Online Depression Counselling · Portsmouth

Online Depression Counselling in Portsmouth

Online depression counselling for Portsmouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Portsmouth, from across Portsea Island, Southsea and Old Portsmouth to the streets around the Spinnaker Tower, with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.

Online across the UKSecure videoFree 15-min consultation
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
Bradley Riddell, BACP-registered counsellor offering online depression counselling for Portsmouth, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Portsmouth

Depression Counselling for Portsmouth, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Portsmouth: across Portsea Island, from Southsea and Old Portsmouth to Fratton, Cosham and Copnor
Known for
The Spinnaker Tower, the harbour and the seafront
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 Portsmouth

What is going on for people in Portsmouth?

Low mood in Portsmouth is easy to miss underneath all the movement. The city is busy and tightly packed, the Historic Dockyard keeps its own hours, and there is always something to be getting on with. Depression works away underneath that. It shows up as a flatness that arrives after a partner sails, or when a posting ends and the structure goes with it, or across a long winter of shifts at Queen Alexandra Hospital. Southsea in February is a different place from Southsea in July. People keep going to work, replying, cooking, and feel steadily less present in any of it, which makes the whole thing very hard to name out loud.

HM Naval Base Portsmouththe University of PortsmouthQueen Alexandra Hospitalthe Historic Dockyard

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Portsmouth

SouthseaOld PortsmouthFrattonCoshamCopnorNorth EndPortseaMiltonBuckland

Wherever you are in Portsmouth, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.

The local picture

The local picture in Portsmouth

Official figures for Portsmouth, for context rather than as a description of you.

Reviewed June 2026.

What is depression counselling, in practice?

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: the full depression counselling page sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and my credentials and registration covers accountability.

What do I need for 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.

There is no room here; Bradley is in Hove and the work happens online by secure video. Depression makes journeys expensive in a way that is hard to explain to anybody who has not had it, so removing the journey removes the main reason people stop attending. The session goes ahead on a bad morning, from wherever you already are, and that continuity is exactly what low mood erodes if it is left to.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What sort of things do people bring?

Persistent low mood

Support for ongoing sadness and emotional heaviness.

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 Portsmouth

Why people in Portsmouth come for depression counselling

Depression often surfaces here after a long run of being the steady one. People describe waking already flat, losing interest in what used to matter, letting messages sit unanswered for days on end. The work is structured and unhurried. We begin by looking at what a week actually holds now, then rebuild it in pieces small enough to be achievable, since action reliably comes before appetite where low mood is concerned. After that we take apart the thinking that reads all of this as weakness. Recorded depression on GP registers stood at 14% of patients aged 18 and over in 2024/25, a little under the England average of 14.3%, which makes nobody's individual experience any smaller. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire, or italk, accepts self-referrals for depression, and Solent Mind runs groups and wellbeing support locally.

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 call

Finding support in Portsmouth

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Portsmouth, 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.

Portsmouth questions

Online Depression Counselling in Portsmouth: common questions

I cannot face organising anything. How do I begin?

With one short message. We then arrange a free 15-minute call at a time you choose, and the call asks nothing of you beyond turning up to it. No forms, no assessment, no waiting list. If you miss it, another can be arranged just as easily.

What are the costs?

Sixty minutes is £80, ninety minutes is £100 and two hours is £120, with most depression work running weekly at the hourly rate. The initial 15-minute call is free of charge. Sessions are paid for individually, so there is nothing to commit to up front.

Can I self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire for low mood?

Yes. Self-referral is open to anyone registered with a GP in England, and depression is one of the things the service is set up for. Waits move around through the year, so starting privately while you hold that place is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Does a weekly video session help when I feel disconnected from everyone?

It can, and the aim is always to widen things beyond the screen. A held hour gives the week one dependable edge, and much of the work is about rebuilding contact with people around you slowly enough that it does not become another thing you have failed at.

My partner is at sea and I have gone flat rather than sad. Is that depression?

It might well be. Flatness, rather than obvious sadness, is one of the commonest shapes low mood takes during a long separation. We would look at what has quietly dropped out of your weeks and put some of it back before anything heavier gets attempted.

Managing at home alone while my partner is deployed, I've sunk quite low. Is that depression?

Long separations and carrying a household alone can absolutely contribute to depression, and the isolation makes it harder to spot. Counselling offers a private space to take it seriously, held online from home and fitted around childcare and the rhythm of a service routine.

How quickly can I begin depression counselling online in Portsmouth?

Often within a few days of your free consultation. Seeing Bradley online means no journey across the city to a clinic when motivation is low, whether you are in Old Portsmouth, Cosham or near the naval base. That ease matters with depression.

How much does depression counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Portsmouth?

Fees are £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours, after a free fifteen-minute consultation. NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire is free to self-refer to, but waits can build, so private sessions let Portsmouth residents begin without delay.

Online or in person for depression in Portsmouth, and do you offer evenings?

When low mood makes leaving home hard, online removes that step for Portsmouth clients. Bradley keeps some evening appointments around naval and shift schedules, and the Hove room is a coastal train ride away if in-person work would suit you.

Online Depression Counselling in Portsmouth, 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: Southampton, Chichester. See all of London & South East.

Close to this in Portsmouth, there is anxiety counselling, counselling and therapy and psychotherapy.

You may also find it useful to read about a solution-focused exercise and small repeated steps.

Closer to the Sussex coast? The same depression counselling is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.