Online Trauma Counselling · Aberdeen

Online Trauma Counselling in Aberdeen

Online trauma counselling for Aberdeen, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour to the streets around the granite architecture, 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 trauma counselling for Aberdeen, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Aberdeen

Trauma Counselling for Aberdeen, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Aberdeen: from the granite centre and the harbour to Old Aberdeen, Torry and Bridge of Don
Known for
The granite architecture, the harbour and the North Sea
Region
Scotland (Scotland)
Local NHS / support route
NHS psychological therapies (Scotland)
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Aberdeen

Why people in Aberdeen reach out

Aberdeen, the granite city on the north-east coast, has lived through the booms and busts of the oil and energy industry, and that volatility brings real insecurity. Long rotas offshore, the strain on families left behind and the remoteness of the far north-east all shape what people here carry.

Aberdeen is built from granite that glitters in the sun and turns steel-grey in the rain, a city set between two rivers on the cold edge of the North Sea. For decades its fortunes have risen and fallen with the oil and gas industry, and that rhythm shapes everything: the workers flying out to the rigs on long rotas, the families counting the weeks until they are home, and the anxiety that ripples through the city whenever the energy price turns. Beyond the harbour and the corporate offices sit the old cobbled streets of Footdee, the student quarter of Old Aberdeen, and the tight-knit community of Torry across the water. It can be a hard place to feel settled when so much depends on forces far offshore.

the North Sea oil and gas industrythe University of AberdeenRobert Gordon UniversityAberdeen harbour

Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.

Aberdeen is the centre of the UK's North Sea oil and gas industry and home to the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the main hospital for NHS Grampian.

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Aberdeen

Old AberdeenTorryBridge of DonRosemountFerryhillMannofieldFootdeeDyceCultsKincorth

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

The trauma counselling itself

Trauma counselling here is gentle and led by you, drawing on methods designed for trauma including the Human Givens Rewind Technique, so a difficult memory is returned to ordinary recall.

The approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main trauma counselling page and on how I work.

How online sessions work

Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.

Aberdeen sits a long way north, and specialist counselling can be harder to reach here than in the central belt, with NHS Grampian talking therapies often carrying a wait. Offshore rotas make fixed weekly appointments difficult too. Secure video changes that: sessions can reach a flat in the city, a room at home, or wherever you have signal and privacy. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work with clients across Scotland and the UK online.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

How online trauma counselling in Aberdeen can help

Intrusive memories

Support for flashbacks, nightmares and re-experiencing.

Hypervigilance

Help when your nervous system is stuck on high alert.

Numbness and avoidance

For when you cope by shutting down.

Trauma behind addiction

Healing the wound that drives the habit.

Sub-threshold trauma

Reaching the quieter, accumulated hurts.

Feeling safe again

Working always at a pace that is led by you.

Trauma Counselling in Aberdeen

Why people in Aberdeen come for trauma counselling

Life around the harbour and the rigs can carry real risk, and difficult or frightening experiences, at work or in the past, can leave a lasting mark that no amount of getting on with the job fully settles. Trauma can surface as broken sleep, a constant alertness, or memories that intrude when you least expect them. Working online at a pace you set, I offer a careful, confidential space to approach it safely. Sessions reach you by secure video wherever you have privacy, which spares the long distances people this far north would otherwise travel for specialist support.

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 Aberdeen

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Aberdeen, 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, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.

Aberdeen questions

Online Trauma Counselling in Aberdeen: common questions

Can I get online trauma counselling if I live in Aberdeen?

Yes. I work with people right across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.

Do I have to describe what happened in detail?

No. Methods like the Human Givens Rewind let us process a memory without you reliving it or even speaking the detail aloud.

Is it safe to do trauma work online?

Yes, when it is paced carefully. We go slowly, keep you grounded, and you stay in control of what we approach and when.

What if I get overwhelmed during a session?

We build in ways to settle and pause, and never move faster than feels safe. Being in your own space online can make that easier.

Does something that happened at work count as trauma?

It certainly can. Frightening or dangerous experiences on the rigs, at the harbour or anywhere else can leave a genuine mark, whether or not anyone was hurt. If it is still affecting your sleep, mood or sense of safety, it is worth talking through, and we can do that entirely online.

How soon can trauma counselling start online in Aberdeen?

We begin with a free 15-minute consultation and usually arrange a first session within a week or two. Trauma work goes at your pace, with no local waiting list and no long drive for specialist help, which matters on the cold edge of the North Sea.

How do trauma counselling fees compare with Aberdeen services?

NHS Grampian and some charities offer free trauma support, though waits and distance are real barriers here. My private fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation and no queue first.

Can trauma sessions be held privately by video in Aberdeen?

Yes. Many prefer to process trauma from the safety of home rather than travel far for a clinic. Secure video sessions, evenings included, reach a quiet room in Torry or Footdee, or wherever you have signal and privacy, with nothing to travel to.

Can counselling work around an offshore rota?

Yes. Because sessions are held by secure video, we can arrange times that fit your onshore weeks, and pick up again when you're back. There's no clinic to get to, so the pattern of your work matters far less than having a private hour and a connection.

Do you see people in Aberdeen face to face?

No. I work from Hove on the English south coast and see clients across Scotland entirely online. For anyone in Aberdeen that means secure video sessions, which spares the long distances many here would otherwise travel for specialist support.

Online Trauma Counselling in Aberdeen, 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: Dundee, Perth. See all of Scotland.

All counselling & therapy in Aberdeen: Addiction · Substance Use · Drinking Problems · Anxiety · Depression · Relationship · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.

Closer to the Sussex coast? The same trauma counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.