Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Edinburgh
Online Counselling and Therapy in Edinburgh
Online counselling and therapy for Edinburgh, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Edinburgh, from the Old Town and New Town to the streets around the castle, 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 Edinburgh
Counselling and Therapy for Edinburgh, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Edinburgh: from the Old Town and New Town to Leith, Morningside and Portobello
- Known for
- The castle, Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile
- Region
- Scotland
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS psychological therapies (Scotland)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Edinburgh
Why do people in Edinburgh reach out?
A capital city is a hard place to admit you are struggling. All around you are people apparently doing brilliantly: students at the University of Edinburgh, analysts and lawyers in the financial services sector, everybody busy and everybody fine. Meanwhile you have been waking at four, forgetting things, and dreading a job you are actually good at. Living costs here are among the highest in Scotland, which has its own effect, keeping people in flatshares long past the age they expected or in a relationship they would otherwise have left. Many of the people who get in touch cannot name a cause. They simply know this is not how they used to feel.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Edinburgh
Old TownNew TownLeithMorningsidePortobelloStockbridgeBruntsfieldMarchmontCorstorphineNewington
Wherever you are in Edinburgh, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Edinburgh
Official figures for Edinburgh, for context rather than as a description of you.
In the City of Edinburgh, 30.1% of adults reported a high anxiety score (6 or above out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 24.1%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
In the City of Edinburgh, 9.3% of adults reported a low happiness score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Scotland average of 9.1%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
In the City of Edinburgh, 4.0% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 6.1%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does counselling and therapy involve?
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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the full counselling and therapy page for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost for fees and session lengths, and qualifications, registration and ethics if you want to check who you would be working with.
What happens in 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.
Everything is online, because Bradley is in Hove and there is no room in the city. For a first piece of counselling that is a genuine help. Nobody watches you go into a building, and in a city where a colleague lives two streets away that matters. You do not lose an evening travelling across town after work. If you are in a flatshare in Bruntsfield or Marchmont, headphones and a closed door are all that is required.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does counselling and therapy address?
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 Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh come for counselling and therapy
This is where to start when you cannot yet name the problem. People arrive saying some version of I do not know why I am like this at the moment, and that is a perfectly sufficient beginning. The work is present-focused: what your week actually contains, where the pressure sits, what you have stopped doing that you used to enjoy, and what could realistically change. It is short to medium term, generally a matter of weeks or a few months, and it is reviewed openly rather than allowed to drift on. For some people it is all they need; for others it clarifies that something older is involved, which we can then discuss. In the health service here, a GP referral is what opens NHS psychological therapies; NHS inform carries self-help you can trust, and Breathing Space answers free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 Edinburgh
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Edinburgh, your GP can refer you to NHS psychological therapies, and you can find trusted self-help through NHS inform. You can find support through NHS inform; for confidential listening support, Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can text SHOUT to 85258.
Edinburgh questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Edinburgh: common questions
Everyone here seems to be coping better than me. Is that true?
Almost certainly not. A city of high achievers is also a city of people managing quietly, and the polished version is the only one most of us ever get to see. The comparison is unfair by construction, and it is usually one of the first things worth examining together.
I have never tried therapy. What happens in the first hour of it?
Mostly you talk and I listen carefully. I will ask what brought you now rather than a month ago, about sleep, work and the people around you, and about what you want to be different. There is no test, no form to complete and nothing you are obliged to disclose.
What do sessions cost in practice?
£80 for sixty minutes is the standard rate, with £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two hours if you want a longer sitting. Everything starts with a free 15-minute consultation. Payment is per session, so you can stop whenever you like without owing anything more.
How do I get NHS help in Edinburgh?
Speak to your GP, who can refer you into NHS psychological therapies, and ask what the current local wait looks like. NHS inform is the trustworthy self-help source in the meantime. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87 and answers in the evenings and through the night.
I share a flat in Marchmont with three other people. Where in the flat would a session go?
Your own room with headphones, at whatever time the flat is emptiest, usually works well. A little background noise beyond the door helps considerably more than trying to speak quietly does. If the place is never free, a weekday daytime slot tends to be easiest to protect.
How quickly could I start counselling in Edinburgh?
Usually far sooner than an NHS Lothian waiting list allows. Once we've had a short initial conversation to check we're a good fit, we can arrange a regular weekly slot by secure video, at a time that works around your job and home life.
How quickly can I begin counselling in Edinburgh?
Often within days. We start with a free 15-minute call, then arrange your first secure video session at a time that works around your week. There is no NHS Lothian waiting list to join and nothing to travel to, so getting started in Edinburgh is usually quick and simple.
How do your counselling fees compare with NHS talking therapy in Edinburgh?
Counselling is £80 for 60 minutes, with 90-minute and two-hour options at £100 and £120, and a free 15-minute consultation to begin. NHS Lothian talking therapy is free but can involve a long wait, so paying privately mainly buys you a much sooner and more flexible start.
Does online counselling really work as well from home in Edinburgh?
For most people, yes. Once we begin, a secure video hour feels natural, and you keep the same steady, confidential space each week from a quiet room anywhere in Edinburgh. It also saves crossing the city between the Old Town and Portobello for an appointment.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Edinburgh, 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 Scotland: Glasgow, Dunfermline, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
Related work in Edinburgh: anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
You may also find it useful to read about how change actually sticks and where to start when you cannot name it.
Within reach of Sussex? counselling and therapy is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.