Communication and conflict
Breaking the cycle of the same argument.
Online Relationship Counselling · Chester
Online Relationship Counselling in Chester
Online relationship counselling for Chester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Chester, from the Rows and the walls to the streets around the river Dee, 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 Chester
Relationship Counselling for Chester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Chester: from the Rows and the walls to Hoole, Boughton and Blacon
- Known for
- The city walls, the Rows and the river Dee
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS Talking Therapies (find via the NHS finder)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Chester
What brings people in Chester to counselling?
Chester looks well. The walls, the Rows and the tourism trade around them give the city a polished front, and a good many couples here keep a polished front of their own. Dinners with other couples, a decent house in Upton or Handbridge, photographs that give nothing away. Behind that, two people can be barely speaking. The contrast between the comfortable version of this city and the harder one is wide, and it exists inside marriages too: a household that appears secure whilst one person quietly worries about the mortgage. Appearances make it much harder to admit that something has gone wrong, so people here often leave it far longer than they should.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Chester
the city centre within the wallsHooleBoughtonBlaconHandbridgeNewtonUptonVicars Cross
Wherever you are in Chester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Chester
Official figures for Chester, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 138.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 117 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Emergency Hospital Admissions for Intentional Self-Harm (2023/24).
recorded depression on GP registers stood at 16.9% of patients aged 18+ in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Depression: QOF prevalence (2024/25).
25.4% of adults reported a high anxiety score in 2022/23, above the England average of 23.8%. Source: OHID Fingertips – Self-reported wellbeing: high anxiety score (2022/23).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does relationship counselling involve?
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 relationship counselling page, alongside how I work, sessions and fees and how to check my registration.
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.
All of this happens online, by video or phone, since Bradley works from Hove. In a city this compact, where you may well know somebody in every street, not having to walk into a building matters. Nobody sees your car. There is no reception to sit in. You can both join from home, or one of you from an office with the door closed, and if only one of you wants to come that is a perfectly workable way to begin.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can relationship counselling in Chester help with?
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 Chester
Why people in Chester come for relationship counselling
The usual reasons couples get in touch are drift, a betrayal that has never been talked through properly, and the strain of one partner being unwell. Low mood is more common here than the city's image suggests: depression on GP registers reached 16.9% of patients aged 18 and over in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%. When one of you is depressed, the other often becomes brisk and capable, and both of you end up lonely inside the same house. Sessions are practical. We look at how you speak to each other when you are frightened, what repair actually requires after trust has been broken, and what you each stopped asking for. My Mind, run by the local NHS partnership trust, and the NHS Talking Therapies finder both offer individual routes, and Via - New Beginnings covers drug and alcohol support in Cheshire West and Chester.
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 Chester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Chester, you can refer yourself directly to NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression, with no GP referral needed. You can find support through the NHS Talking Therapies finder.
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.
Chester questions
Online Relationship Counselling in Chester: common questions
We know a lot of people locally. How private is this?
Entirely private. Sessions are online, so there is no building, no reception and nobody in a corridor. What you say stays between us, subject only to the usual limits where somebody is at serious risk. Nothing goes to your employer, your doctor or anyone else.
What are the fees for a couple?
The rate is per session rather than per person: £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes, £120 for two hours. Ninety minutes suits most couples, since an hour often runs out just as the honest part begins. The initial 15-minute consultation costs nothing.
Could My Mind or the NHS Talking Therapies finder help us instead?
Both are free and worth knowing about, and both are set up for individuals rather than couples. If one of you is struggling personally, using an NHS route for that while working on the relationship here is a sensible combination rather than a duplication.
My partner thinks we should just sort it out ourselves. What now?
Plenty of people feel that, and it usually reflects pride rather than indifference. You can start alone. Changing how one person responds tends to shift the pattern between both, and partners quite often join later once they see nobody is being blamed.
Is it too late if we have been like this for years?
Not necessarily. Long-standing distance is harder work than a recent row, and it is not hopeless. What matters more than the length of time is whether both of you still want something different. That question is usually worth answering properly rather than guessing.
Do you also work with couples just over the border in Wales?
Yes. Chester sits right on the border, and because we meet online it makes no practical difference whether you're in the city, in Saltney or over into Flintshire. You can join the same call from either side, so nearness to the boundary is never an obstacle.
How soon can we start relationship counselling in Chester?
Usually within a week or two. I work online from Hove, so Chester couples do not join a waiting list. We start with a free fifteen-minute call to check the fit, then book a first session that suits you both, whether you are in Hoole, Handbridge or within the walls.
What do couples sessions cost, and how does it compare to the NHS in Chester?
Couples often choose the ninety-minute session at £100, as relationship work benefits from the extra time, though sixty minutes is £80. NHS support around the Countess of Chester Hospital leans towards individuals, so couples frequently come privately. The first fifteen-minute consultation is free.
Can you see us if my partner and I are in different places?
Yes. As it is online, one of you can join from home in Boughton and the other from work or away, and we still meet together. Evenings often suit once the day winds down, and I keep a regular slot so it stays a steady fixture for you both.
Online Relationship Counselling in Chester, 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 North West: Warrington, Liverpool, Crewe. See all of North West.
Close to this in Chester, there is counselling and therapy, trauma counselling and addiction counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: the Imago dialogue for couples.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.