Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Reading
Online Counselling and Therapy in Reading
Online counselling and therapy for Reading, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Reading, from the centre and the university quarter to the streets around the Thames, 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 Reading
Counselling and Therapy for Reading, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Reading: from the centre and the university quarter to Caversham, Tilehurst and Earley
- Known for
- The Thames, the Oracle and the Kennet
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Reading
Why do people in Reading reach out?
The days start blurring together and you cannot say exactly when that began. Work in this town keeps a fast, unrelenting pace, whether that is the technology corridor, a ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital or a department at the University of Reading, and the cost of living here keeps the foot down. You are still delivering. Nobody has noticed anything. But the walk from the station has stopped being pleasant, the weekend disappears into recovery, and you would not know what to call any of it. Plenty of people wait years at this stage, assuming that counselling requires a proper reason and that being tired does not count.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Reading
CavershamTilehurstEarleyLower EarleyWoodleyWhitleySouthcoteColeyEmmer Green
Wherever you are in Reading, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Reading
Official figures for Reading, for context rather than as a description of you.
22.4% 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 12.8% 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 69.8 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 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see everything on counselling and therapy for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost for fees and session lengths, and professional standards and registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
All sessions run online by secure video from wherever you are, because Bradley is in Hove and there is nothing here to attend in person. For a first attempt that removes several excuses at once: no journey, no waiting room, no explaining an absence to anyone. It starts with a free 15-minute conversation arranged around your working day, after which you decide whether to book a session. Nothing obliges you to continue.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling and therapy in Reading 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 Reading
Why people in Reading come for counselling and therapy
Start here when the problem still has no name attached to it. It is shorter, present-focused work: what these past few months have actually been like, where the energy has gone, and what you would want to be different by the autumn. Between six and twelve weekly sessions covers it for many people, and stopping there is a proper ending. Nothing needs to have gone wrong enough first. In this area 22.4% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, a little below the England average of 23.8%, and much of what sits behind a figure like that is people functioning well while feeling steadily worse. NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies is the free route and accepts self-referrals directly, with Mind in Berkshire running groups and wellbeing support in parallel.
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 Reading
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Reading, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies 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.
Reading questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Reading: common questions
Is being burnt out a reason to see a counsellor?
It is one of the most common reasons people get in touch. Exhaustion that a weekend no longer fixes, and that has started to affect sleep, patience or interest in things, is worth taking seriously. You do not have to wait until you cannot work before booking an hour.
How much does this cost for a handful of sessions?
Each session stands alone: £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety, £120 for two hours, and a free 15-minute consultation before any of it. Nothing further ahead than the next appointment is ever booked, so six or eight sessions is a completely normal way to use it.
How does the free Berkshire service compare?
NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies costs nothing, takes self-referrals and delivers structured courses of a defined length. It is a genuinely good option and many people use it. Referring yourself there while starting privately simply gives you two routes rather than one.
I am on calls all day. Will another video hour feel like more work?
It is a fair worry and usually unfounded, because the hour is not a meeting and there is nothing to prepare or deliver. Some people find that closing the laptop and using a phone helps mark the difference. Others simply move to a different room.
Everyone in my team is under the same pressure. Why is it getting to me?
That comparison keeps a lot of people in this town silent for years. Pressure lands differently depending on what else you are carrying and what you learned to do with strain. The fact that a workload is normal here says nothing about what it is costing you.
I get home late from Paddington. Does that rule counselling out?
Not at all. That is very common here. With no journey to the session itself, we can book a slot for after you are home, or on days you work from home, and keep it consistent week to week so it becomes a fixed point you can rely on.
How soon can I begin counselling online if I live in Reading?
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, so whether you are near the Oracle, in Tilehurst or working from home, there is no journey to add to a full week.
What are the fees, and how does that sit against the NHS in Reading?
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 holds a consistent time each week.
I get home late from Paddington. Can online counselling still fit?
Yes, and that is very common here. Because there is no room to travel to, we can book a slot for after you are home, or on a work-from-home day, and keep it consistent week to week so it becomes a fixed point you rely on.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Reading, 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: Slough, Oxford, Basingstoke, London. See all of London & South East.
Close to this in Reading, there is 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.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.