Persistent low mood
Support for ongoing sadness and emotional heaviness.
Online Depression Counselling · Edinburgh
Online Depression Counselling in Edinburgh
Online depression counselling for Edinburgh, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Edinburgh, from the Old Town and New Town to the streets around the castle, 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 Edinburgh
Depression Counselling for Edinburgh, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Edinburgh: from the Old Town and New Town to Leith, Morningside and Portobello
- Known for
- The castle, Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile
- Region
- Scotland
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS psychological therapies (Scotland)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh get in touch
Edinburgh in February is a long month. The tourists have gone, the wind comes down the Old Town like a complaint, and it is dark by the time the working day ends. Depression tends to arrive without an announcement. You still commute in from Corstorphine, still answer everything, still look entirely capable, and somewhere along the way you stopped seeing anyone outside work. In an expensive city that is easy to explain away, because going out costs money and staying in is sensible. The University of Edinburgh terms bring their own version, where a bright student stops attending and cannot say why. From outside, none of this looks like anything at all.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Edinburgh
Old TownNew TownLeithMorningsidePortobelloStockbridgeBruntsfieldMarchmontCorstorphineNewington
Wherever you are in Edinburgh, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Edinburgh
Official figures for Edinburgh, for context rather than as a description of you.
In the City of Edinburgh, 9.3% of adults reported a low happiness score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Scotland average of 9.1%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
In the City of Edinburgh, 4.0% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 6.1%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together in depression counselling?
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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: depression counselling in detail sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and my credentials and registration covers accountability.
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.
All of this runs online by secure video; Bradley works from Hove and there is no room here to travel to. When leaving the flat is the hardest part of the day, that obstacle simply disappears. A weekly appointment at a fixed hour also gives structure back to a week that has quietly lost it, which for low mood matters more than the content of any single session. Some people take the call from a bedroom with the door shut.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh come for depression counselling
Depression is usually a subtraction rather than an event. Things stop happening: the replies, the cooking, the walk up to Portobello, the interest in your own life. In a city that runs on capability, people often notice the exhaustion long before they notice the low mood underneath it. The work is steady and built for low energy. We start with the real shape of your days, then rebuild them with pieces small enough to be achievable, because motivation reliably follows action rather than the other way round. We also examine the voice calling this self-pity, and the losses that went unmarked. Alcohol deepens low mood even while it appears to help; the age-standardised alcohol-specific death rate for the City of Edinburgh averaged 20.8 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, a little below the Scotland average of 21.9, on National Records of Scotland figures. A GP referral opens NHS psychological therapies, NHS inform carries self-help, and Breathing Space, which lists low mood, depression and anxiety, is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 Edinburgh
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Edinburgh, your GP can refer you to NHS psychological therapies, and you can find trusted self-help through NHS inform. You can find support through NHS inform; for confidential listening support, Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can text SHOUT to 85258.
Edinburgh questions
Online Depression Counselling in Edinburgh: common questions
I am still functioning at work. Does that mean I am not unwell enough for this?
Not at all. Plenty of people keep performing well while everything outside work has quietly emptied out, and holding it together at the office often costs more energy than anyone sees. Functioning is not the same as being well, and it is not a threshold you have to fail.
What are the session fees?
Depression counselling costs £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours, paid one session at a time. The free 15-minute consultation comes first, and there is no block booking, no membership and no minimum commitment involved.
Would seeing my GP here be useful as well?
Generally it is. In Scotland the GP is the door to NHS psychological therapies, and the right person to discuss sleep, appetite or medication with. Many people do both at once. Breathing Space is also free on 0800 83 85 87 whenever the evenings drag.
I am a student and I have stopped going to lectures. What now?
That is a very common presentation and it is workable. We start with what a day currently contains, not with what it should contain, and rebuild attendance in pieces. Your university has its own support too, and this sits alongside it rather than replacing it.
Winter here flattens me every single year. Can that be planned for?
It can, and planning is the useful bit. When the light goes early for months and the social calendar shrinks with it, mood follows predictably. We map your own pattern, put anchors into the worst weeks in advance, and stop treating it as a personal failing.
I keep functioning at work but feel empty underneath, is that still depression?
It can well be. Depression does not always stop you going through the motions; often people keep performing while feeling hollow inside. That gap between how you seem and how you feel is worth talking about. We would meet by secure video from home in Edinburgh, gently and at your pace.
How quickly can depression counselling begin in Edinburgh?
Often within a week. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then arrange your first video session, so there is no local waiting list to join. When depression makes leaving the flat hard, being able to begin from home in Leith or Morningside helps.
Is private depression counselling worth it against the NHS Lothian wait?
That is your choice. NHS Lothian is free but waits for depression support can be long. I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation, with sessions starting without a queue.
Does online depression counselling suit someone struggling to go out in Edinburgh?
Yes, often especially well. Depression can make crossing a busy city feel too much, so secure video sessions from your own room remove that barrier. Evenings are available too, so you can keep a steady appointment from home in Bruntsfield or Corstorphine without a journey.
Online Depression Counselling in Edinburgh, 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 Scotland: Glasgow, Dunfermline, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
People who come for depression counselling in Edinburgh often also look at anxiety counselling, counselling and therapy and psychotherapy.
There is more on this in my writing: a solution-focused exercise and small repeated steps.
For anyone near the coast, the same depression counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.