Communication and conflict
Breaking the cycle of the same argument.
Online Relationship Counselling · Bangor
Online Relationship Counselling in Bangor
Online relationship counselling for Bangor, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bangor, from the marina and the centre to the streets around the coastal path, 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 Bangor
Relationship Counselling for Bangor, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bangor: from the marina and the centre to Ballyholme, Groomsport and Conlig
- Known for
- The marina, the coastal path and Belfast Lough
- Region
- 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 Bangor
Why do people in Bangor reach out?
A lot of couples in Bangor live on two different clocks. One leaves before it is properly light for the Belfast commuter railway line and comes back with just enough left for the evening meal; the other holds the house, the school run and the shopping. Neither is idle and neither feels understood. In summer the town fills up, the marina is busy and there is always something on, which papers over a good deal. Then the season turns, the seafront empties and the difference between the two of you has nowhere to hide. Households in Ballyholme and Groomsport describe the same winter: polite, functional, and further apart than either of them meant to be.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bangor
BallyholmeGroomsportConligBloomfieldClandeboyeWhitehillRathgaelBryansburn
Wherever you are in Bangor, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bangor
Official figures for Bangor, for context rather than as a description of you.
In Ards and North Down, the council area covering Bangor, 7.4% of adults reported a low happiness score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Northern Ireland average of 8.2%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
In Ards and North Down, the council area covering Bangor, 22.5% of adults reported a high anxiety score (6 or above out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Northern Ireland average of 19.0%, 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)).
In Ards and North Down, the council area covering Bangor, 3.3% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Northern Ireland average of 5.2%, 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 relationship counselling?
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 does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the full relationship counselling page, alongside the practical side and my credentials and registration.
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.
Sessions are held online, by secure video, with Bradley working from Hove rather than anywhere in the town. That removes the awkward business of walking somewhere local together. You can both join from the kitchen, or one from home and one from the office at the end of a commute, which suits couples whose evenings never quite line up. Fees are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, and the first 15-minute conversation is free.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does relationship counselling address?
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 Bangor
Why people in Bangor come for relationship counselling
Couples usually get in touch when something has been true for a long time and has finally been said out loud. We are more like flatmates. I do not know when we last talked about anything. There is often a specific injury behind it as well, a betrayal or a lie, and no safe way of raising it. Sometimes one partner is drinking more than they were and the other has been counting for months. The work is to make the difficult conversation survivable: understanding why the same exchange keeps ending the same way, what each of you is defending, and how repair actually gets made rather than skipped over. Coming on your own is a genuine option and often the realistic one. ASCERT supports families where drinking is involved, and your GP can refer you to talking therapies through Health and Social Care.
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 Bangor
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bangor, 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, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can text SHOUT to 85258.
Bangor questions
Online Relationship Counselling in Bangor: common questions
My partner commutes and gets home late. Is there any point starting?
There is, because a video appointment does not need both of you in the same place. One can join from the train station end of the day and one from the house. Later evening slots work for many commuting couples, and a fortnightly rhythm is better than nothing at all.
Can I do this without my partner knowing yet?
You can attend individually and decide later what to share. Nothing arrives in the post, there is no local building involved and no reception desk. Confidentiality follows the BACP Ethical Framework, and its narrow legal limits are set out plainly before the first paid session.
What are the charges?
Appointments cost £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, whether one of you comes or both. That first 15-minute conversation carries no charge. Longer sessions are popular with couples because ninety minutes gives each person time to be heard properly rather than briefly.
What is available through the health service in Northern Ireland?
Your GP can refer you into talking therapies through Health and Social Care, which is the route here. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000 at any hour of the night, and Inspire Wellbeing runs mental health and wellbeing support that you can use while a referral is pending.
Things are worse every winter once the town goes quiet. Is that normal?
It is a pattern many seaside households recognise. Summer distraction hides the distance and the off-season exposes it. Naming that rhythm is useful in itself, because it separates a seasonal dip from the deeper problem underneath and stops each of you blaming the other for the weather.
Does living on the coast make couples counselling harder to arrange?
Not at all. Because sessions are online by secure video, you and your partner can talk from home in Bangor whatever the season, without travelling for an appointment. Bradley is based in Hove and works across Northern Ireland, so the coastal setting is no barrier.
How soon can we start couples counselling in Bangor?
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 near the marina or in Ballyholme without waiting for a space across in Belfast.
How do relationship counselling fees compare with NHS or local support in Bangor?
Couples sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute call. Health and Social Care couples support is free but often waited-for, and can feel far off on the coast, so private online work offers a sooner start.
Can we attend from different places if one of us commutes from Bangor into Belfast?
Yes. Sessions are online, so one partner can join from home in Bangor and the other from the city or the train home. Evening appointments are available too, which suits couples fitting sessions around the commute and quieter winter evenings by the lough.
Online Relationship Counselling in Bangor, 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: Belfast, Newtownabbey. See all of Northern Ireland.
Also available in Bangor: counselling and therapy, trauma counselling and addiction counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: the Imago dialogue for couples.
Within reach of Sussex? relationship counselling is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.