Communication and conflict
Breaking the cycle of the same argument.
Online Relationship Counselling · Lisburn
Online Relationship Counselling in Lisburn
Online relationship counselling for Lisburn, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Lisburn, from the city centre and the cathedral to the streets around the Lagan, 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 Lisburn
Relationship Counselling for Lisburn, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Lisburn: from the city centre and the cathedral to Old Warren, Lagmore and nearby Hillsborough
- Known for
- The cathedral, the Lagan and the linen heritage
- 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 Lisburn
What brings people in Lisburn to counselling?
Life in Lisburn tends to run on other people's timetables. A great many households here sit the commuter economy along the M1, which means one or both of you leaves early, gets home late and spends the weekend catching up on everything that did not happen midweek. The city is comfortable and unspectacular, with the linen history at the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum, walks through Lagan Valley Regional Park, and a strong sense that families should manage their own business. Couples in Ballymacash or out at Hillsborough describe arriving at their forties with a mortgage, two careers and almost no shared conversation left that is not logistics.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Lisburn
Old WarrenLagmoreHildenWallace ParkKnockmoreBallymacashHillsboroughDunmurryBlaris
Wherever you are in Lisburn, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Lisburn
Official figures for Lisburn, for context rather than as a description of you.
In Lisburn and Castlereagh, 7.3% 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 Lisburn and Castlereagh, 13.8% of adults reported a high anxiety score (6 or above out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, below the Northern Ireland average of 19.0%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
In Lisburn and Castlereagh, 5.9% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Northern Ireland average of 5.2%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (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 main relationship counselling page, alongside how sessions run and what they cost and qualifications, registration and ethics.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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 delivered by secure video, with Bradley in Hove, so the appointment does not add another journey to a week already built around travelling. Both of you can join from the sitting room, or one from home and one from wherever the working day has ended. Prices are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, and there is a free 15-minute call before you commit to anything at all.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does relationship counselling 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 Lisburn
Why people in Lisburn come for relationship counselling
Couples in a commuter city tend to arrive late, after years of assuming things would settle once work eased off. The presenting problem is usually communication: the same argument on a loop, or a silence that has become the default. Underneath there is often an injury that was never repaired, or drinking that has slowly changed the atmosphere of the house. There were 15 alcohol-specific deaths registered in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council area in 2023 out of 341 across Northern Ireland, and long before a number like that, alcohol is already doing its damage to trust and honesty between two people. What we do is unglamorous and effective. We take the argument apart, look at what each of you is trying to protect, and rehearse a way of raising the hard thing that both of you can survive. Individuals are welcome without a partner. ASCERT supports families where drink 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 Lisburn
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Lisburn, 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.
Lisburn questions
Online Relationship Counselling in Lisburn: common questions
We both commute and there is no time. When would we actually meet?
Later evening appointments exist for exactly this, and the two of you do not have to be in the same building. One can join from a desk before the drive home while the other joins from the house. Ninety minutes once a fortnight beats an hour that keeps being cancelled.
Can I come without my partner?
Yes. Individual relationship work is a proper option, not a fallback. It gives you room to look at your own contribution, your limits and what you actually want, and it frequently changes what happens at home even when only one person is in the session.
What are the fees?
Sessions cost £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, and one fee covers the appointment whether one or both of you attend. There is no charge for the first 15 minutes. Payment is per session, so you are never locked into a package you have stopped needing.
What does the health service offer couples here?
The route in Northern Ireland is your GP, who can refer you to talking therapies through Health and Social Care. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000 at any hour, and Inspire Wellbeing provides mental health and wellbeing support you can draw on while a referral works its way through.
We are civil but distant. Is that too small a problem to bring?
Distance is one of the main reasons couples get in touch, and it is rarely small. Politeness can hide years of unsaid disappointment. Sessions look at when the two of you stopped talking properly and what would need to be true for either of you to risk it again.
We are both worn out from commuting; how would sessions fit in?
That is exactly what online suits. Sessions are held by secure video, so you and your partner can talk from home in Lisburn in the evening rather than travelling anywhere else. Bradley is based in Hove and works UK-wide, so it fits around the commute.
How soon can we start relationship counselling in Lisburn?
Usually within a week. After a free 15-minute consultation, Bradley Riddell holds couples sessions online by secure video, so you can begin from home in Lisburn without adding a clinic visit to an already busy Belfast commute.
How do couples counselling fees compare with NHS or local support in Lisburn?
Relationship 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 locally is free but can involve a wait, so private online work mainly buys a sooner, evening-friendly start.
Can we book evening sessions given our commute to Belfast?
Yes. Evening appointments by secure video suit Lisburn couples who commute on the M1 or the Dublin line, since you meet from home rather than heading out again. If one partner is working late in the city, they can still join the same session online.
Online Relationship Counselling in Lisburn, 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, Craigavon. See all of Northern Ireland.
If relationship counselling is not quite what you are looking for, counselling and therapy, trauma counselling and addiction counselling may fit better in Lisburn.
There is more on this in my writing: the Imago dialogue for couples.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same relationship counselling is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.