherever you are in Bristol, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bristol
Official figures for Bristol, for context rather than as a description of you.
23.2% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, below the England average of 23.8%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Self-reported wellbeing: high anxiety score (2022/23).
recorded depression on GP registers stood at 15.6% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 222.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 117 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Emergency Hospital Admissions for Intentional Self-Harm (2023/24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens in counselling and therapy?
Counselling and therapy here is one steady starting point for whatever you are carrying, anxiety, low mood, addiction, relationships or the past, integrative and led by you, so we begin with what matters most and shape the work around you.
The method travels; only the geography changes. everything on counselling and therapy explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and professional standards and registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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.
This is an online location, with Bradley working from Hove. That means no bus across the city and no appointment you have to explain to anybody, just a free 15-minute call to see whether it fits. Sessions run weekly at first, usually an hour, and can be arranged around shifts or a lecture timetable. If it turns out not to be for you, you have lost an hour and nothing else.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does counselling and therapy help with?
Low mood and depression
For the flatness, exhaustion and loss of interest that drain the colour from things.
Addiction and habits
Alcohol, drugs, gambling or behaviours that have stopped feeling like a choice.
Relationships
Conflict, distance and trust, as a couple or on your own.
Trauma and the past
When something you have been through still shapes your present.
Life feeling stuck
For the big transitions, losses and crossroads that leave you unsure which way to turn.
Counselling and Therapy in Bristol
Why people in Bristol come for counselling and therapy
Start here when you cannot yet say what the problem is. That is not a failure of self-knowledge; it is the ordinary condition of most people who book a first session. We stay with the present: your actual week, the bits that drain you, the things that used to matter and have gone quiet. A shape emerges from that within a few sessions. Recorded depression on GP registers reached 15.6% of adult patients in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%, which is a lot of people in one city carrying something not visible from outside. This kind of work is short to medium term, often six to twelve sessions, present-focused and free of jargon. VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service, is the England self-referral route if you would rather try that first, and Bristol Mind runs alongside.
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 Bristol
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bristol, you can refer yourself directly to VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service 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.
Bristol questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Bristol: common questions
Do I need to know what is wrong before the first session?
No. Turning up without a label is completely usual, and putting words to it is part of what the sessions do. Bring the symptoms you have noticed instead: broken sleep, irritability, the sense of watching your own life. That is more than enough to work with.
What is the cost for regular weekly sessions?
Each hour is £80. If you want longer, 90 minutes is £100 and two hours is £120, but most people at this stage use the hour. The initial 15-minute consultation is free and carries no obligation to book anything afterwards.
What is the free NHS option in Bristol?
VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service, is the local NHS Talking Therapies provider and you can refer yourself in England without a GP. It is designed for anxiety and low mood. Bristol Mind can offer support locally if the wait is longer than you can manage.
Is this the same as the psychotherapy listed on the site?
No. Counselling here works with what is going on now and tends to run for weeks or a few months. Psychotherapy is longer and goes into how you came to be this way. People often do the first and only later decide whether the second is warranted.
I am a student at the University of Bristol. Is this suitable term by term?
It is. Work can run across a term and continue over the vacation without changing anything, since the sessions are online. Students at the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England often prefer that to starting over with a new service each year.
What kinds of things can I bring to counselling and therapy from Bristol?
Anything weighing on you: work stress from the studios or aerospace works, loneliness in a busy city, anxiety, low mood, or a difficult patch. Sessions are held by secure video, so you can talk it through from wherever you feel private in Bristol. The room itself is in Hove.
How quickly can I start online counselling in Bristol?
There is no local waiting list, so most people in Bristol start within a week or two of getting in touch. We begin with a free 15-minute call, then book a first full session. Everything runs by secure video, with the room itself in Hove near Bedminster.
How much is counselling in Bristol, and can I get it through the NHS?
This is a private practice, so sessions are self funded rather than through the NHS. A 60-minute session is £80, 90 minutes is £100 and 120 minutes is £120, and the first 15-minute consultation is free. People in Bristol can also seek NHS Talking Therapies in Bristol via their GP if they prefer.
Is counselling in Bristol delivered online, and are evening times available?
All sessions are held online by secure video, so you can meet from anywhere private in Bristol, whether that is home in Clifton or a quiet room near work. Some evening slots suit students at the University of Bristol and UWE working through the day. In-person visits only suit those able to travel to the Hove room.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Bristol, 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 South West: Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester. See all of South West.
Also available in Bristol: anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: how change actually sticks and where to start when you cannot name it.
For anyone near the coast, the same counselling and therapy runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.