Communication and conflict
Breaking the cycle of the same argument.
Online Relationship Counselling · Livingston
Online Relationship Counselling in Livingston
Online relationship counselling for Livingston, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Livingston, from the centre and the Mall to the streets around the country parks, 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 Livingston
Relationship Counselling for Livingston, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Livingston: from the centre and the Mall to Craigshill, Ladywell and Deans
- Known for
- The shopping centre, the country parks and the Pentlands beyond
- Region
- Scotland
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS psychological therapies (Scotland)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Livingston
Why people in Livingston get in touch
Livingston was built for people arriving from somewhere else, and that shows in the shape of a marriage here. Couples in Dedridge, Knightsridge and Murieston often have no family within an hour and no old friends round the corner. The town is spread out and car-shaped, and Edinburgh commuting takes an hour off most weekday mornings. What that produces is not drama but depletion. Two people doing everything themselves, handing over at the door, running a household as a joint operation and a relationship as an afterthought. When the only adult you speak to properly is the one you are annoyed with, small things get out of proportion very quickly.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Livingston
CraigshillLadywellDeansKnightsridgeDedridgeMuriestonEliburnAlmondvale
Wherever you are in Livingston, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Livingston
Official figures for Livingston, for context rather than as a description of you.
In West Lothian, the council area covering Livingston, 11.7% of adults reported a low happiness score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 9.1%, 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 West Lothian, the council area covering Livingston, 28.8% of adults reported a high anxiety score (6 or above out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 24.1%, 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 West Lothian, the council area covering Livingston, 7.2% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 6.1%, 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 everything on relationship counselling, alongside session lengths and fees and my BACP 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.
Bradley works from Hove and there is no room in Livingston, so relationship sessions happen by secure video. In a town where everything involves the car, that saves the part of the evening you do not have. You can be in the session ten minutes after tea, without arranging a babysitter or driving anywhere at all. If one of you is commuting late or working away, the two of you join from separate places and still do the same piece of work.
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 Livingston
Why people in Livingston come for relationship counselling
The commonest presentation is not conflict but exhaustion dressed as conflict. You are both working, both commuting, and neither of you has had an uninterrupted conversation since the spring. Then something small becomes the argument, and the argument becomes the pattern. New-town isolation makes it worse, because there is nobody nearby who would notice the two of you drifting and no wider circle to absorb any of the pressure. We work on how you speak to each other under load, what a request sounds like when it arrives as an accusation, and what repair actually involves. Where somebody's drinking or low mood is part of it, that is addressed as it affects the relationship. You are welcome alone. Through the health service, a GP referral opens NHS psychological therapies; NHS inform holds trusted self-help and Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 Livingston
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Livingston, your GP can refer you to NHS psychological therapies, and you can find trusted self-help through NHS inform. You can find support through NHS inform; for confidential listening support, Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can text SHOUT to 85258.
Livingston questions
Online Relationship Counselling in Livingston: common questions
We have young children and no family nearby. When could we actually do this?
Evening slots after bedtime are the usual answer, and online means neither of you leaves the house. Some couples take a daytime session while the children are at school. Because there is no travelling involved, one hour is genuinely one hour rather than most of an evening.
How much are couples sessions in Livingston?
The fee is per session and not per person: £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety, £120 for two hours. Ninety minutes works well for couples, since a shorter session can be used up entirely on the first subject. Nothing at all is charged for the initial 15-minute consultation.
Where does the NHS fit in for us in West Lothian?
Your GP is the route and can refer you into NHS psychological therapies. NHS inform has self-help worth reading while that goes through, and Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87 for the evenings and nights. Seeing somebody privately does not affect your referral in any way.
We both moved here for work and know almost nobody nearby. Is that part of the problem?
Very often it is a large part of it. A relationship was never meant to supply all the company, support and perspective a wider network used to provide. Recognising the load the two of you have been carrying tends to reduce the blame between you fairly quickly.
My partner's drinking is straining us. Where do we turn?
In relationship sessions we can work on what it has done between you, which is the part reachable from your side. For the drinking, West Lothian's drug and alcohol service, WLDAS, works with people in Livingston, and the West Lothian health and social care partnership can point towards further help.
We don't have much family nearby, can counselling help with that?
It can. When close support is thin, a relationship carries more, and counselling gives you both a space to share that load rather than let it build. Sessions run by secure video from home, so there is nothing to reach across Livingston's spread-out layout.
How soon can we start relationship counselling in Livingston?
Usually within a week or two. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book a first session that suits you both. Everything is by secure video across Livingston's districts, so there is no waiting list and no drive to a local service to arrange.
What does couples counselling cost against NHS help in Livingston?
Sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Lothian rarely offers dedicated couples work and waits can be long, so many Livingston couples choose private online sessions to start sooner.
Livingston is spread out and we do not always drive, can sessions still suit us?
Yes. Secure video comes to you both at home, so there is no crossing the town's dual carriageways to a service. Evening slots are available, and if one of you is in Edinburgh you can join from two places, which fits couples juggling the commute.
Online Relationship Counselling in Livingston, 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 Scotland: Edinburgh, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
Related work in Livingston: counselling and therapy, trauma counselling and addiction counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about the Imago dialogue for couples.
Within reach of Sussex? relationship counselling is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.