Communication and conflict
Breaking the cycle of the same argument.
Online Relationship Counselling · Ballymena
Online Relationship Counselling in Ballymena
Online relationship counselling for Ballymena, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Ballymena, from the town centre and the Braid to the streets around the town clock, 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 Ballymena
Relationship Counselling for Ballymena, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Ballymena: from the town centre and the Braid to Harryville, Ballykeel and Galgorm
- Known for
- The Braid, the town clock and the Antrim countryside
- Region
- Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS psychological therapies (Northern Ireland)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Ballymena
Why people in Ballymena reach out
Ballymena is a County Antrim market town that has felt the loss of major manufacturing employers keenly in recent years. Insecure work, money pressure and the distance from Belfast all shape what people here carry, often behind a quiet, get-on-with-it culture.
Ballymena sits in the Braid valley in the heart of County Antrim, an old linen and market town known for its seven towers and its plain-speaking pride. The Braid holds the town hall and museum, People's Park offers green space near the centre, and Slemish, the hill where Saint Patrick is said to have herded sheep, rises to the east above Broughshane. The town has long lived by making things, from the great tyre and tobacco works that have since closed to Wrightbus, the local firm whose buses run in cities well beyond Ireland. Galgorm, with its resort and castle grounds, sits just outside, and the railway and the M2 link the town to Belfast and up towards Derry through the Antrim countryside.
In a close-knit town where people tend to know one another, online keeps support entirely private, with nobody to pass in a waiting room.
Ballymena is the main town of the Mid and East Antrim borough and home to bus manufacturer Wrightbus; the town has felt the loss of major manufacturing employers including Michelin and JTI Gallaher. It is served by the Northern HSC Trust.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Ballymena
HarryvilleBallykeelGalgormBroughshaneBalleeDunclugCullybackeyDoury Road
Wherever you are in Ballymena, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The relationship counselling itself
Relationship counselling here, for couples or individuals, slows down the pattern you are caught in and builds healthier ways of hearing and being heard.
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 relationship 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.
Support in Ballymena need not mean travelling down to Belfast for every appointment. Sessions take place online, by secure video, across Northern Ireland, so help reaches mid-Antrim as readily as the city. The counsellor is based in Hove and works UK-wide by video rather than seeing anyone in person, which means you can talk from home in the town or the villages around it, at a time that suits.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online relationship counselling in Ballymena can help
Trust and repair
Rebuilding safety after betrayal or addiction.
Distance
Finding your way back to closeness.
Long-distance couples
Sessions you can join from different places.
Anxiety and reassurance
Working with people-pleasing and the need for control.
Individual work
You do not need to come as a couple to change the dynamic.
Relationship Counselling in Ballymena
Why people in Ballymena come for relationship counselling
Ballymena sits in the Braid valley with a plain-speaking pride, and the recent loss of major employers has put real strain on households and the relationships within them. Money worries and uncertainty have a way of turning inward, into short tempers and distance at home. Relationship counselling gives you both a calm hour to talk honestly, away from the pressure. Sessions are held online by secure video, so you can join from home in the town or the villages around it, together or from two places. Bradley works from Hove, UK-wide, so there is no drive down to Belfast to manage.
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 Ballymena
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Ballymena, your GP can refer you to talking therapies and counselling through Health and Social Care. You can find support through Lifeline, Northern Ireland's crisis helpline, free on 0808 808 8000.
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 Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Ballymena questions
Online Relationship Counselling in Ballymena: common questions
Can I get online relationship counselling if I live in Ballymena?
Yes. I work with people right across Ballymena, from the town centre and the Braid outwards, and anywhere else in Northern Ireland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Can I come on my own, without my partner?
Yes. A great deal can change when one person shifts the pattern; you do not need to attend as a couple to do useful work.
Can we join the session from different locations?
Yes. Online makes it easy for couples in different places, or juggling childcare, to attend together.
Will you take sides?
No. We look at the pattern the two of you create together and where it gets stuck, not at who is to blame.
Money is tight and things are tense at home; can counselling help?
Financial strain often shows up as tension between partners. Relationship counselling gives you both space to talk it through calmly, online by secure video from home in Ballymena or the villages nearby. Bradley is based in Hove and works across Northern Ireland.
How soon can we start couples counselling in Ballymena?
Usually within a week. After a free 15-minute consultation, Bradley Riddell holds relationship sessions online by secure video, so you can begin from home in the town or the villages around it without the drive down to Belfast.
How do relationship counselling fees compare with local NHS support?
Couples sessions are GBP80 for 60 minutes, GBP100 for 90 and GBP120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute call. Health and Social Care couples support is free but often waited-for, so private online work mainly offers a sooner, more flexible start.
Can we join from different places if one of us works away from Ballymena?
Yes. Sessions are online, so one partner can join from home in Ballymena and the other from wherever work takes them. Evening appointments are available too, which suits couples timing sessions around shifts and family life in the town and surrounding villages.
With local employers gone, is support harder to find here?
Job losses have hit Ballymena, but online counselling is not tied to what is nearby. The counsellor is based in Hove and works across Northern Ireland by secure video, so you can talk from home in the town or the surrounding villages whenever it suits.
Online Relationship Counselling in Ballymena, 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 Northern Ireland: Newtownabbey, Belfast. See all of Northern Ireland.
All counselling & therapy in Ballymena: Addiction · Substance Use · Drinking Problems · Anxiety · Depression · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same relationship counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.