Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Southampton
Online Counselling and Therapy in Southampton
Online counselling and therapy for Southampton, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Southampton, from the city centre and Ocean Village to the streets around the waterfront, 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 Southampton
Counselling and Therapy for Southampton, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Southampton: from the city centre and Ocean Village to Portswood, Shirley and Bitterne
- Known for
- The waterfront, the docks and the Common
- 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 Southampton
Why do people in Southampton reach out?
This city moves people through it. Students arrive at the University of Southampton and Solent University, contracts at the port begin and end, and someone can spend three years here without a single friendship that predates the job. Against that background it is easy to lose track of your own state. You are working, you are turning up, and yet the flat in Freemantle or St Denys is quiet in a way that has started to matter. Nothing has actually happened. There is no incident to point at and no name for it, which is exactly why people put off making contact for months longer than they need to.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Southampton
PortswoodShirleyBitterneWoolstonSt DenysBevois ValleyHighfieldMillbrookFreemantle
Wherever you are in Southampton, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Southampton
Official figures for Southampton, for context rather than as a description of you.
33.8% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, above the England average of 23.8%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Self-reported wellbeing: high anxiety score (2022/23).
recorded depression on GP registers stood at 13.3% 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 261.7 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 actually happens 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on counselling and therapy in detail, with the practical side for the practical questions and how to check my registration for registration and ethics.
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.
Sessions run online by secure video from wherever you are, because Bradley works from Hove and there is no space in the city to walk into. That suits a place where people move house often and shift patterns rarely hold still. There is no journey, no waiting area, and nothing to explain to a housemate. The first step is a free 15-minute conversation, arranged around your hours, and you are free to leave it there.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling and therapy in Southampton 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 Southampton
Why people in Southampton come for counselling and therapy
This is the entry point when you cannot yet name the problem. It is present-focused work, shorter than long-term therapy: what these past months have been like, what is draining away, and what you would want different in six months' time. Six to twelve weekly sessions suits most people who start here. The local figure is worth taking seriously - 33.8% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, well above the England average of 23.8%, one of the higher rates anywhere in the region. That does not diagnose you, but it does mean you are far from unusual in this city. No label is needed and no crisis either. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, italk, is free and takes self-referrals, and Solent Mind runs groups and wellbeing support 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 Southampton
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Southampton, 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.
Southampton questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Southampton: common questions
I am a student a long way from home. Is this the right sort of help?
It often is, particularly when the difficulty is homesickness, isolation or a growing sense that everyone else has settled in. Sessions continue through the holidays and wherever you are living, which matters when term dates keep moving you between two places.
What does it cost and do I have to commit to a course?
Nothing here is sold as a fixed course. Sessions are paid individually at £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, with a free 15-minute consultation first, and you can stop after two or continue for ten. Nothing beyond the next appointment is booked.
Should I go through italk instead?
It is well worth doing both. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire takes self-referrals without a GP and costs nothing, though the courses are structured and time-limited. Putting a referral in while starting privately means you are not simply waiting for something to happen.
I keep moving flats around the city. Would that disrupt sessions?
Not at all, which is one of the advantages here. The hour belongs to you rather than to an address, so a move across the city, or out of it, changes nothing about when we meet or who you are talking to.
My anxiety seems mild compared with what friends describe. Should I bother?
Comparing severity is a reliable way of talking yourself out of an hour that would help. Anxiety that has quietly narrowed what you will do, where you will go or who you will contact is worth attending to, whatever anyone else is dealing with.
I am a student here and far from home. Can I use online counselling?
Yes. Many students in Southampton do, particularly when home and familiar support are a long way off. Sessions are joined privately from your room or a quiet space, with no need to register with anywhere locally or travel, so support is there wherever term takes you.
How quickly can I begin counselling online in Southampton?
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 between shifts or lectures, joined from home or a quiet room, with no journey across a city always in motion to add.
How do the fees work versus the NHS locally?
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 steady time around dock or hospital hours.
I am a student here and far from home. Can I use online counselling in the evening?
Yes, and many students in Southampton do. Sessions are joined privately from your room or a quiet space, with evening times available, and there is no need to register locally or travel, so support is there wherever term and the university take you.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Southampton, 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: Portsmouth, Basingstoke. See all of London & South East.
Also available in Southampton: anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: where to start when you cannot name it and how change actually sticks.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling and therapy is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.