Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Portsmouth
Online Counselling and Therapy in Portsmouth
Online counselling and therapy for Portsmouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Portsmouth, from across Portsea Island, Southsea and Old Portsmouth to the streets around the Spinnaker Tower, 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 Portsmouth
Counselling and Therapy for Portsmouth, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Portsmouth: across Portsea Island, from Southsea and Old Portsmouth to Fratton, Cosham and Copnor
- Known for
- The Spinnaker Tower, the harbour and the seafront
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire (italk)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Portsmouth
What is going on for people in Portsmouth?
This is a city that quietly discourages complaining. Around you are people on deployment, people on wards at Queen Alexandra Hospital, people working the dockyard and the ferries, and against that your own flatness can feel like it does not qualify. So you say nothing. On the outside things function: the shifts get covered, the rent gets paid, the walk along the seafront still happens on a Sunday. Underneath, something has gone out of it and you would struggle to explain what. There may be no single event to name, no diagnosis, no obvious cause. That is the position most people are in when they first make contact.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Portsmouth
SouthseaOld PortsmouthFrattonCoshamCopnorNorth EndPortseaMiltonBuckland
Wherever you are in Portsmouth, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Portsmouth
Official figures for Portsmouth, 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 14% 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 177.1 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 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.
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 everything on counselling and therapy, 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.
Everything runs online by secure video from wherever suits you, since Bradley is in Hove and there is no consulting space in the city. Density has a cost here: neighbours are close, family is often close, and a building you visit weekly is a building somebody notices. This removes that entirely. We start with a free 15-minute call, arranged around shifts rather than office hours, and nothing has to be booked afterwards unless you want it.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling and therapy in Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth
Why people in Portsmouth come for counselling and therapy
Come here when you cannot yet put a name to what is wrong. The work is present-focused and shorter than long-term therapy, looking at the last several months rather than your whole history: what has drained away, what you are dreading, what you would want to be different by the spring. Six to twelve sessions is a common shape, and a good many people finish there without ever needing anything longer or more intensive. Locally, 23.2% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, marginally below the England average of 23.8%, which is a lot of people managing something they have not described to anyone. You need no label and no crisis to begin. The free route is NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, italk, which takes self-referrals directly, and Solent Mind provides support across the city alongside it.
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 Portsmouth
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Portsmouth, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire (italk) 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.
Portsmouth questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Portsmouth: common questions
I cannot say what is wrong. Will a first session be a waste of time?
No, that is where a lot of useful work starts. Being unable to name it is information rather than an obstacle, and describing the last few months as they come out is enough to be going on with. Nothing has to be organised in advance.
How much are sessions and can I stop after a few?
You can stop whenever you like, since nothing beyond the next appointment is ever booked. An hour is £80, ninety minutes £100 and two hours £120, with a free 15-minute consultation before you decide anything. Short courses are normal and are not treated as unfinished business.
Should I refer myself to italk first?
It is a reasonable first step and costs nothing. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire takes self-referrals without a GP appointment and offers structured courses. Many people put their referral in and begin privately while they wait, then keep whichever of the two turns out to suit them.
I work rotating shifts at the hospital. Can appointments move around?
Yes. The weekly slot can shift with your rota instead of the work stopping every time the pattern changes. Early mornings and late evenings are both possible, and it is usually better to move an hour than to lose several weeks waiting for a settled month.
My partner is away and everyone says I am doing brilliantly. How do I say I am not?
That is one of the most common things people bring here. Being told repeatedly how well you are managing can make it far harder to admit you are not, because it feels like letting the account down. An hour that belongs to you is precisely where that can be said.
Privacy really matters to me. How discreet is online counselling?
Very. You join from a private space of your own choosing, with no need to be seen entering a local practice. For people in Portsmouth's close naval and island communities, that discretion is often the deciding factor, and everything discussed remains confidential.
How quickly can counselling start online for someone in Portsmouth?
Generally within days. With no waiting list, a free 15-minute consultation is usually followed by a first session that same week. It is held securely online from your own home, with no journey across the island and no local waiting room, which fits naval and shift-work hours.
How do your fees sit against the NHS in Portsmouth?
You pay £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes or £120 for 120 minutes, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Talking Therapies is free to self-refer to but can mean waiting, while private counselling with Bradley starts sooner and keeps a consistent weekly time.
Privacy really matters to me. How discreet is online counselling here?
Very. You join from a private space of your own choosing, with no need to be seen entering a local practice on a densely built island. For Portsmouth's close naval and neighbourhood communities that discretion is often the deciding factor, and everything discussed stays confidential.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Portsmouth, 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 London & South East: Southampton, Chichester. See all of London & South East.
People who come for counselling and therapy in Portsmouth often also look at 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.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling and therapy is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.