Persistent low mood
Support for ongoing sadness and emotional heaviness.
Online Depression Counselling · Exeter
Online Depression Counselling in Exeter
Online depression counselling for Exeter, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Exeter, from the cathedral quarter and the quay to the streets around the university, 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 Exeter
Depression Counselling for Exeter, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Exeter: from the cathedral quarter and the quay to St Thomas, Heavitree and Pinhoe
- Known for
- The cathedral, the quay and the university
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- TALKWORKS, Devon's NHS Talking Therapies service
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Exeter
Why do people in Exeter reach out?
Low mood in Exeter often looks a great deal like coping. The city runs on steady institutions and steady hours, and around them people keep the outward shape of a normal week long after the inside has gone flat. Recorded depression on GP registers stood at 13.9% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, just under the England average of 14.3%. Around Wonford, Whipton and Exwick the pressures are practical ones, money and hours and housing; nearer the cathedral and heritage sector the pressure is more often the expectation of being fine. Set among farmland and moor, the city can feel like the only place where anything is happening, which makes it worse rather than better once you have stopped wanting to go out.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Exeter
St ThomasHeavitreePinhoeSt LeonardsExwickWhiptonAlphingtonWonfordTopsham
Wherever you are in Exeter, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Exeter
Official figures for Exeter, for context rather than as a description of you.
recorded depression on GP registers stood at 13.9% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, below the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does depression counselling involve?
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 method travels; only the geography changes. the full depression counselling page explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and my BACP registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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 are online, by secure video. Bradley is in Hove and there is no room in this city, which where depression is concerned is an advantage. The journey, not the hour, is usually the first thing to be cancelled. From a flat in St Leonards or a house in Alphington you simply open a laptop, and in a week when the effort of leaving would have decided it, the appointment still happens.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can depression counselling in Exeter help with?
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 Exeter
Why people in Exeter come for depression counselling
Depression counselling here is steady rather than searching. We start with the plain shape of your week, because low mood distorts memory and a factual account is far more useful than an impression: waking time, meals, whether you left the house, who you genuinely spoke with. From there we rebuild in very small and specific steps, since motivation arrives after activity rather than in advance of it. Alongside that we take seriously the parts of your life that are honestly difficult, because insecure work and money worries are not distortions waiting to be corrected. TALKWORKS, Devon's NHS Talking Therapies service, is the self-referral route across the county, free and needing no GP letter. Your GP still matters where sleep, appetite or safety have gone badly wrong, and Devon Mind runs local support if what you need most is contact with other people.
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 Exeter
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Exeter, you can refer yourself directly to TALKWORKS, Devon's NHS Talking Therapies service 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.
Exeter questions
Online Depression Counselling in Exeter: common questions
Depression here is recorded at 13.9%, close to the England average. Is that meant to reassure me?
Not especially. The figure describes patients aged 18+ on GP registers in 2024/25, against 14.3% for England, and averages describe populations rather than people. Its only real use is to show that what you are dealing with is common enough that no one need be surprised by it.
Is TALKWORKS the NHS route for low mood in Exeter?
It is. TALKWORKS, Devon's NHS Talking Therapies service, takes self-referrals across the county in England, with no GP letter required and nothing to pay. Where sleep, appetite or safety have deteriorated, tell your GP as well. Many people run NHS support and private counselling together without any difficulty.
How much are the sessions, and how often would we meet?
Sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two, and weekly is the usual starting rhythm. With low mood the regularity matters more than the length of any single appointment. The opening 15-minute conversation is free and there is no expectation attached to it.
Everyone I know here seems busy and coping. How do I explain that I am not?
You do not have to explain it to them to begin with. Sessions are one place where the account does not need to be tidy or justified. In practice, the explaining gets easier once the flatness has lifted a little, which is the opposite order from the one people assume.
Every winter down here I go under, and by March I am fine. Is that worth counselling or should I wait it out?
Waiting it out works until the year it does not. If the pattern is predictable, that is an advantage: we can prepare before the light goes, keeping the structure, the contact and the movement that usually collapse first. Your GP is worth telling too, since sleep and appetite changes are worth reviewing.
I moved to Exeter without family nearby and feel low and unrooted. Can that be the work?
Absolutely. Feeling isolated in the one busy place for miles is common here, and it is exactly what counselling can help with. Sessions are held online by secure video from home. The room itself is in Hove.
How quickly can depression counselling begin online in Exeter?
Depression counselling for Exeter runs online wherever you live, so low mood never means a long trip into the city. After a free 15-minute consultation, we can usually start secure video sessions within a week. The room itself is in Hove, on the Sussex coast, and Exeter is served online.
What are your depression fees, and is the NHS available in Exeter?
For depression, TALKWORKS in Devon is free via self-referral but often has a wait. Working privately, I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120 minutes, with a free 15-minute consultation first. You are welcome to use both alongside each other.
Would online suit depression, and are evenings offered for Exeter?
When depression drains motivation, online spares Exeter clients the drive in from Devon's spread-out villages. We speak by secure video from home, with evening times for university and hospital staff. In-person sessions are only for those able to travel to the Sussex coast.
Online Depression Counselling in Exeter, 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 South West: Plymouth, Torquay, Taunton. See all of South West.
Also available in Exeter: anxiety counselling, counselling and therapy and psychotherapy.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about a solution-focused exercise and small repeated steps.
Within reach of Sussex? depression counselling is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.