Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Cheltenham
Online Counselling and Therapy in Cheltenham
Online counselling and therapy for Cheltenham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Cheltenham, from the Promenade and Montpellier to the streets around the Pittville Pump Room, 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 Cheltenham
Counselling and Therapy for Cheltenham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Cheltenham: from the Promenade and Montpellier to Pittville, Charlton Kings and Hesters Way
- Known for
- The Promenade, the Pittville Pump Room and the racecourse
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Let's Talk, the Gloucestershire NHS Talking Therapies service
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Cheltenham
Why people in Cheltenham get in touch
There is a particular kind of tiredness that comes from keeping up appearances in a sociable town. Cheltenham fills its calendar with festivals and race meetings, everyone seems to be out enjoying something, and admitting that you have felt bleak since the winter feels faintly embarrassing. You would not call it depression. You would not call it anything. It is more that the pleasure has gone out of things that used to be fine, and you have got quietly good at not mentioning it. Around Benhall and Fairview the money is tighter than the postcard suggests, and worry about it does not announce itself either. None of this needs a name before you talk to someone.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Cheltenham
MontpellierPittvilleCharlton KingsHesters WayLeckhamptonThe SuffolksPrestburyBenhallFairviewLansdown
Wherever you are in Cheltenham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Cheltenham
Official figures for Cheltenham, for context rather than as a description of you.
21.2% 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 12.9% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, below the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 92.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 117 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Emergency Hospital Admissions for Intentional Self-Harm (2023/24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together 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 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 main counselling and therapy page, alongside how I work, sessions and fees and my credentials and registration.
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.
Cheltenham is an online location. Bradley sees people by secure video from Hove, and for a first conversation that removes most of the awkwardness: no reception, no town-centre parking, nobody to walk past. The free 15-minute call is genuinely just a call. Sessions afterwards are weekly to start with, generally an hour, and can sit around a working day or a term timetable without anyone having to know.
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 Cheltenham
Why people in Cheltenham come for counselling and therapy
This is the entry point when the problem has no shape yet. You will not be asked to arrive with a category or account for yourself in one paragraph. We start with the ordinary evidence: how the week goes, what you dread, what you have quietly given up. Most people find the thing they could not name turns out to have a name after all, once they have said the whole of it out loud once. Recorded depression covered 12.9% of adult patients on GP registers in 2024/25, under the England average of 14.3%, which measures who reached a doctor rather than who is struggling, and reaching a doctor is the exact step people in a proud town put off. This work is present-focused and often runs six to twelve sessions. Let's Talk, the Gloucestershire NHS Talking Therapies service, is the NHS self-referral option.
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 Cheltenham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Cheltenham, you can refer yourself directly to Let's Talk, the Gloucestershire 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.
Cheltenham questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Cheltenham: common questions
Is it worth coming if I am not in crisis?
Yes. Most people who book are not in crisis at all. They are flat, or worn down, or stuck on something they cannot explain to friends who only see the cheerful version. Counselling is designed for exactly that, well before anything reaches an emergency.
What are the fees, and do I have to commit to a course?
Nothing is booked in blocks. Sessions are £80 an hour, with £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours if more time helps. You can stop whenever you have got what you came for. The opening 15-minute consultation costs nothing, and booking further sessions afterwards is not expected.
Should I try the NHS route in Gloucestershire first?
Many do, and it is sensible. Let's Talk, the Gloucestershire NHS Talking Therapies service, takes self-referrals directly and is free. Waiting times differ across the county. Starting there and moving to private work later is a common enough path, and using both is also fine.
How long before I feel any different?
People often notice some relief after the first proper conversation, simply from having said it. Real change usually takes several weeks and shows up first in sleep or in temper rather than in mood. Six to twelve sessions is a fair expectation for present-day difficulties.
I work at GCHQ. Are there limits on what I can bring to counselling?
You would follow whatever rules your employer sets about what can be discussed, and therapy works fine within them. Feelings, pressure, exhaustion and the effect on home life need no operational detail whatsoever. Plenty of useful work happens without a counsellor knowing what anyone does.
I work at GCHQ and value discretion. How private are the sessions?
Very. Sessions are held by secure video and are entirely confidential, taken from wherever you feel private, with nothing going through your employer. The counselling room is in Hove, so Cheltenham is served online rather than at any local premises.
How quickly can I start online counselling in Cheltenham?
Getting started in Cheltenham is usually quick, within a week or two. A free 15-minute consultation comes first so you can see how it feels, then we arrange a first session. Sessions are online by secure video; the room is in Hove, near neither Montpellier nor Charlton Kings but easy to reach on screen.
How much is counselling in Cheltenham, 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 Cheltenham can also seek NHS Talking Therapies in Gloucestershire via their GP if they prefer.
Is counselling in Cheltenham delivered online, and are evening times available?
All sessions are held online by secure video, so you can meet from anywhere private in Cheltenham, whether that is home in Montpellier or a quiet room near work. Some evening slots suit commuters and staff linked to GCHQ working through the day. In-person visits only suit those able to travel to the Hove room.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Cheltenham, 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: Gloucester, Worcester. See all of South West.
Close to this in Cheltenham, there is anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
You may also find it useful to read about where to start when you cannot name it and how change actually sticks.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.