Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Livingston
Online Counselling and Therapy in Livingston
Online counselling and therapy for Livingston, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Livingston, from the centre and the Mall to the streets around the country parks, 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 Livingston
Counselling and Therapy for Livingston, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Livingston: from the centre and the Mall to Craigshill, Ladywell and Deans
- Known for
- The shopping centre, the country parks and the Pentlands beyond
- 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 Livingston
What brings people in Livingston to counselling?
A new town is a practical place. There are jobs with West Lothian's technology and manufacturing employers, houses with parking, schools and a road to the city. What there often is not, for somebody who moved here as an adult, is anyone to say the difficult thing to. People get in touch from Craigshill, Ladywell and Eliburn describing a low patch that has lasted longer than a patch should: waking early, dreading the start of the week, going quiet at home. They have not been diagnosed with anything and do not particularly want to be. They simply want to work out what is happening to them.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Livingston
CraigshillLadywellDeansKnightsridgeDedridgeMuriestonEliburnAlmondvale
Wherever you are in Livingston, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
What is counselling and therapy, in practice?
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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the counselling and therapy page sets out the methods, how I work, sessions and fees covers the practicalities, and professional standards and registration covers accountability.
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 here because Bradley is in Hove and there is no room in the town. For a first course of counselling that removes the two things people cite when they put it off: the travel and the visibility. Nobody watches you go in anywhere. An hour at home is achievable in a week that already has too much in it, and if the week goes wrong we move the slot rather than treating the whole idea as a failure.
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 Livingston
Why people in Livingston come for counselling and therapy
This is the entry point and it asks nothing of you in advance. There is no need for a label, a referral, or a tidy account of what is wrong. We begin in the present tense: what your week contains, when it gets heavy, what you have quietly stopped doing, and what could be different. It is short to medium term, often between six and twelve sessions, and we review it out loud rather than letting it run on. What comes up in a commuter town tends to include exhaustion, the loss of a social life to the timetable, and the guilt of feeling low in circumstances that look fine from outside. For an NHS route, your GP can refer you into NHS psychological therapies, NHS inform has trusted self-help, and Breathing Space is 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 Livingston
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Livingston, 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.
Livingston questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Livingston: common questions
Nothing has really happened to me. Am I wasting your time?
No, and that worry is itself worth bringing. Most people who come to counselling have no single event to point to; they have a gradual accumulation instead. The absence of a crisis does not make the tiredness less real, and it usually makes the situation easier to work with.
How would counselling fit round commuting?
One hour a week, online, at a time you choose. Early evening once you are in is popular, though a lunchtime slot works for people who can find a private half hour at work. Because nothing has to be travelled to, the appointment does not spread into the rest of your evening.
What do sessions cost here?
One hour is £80 here, ninety minutes is £100 and two hours is £120. You pay for each one as it happens; there are no blocks and no deposit. The first contact is a free 15-minute consultation, which exists to help you decide rather than to sign you up to anything.
How do I get counselling through the NHS in West Lothian?
Your GP can refer you into NHS psychological therapies, and it is worth asking what the wait is locally while you are speaking to them. NHS inform is trustworthy for self-help in the meantime. Breathing Space, free on 0800 83 85 87, answers in the evenings and overnight.
I have no friends here. Is it pathetic to bring that to counselling?
It is not pathetic, and it is extremely common in a town most people moved to as adults. Loneliness is a circumstance rather than a character defect. We would look at it plainly, including where connection might realistically come from, without pretending an hour a week is a substitute.
I don't drive, is it hard to get to counselling in Livingston?
It can be, given how spread out the town is. That is part of why online work suits people here: secure video sessions come to you at home, so there is no need to reach a service by car or bus wherever in Livingston you live.
How quickly can counselling begin in Livingston?
Often within days. A free 15-minute call comes first, then we arrange your opening secure video session around your week. There is no NHS Lothian waiting list to join and no local service to drive to, so starting counselling in Livingston is usually quick.
How do your fees compare with NHS counselling in Livingston?
Counselling is £80 for 60 minutes, with 90-minute and two-hour sessions at £100 and £120, plus a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Lothian talking therapy is free but can carry a wait, so paying privately mainly buys a sooner, more flexible start from home.
Is it hard to reach counselling in Livingston if I do not drive?
It can be, given how spread out the town is. That is part of why online work suits people here: secure video sessions come to you at home, so there is no reaching a service by car or bus from Craigshill, Deans or wherever you live.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Livingston, 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: Edinburgh, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
People who come for counselling and therapy in Livingston often also look at anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about how change actually sticks and where to start when you cannot name it.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling and therapy is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.