Anxiety and worry
When your mind will not settle and everything feels urgent.
Online Counselling and Therapy · Wakefield
Online Counselling and Therapy in Wakefield
Online counselling and therapy for Wakefield, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Wakefield, from the cathedral and the centre to the streets around the Hepworth gallery, 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 Wakefield
Counselling and Therapy for Wakefield, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Wakefield: from the cathedral and the centre to Sandal, Horbury and Lupset
- Known for
- The cathedral, the Hepworth gallery and the old coalfield
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS Talking Therapies (find via the NHS finder)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Wakefield
Why people in Wakefield get in touch
Some people can point to what went wrong. Many cannot, and that is who this is for. In Wakefield it often shows up as a flatness that has crept in over a couple of years: the job that was meant to be temporary, the shifts, the money that never quite reaches the end of the month, and a quiet withdrawal from things you used to like. Around Lupset and Agbrigg the expectation is that you manage, and most people do manage, right up until they cannot. You do not need a diagnosis or a referral to start talking. You only need to be able to say that something is not right.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Wakefield
SandalHorburyLupsetAgbriggKettlethorpeOutwoodStanleyOssettNormantonWrenthorpe
Wherever you are in Wakefield, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Wakefield
Official figures for Wakefield, for context rather than as a description of you.
30.3% 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 15.6% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 131.6 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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: everything on counselling and therapy sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and how to check my 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.
Sessions are delivered online by secure video, as there is no room in Wakefield and Bradley works from Hove. That takes out the travel, the parking and the risk of running into a neighbour, all of which stop people booking more often than the counselling itself does. An hour at home in Stanley with the door shut is easier to keep than an appointment across the district. Before any of that there is a free 15-minute consultation, with nothing to commit to.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling and therapy in Wakefield 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 Wakefield
Why people in Wakefield come for counselling and therapy
This is the entry point rather than the deep end. It is present-focused, generally weekly and generally a matter of months, and it starts with the week you have actually had rather than with your childhood. Low mood is common in the district and largely unspoken: recorded depression on Wakefield GP registers stood at 15.6% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%, and that only counts the people who have mentioned it to somebody. In the sessions we separate what is genuinely about your circumstances from what has hardened into a way of thinking, and work on the parts that will move. The NHS Talking Therapies finder offers free self-referral anywhere in England, Turning Point Inspiring Recovery covers drink and drugs, and Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust runs urgent care at Pinderfields. If deeper patterns show up, longer work is a conversation for later.
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 Wakefield
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Wakefield, you can refer yourself directly to NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression, with no GP referral needed. You can find support through the NHS Talking Therapies finder.
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.
Wakefield questions
Online Counselling and Therapy in Wakefield: common questions
How quickly could I be talking to someone?
Generally within a week or two of the free consultation. It is still worth self-referring to the NHS Talking Therapies finder at the same time, because it is free and because a wait you have already joined is shorter than one you start later.
What does it cost and can I pay as I go?
Yes, session by session. An hour costs £80, ninety minutes £100 and a two-hour session £120, and the opening 15-minute chat is free. There is no minimum commitment, no cancellation charge for ending, and no pressure to book a set number in advance.
I am not ill. Is counselling still for me?
It is. This kind of counselling was never restricted to illness. Feeling stuck, worn down or unlike yourself is reason enough, and a good deal of the most useful work happens with people who would never once describe themselves as unwell.
Everyone in my family just gets on with it. Am I making a fuss?
Getting on with it has real value and it has also kept a lot of people in this district quiet for decades. Talking for an hour a week does not undo your capacity to cope. It gives you one place where you do not have to demonstrate it.
What if I turn up and cannot think of a single thing to say?
That happens fairly often and it is not a problem. Silence in a session is not wasted time, and part of the job is helping you find the thread. Nobody is expected to arrive with a prepared account of themselves.
Is this something separate from the NHS?
Yes. I'm an independent private counsellor, arranged directly with you, not part of any local NHS or council service. You're welcome to use NHS talking therapies alongside or instead, I'm simply another option, available by video at a time that suits your week.
Is online counselling available in Wakefield, and how quickly could I begin?
Yes. From my Hove base I see people right across Wakefield by secure video, whether you are near the cathedral, Horbury or out towards the old coalfield. After a free 15-minute call we can usually book a first session within a few days.
How much does counselling cost in Wakefield, and how does it compare to the NHS?
It is £80 for 60 minutes, with 90 and 120-minute sessions at £100 and £120. NHS Talking Therapies in Wakefield is free and open to self-referral, though waits vary. Private online work simply means we can start sooner at a time around your week.
Can I have counselling in the evening without travelling into central Wakefield?
Yes. Sessions are online, so you join from Outwood, Normanton or wherever you can speak privately, with no journey into town. I hold some evening appointments for people who cannot get away by day, and we would keep the same regular weekly slot.
Online Counselling and Therapy in Wakefield, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Leeds, Barnsley, Huddersfield. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Related work in Wakefield: anxiety counselling, depression counselling and psychotherapy.
There is more on this in my writing: 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.