Online Relationship Counselling · Folkestone

Online Relationship Counselling in Folkestone

Online relationship counselling for Folkestone, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Folkestone, from the Creative Quarter and the Leas to the streets around the Harbour Arm, 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 relationship counselling for Folkestone, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Folkestone

Relationship Counselling for Folkestone, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Folkestone: from the Creative Quarter and the Leas to Cheriton, Sandgate and Morehall
Known for
The Leas, the Harbour Arm and the Creative Quarter
Region
London & South East (England)
Local NHS / support route
NHS Talking Therapies in Kent and Medway
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Folkestone

Why people in Folkestone get in touch

Freelancing is hard on a partnership, and this town has a great deal of it. The Creative Quarter runs on people who invoice rather than get paid, and the money is good one month and absent the next. Shift work at the Eurotunnel terminal at Cheriton pulls other households the other way, into a rota that never quite matches anybody else's. Then there is the seasonal swing: crowds and noise and work all summer, and a long quiet from October that some couples discover they have nothing to fill. Regeneration has changed the look of the place faster than it has changed the household finances in Foord or Morehall, and you can be proud of where you live and frightened about January at the same time.

the Creative Quarterthe Folkestone Triennialthe Eurotunnel terminal at Cheritonthe tourism and hospitality sector

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Folkestone

CheritonSandgateMorehallFoordBroadmeadEast FolkestoneHarvey CentralPark Farm

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

The local picture

The local picture in Folkestone

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

Reviewed June 2026.

What is relationship counselling, in practice?

Relationship counselling here, for couples or individuals, slows down the pattern you are caught in and builds healthier ways of hearing and being heard.

What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see relationship counselling in detail for the methods, the practical side for fees and session lengths, and how to check my registration if you want to check who you would be working with.

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.

Everything is done online by secure video; the only room is in Hove, some way along the coast. For self-employed people that is straightforwardly useful, because an hour need not turn into half a day. You can share a screen at home or join from two places when one of you is working. There is no waiting room and no walk through a small town to a door somebody might recognise. Starting on your own is fine.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

Which difficulties does relationship counselling address?

Communication and conflict

Breaking the cycle of the same argument.

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 Folkestone

Why people in Folkestone come for relationship counselling

The couples who come here are not usually mid-row. They are efficient with each other and short of everything else. A freelance household organises itself around whoever has a deadline, and the person without one absorbs the rest until that stops feeling voluntary. Money worry sharpens all of it. Anxiety is part of the picture, with 20% of adults in this area reporting a high anxiety score in 2022/23, under the England average of 23.8%, though an average is no use to you when it is two in the morning and you are both awake and neither of you says so. We look at what has stopped being said, at whether trust was dented and never mended, and at what each of you is asking for underneath the tone of voice. None of it depends on your partner agreeing to take part. NHS Talking Therapies in Kent and Medway is the free self-referral route.

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 Folkestone

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Folkestone, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Talking Therapies in Kent and Medway 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.

Folkestone questions

Online Relationship Counselling in Folkestone: common questions

Our income is unpredictable. What are the fees and can we pace them?

Fees are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, paid for each session as it happens rather than as a block. Couples often take the ninety. When a quiet month arrives, going fortnightly for a while keeps the work alive. There is nothing to pay for the short call at the beginning.

Is there a free route in Folkestone for relationship difficulties?

NHS Talking Therapies in Kent and Medway costs nothing and you refer yourself without a GP appointment. Its courses are shaped around anxiety and low mood rather than couples work, so joint sessions may not be what is offered, though for one partner struggling with mood it is worth using.

We are both self-employed and never off at the same time. When could we meet?

Mornings are often the answer for freelance couples, since the working day tends to fill up from lunchtime. A fixed weekly hour is easier to defend than a moveable one. Where only one of you can make a particular week, that session still counts and is not a wasted appointment.

The winter is when we argue. Is it worth starting now or waiting until then?

Starting before the difficult stretch is usually better than starting inside it. Doing the work while things are calmer means you have something to fall back on when the town empties and the money tightens. Waiting until January tends to mean beginning at the worst possible moment.

My partner thinks this is my problem, not ours. Where does that leave me?

In a common position, and not a hopeless one. You can work on your half of it alone, which changes what your partner is responding to even if they never attend. It also gives you a clear-eyed look at what you want, rather than only at what is going wrong.

Our work is seasonal and money is up and down. Can we still commit to couples sessions?

Yes. Because sessions are online there are no travel costs, and they carry straight through the quiet months, held from home. We can talk openly about what feels manageable, so a steady space to work on your relationship stays within reach whatever the season is doing.

How soon can we start relationship counselling online in Folkestone?

Usually within a week. There is no waiting list, so after a free 15-minute consultation we book a first session at a time that suits you. It is held securely online, joined from home in the Creative Quarter, Sandgate or Cheriton, with nothing to arrange beyond the hour itself.

What are your fees, and how do they compare with the NHS in Folkestone?

Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Talking Therapies in Kent is free but can involve a waiting list, whereas private work with Bradley lets the two of you choose when to begin.

Our work follows the tourism season. Can couples join in the evening around that?

Yes. With much of the work here seasonal or tied to the tourism trade, online sessions are joined from home, or from two places if needed, with evening slots available. We hold a regular time that flexes as the summer crowds come and go, so the work stays steady.

Online Relationship Counselling in Folkestone, 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: Dover, Ashford. See all of London & South East.

If relationship counselling is not quite what you are looking for, counselling and therapy, trauma counselling and addiction counselling may fit better in Folkestone.

If you would like to read more first, I have written about the Imago dialogue for couples.

For anyone near the coast, the same relationship counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.