Persistent low mood
Support for ongoing sadness and emotional heaviness.
Online Depression Counselling · Durham
Online Depression Counselling in Durham
Online depression counselling for Durham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Durham, from the peninsula and the centre to the streets around the cathedral, 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 Durham
Depression Counselling for Durham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Durham: from the peninsula and the centre to Gilesgate, Neville's Cross and Framwellgate
- Known for
- The cathedral, the castle and the river Wear
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Durham and Darlington Talking Therapies
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Durham
Why people in Durham reach out
Durham's great cathedral and ancient university give the city a calm, storied face, but behind it sit intense academic pressure and a county still living with the loss of its coal industry. The gap between the gleaming university and the hard-pressed former pit villages around it shapes much of what people carry.
Durham is one of the great sights of northern England, its Norman cathedral and castle standing together on a wooded peninsula almost encircled by a loop of the river Wear, together a World Heritage Site. The cathedral, a masterpiece of Romanesque building, has drawn pilgrims for nearly a thousand years and, more recently, film crews. Around it winds a compact medieval city of narrow vennels, the market place and the colleges of Durham University, one of England's oldest. The city is also the spiritual home of the Durham coalfield: each July the Miners' Gala still fills the streets with banners and brass bands, honouring the pit communities of the surrounding county. Beyond, the former mining villages of County Durham spread across the hills.
Beneath a calm, historic surface, struggle can be hard to voice; a confidential online hour asks nothing of appearances.
Durham is home to Durham University and to University Hospital of North Durham (County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust); its Norman cathedral and castle form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the surrounding county still bears the legacy of its coal-mining past.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Durham
GilesgateNeville's CrossFramwellgate MoorBelmontCrossgateElvetSherburnBearparkUshaw MoorNewton Hall
Wherever you are in Durham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Durham
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Durham are living with, and why local support matters.
recorded depression on GP registers stood at 16.7% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
The depression counselling itself
Depression counselling here is steady and structured: we focus on the low mood, lost motivation and disconnection affecting you now, and on rebuilding the energy, routine and self-worth that hold a day together.
The approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main depression counselling page and on how I work.
How online sessions work
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
I'm based in Hove, far to the south, and work with people in and around Durham online, by secure video, rather than in person. You meet from home in the city or out in the county villages, with no journey to fit in. We'd keep a regular weekly time that works around study, work or family, the distance simply doesn't come into it by video.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online depression counselling in Durham can help
Lost motivation
Help with drive, focus and finishing tasks.
Isolation
Support for withdrawal and feeling numb.
Energy and routine
Rebuilding the rhythms that hold a day together.
Self-worth
Gently challenging a harsh inner voice.
Reconnection
Finding your way back to the parts of life that feel distant.
Depression Counselling in Durham
Why people in Durham come for depression counselling
In a city whose beauty and prestige are always on show, low mood can feel like something out of place, whether you're a student under pressure or living in the harder-pressed county around it. Depression might feel like exhaustion, a flatness the storied setting can't lift, or a loss of interest in things you used to enjoy. I'm Bradley Riddell, a Hove-based counsellor working with people across Durham by secure video. There's no need to put a brave face on in our sessions; we make room to understand the heaviness and find small steps back towards yourself. You join from home at a steady weekly time.
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 Durham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Durham, you can refer yourself directly to Durham and Darlington 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.
Durham questions
Online Depression Counselling in Durham: common questions
Can I get online depression counselling if I live in Durham?
Yes. I work with people right across Durham, from the peninsula and the centre outwards, and anywhere else in Yorkshire & North East, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
What if I don't have the motivation to attend?
Low motivation is part of depression, not a sign you are unsuited to therapy. Working online removes the journey, which is often the hardest part on a flat day.
Will I have to talk about my whole past?
Only as much as helps. We focus on what is weighing on you now and on small, doable steps, rather than analysing everything that has ever happened.
Can counselling help alongside antidepressants?
Yes. Many people do both; talking therapy and medication work on different things, and I am glad to work alongside your GP.
It feels wrong to struggle somewhere this celebrated, is that daft?
Not at all, and it's more common than you'd think. A beautiful, prestigious place doesn't protect anyone from low mood, and the sense that it should can add guilt on top. Counselling gives the heaviness somewhere to go, without judgement, from your own space.
How quickly could I begin depression counselling online in Durham?
Often within a week of your free 15-minute call. When you're low, avoiding a journey into the city helps; you join by secure video from home in Gilesgate or out in the county villages. I work from Hove across Durham and we'd hold one regular weekly time.
Is private depression counselling worth it when Durham has NHS services?
NHS talking therapies in Durham are free and worth using; the usual trade-off is a wait and less flexibility. I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, after a free consultation, and can usually start sooner with a consistent slot.
Does online counselling work for depression, or is in person better in Durham?
Online suits many people, especially out in the former pit villages where appointments mean a journey. Meeting by secure video from home removes that. I'm in Hove, not Durham, and can offer evening times so a session doesn't add to a heavy day.
I'm a student at Durham University, can you help?
Yes. Online sessions carry on through term, vacations and placements wherever you are, so moving between Durham and home doesn't interrupt things. I work privately, separate from the university and college welfare teams, which you can also draw on alongside this.
Are you based in Durham?
No. I work from Hove on the south coast and see Durham clients by secure video call. For people out in the former pit villages especially, meeting online removes a journey into the city and makes a weekly session much easier to keep up.
Online Depression Counselling in Durham, 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: Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Darlington. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
All counselling & therapy in Durham: Addiction · Substance Use · Drinking Problems · Anxiety · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same depression counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.