Intrusive memories
Support for flashbacks, nightmares and re-experiencing.
Online Trauma Counselling · Bristol
Online Trauma Counselling in Bristol
Online trauma counselling for Bristol, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bristol, from the harbourside and the centre to the streets around the Suspension Bridge, 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 Bristol
Trauma Counselling for Bristol, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bristol: from the harbourside and the centre to Clifton, Bedminster, Stokes Croft and Easton
- Known for
- The Suspension Bridge, the harbourside and the Downs
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Bristol
What brings people in Bristol to counselling?
Trauma does not respect a postcode. It sits with people in Redland and St Pauls alike, and usually it has been sitting there quietly for a very long time. It might be one thing that happened, or a childhood spent bracing, or a job that involved seeing what nobody prepared you for. Emergency hospital admissions for self-harm in Bristol ran at 222.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well above the England average of 117 per 100,000, and a figure like that describes distress which mostly stays private. In a city that values self-sufficiency and getting on with it, the habit of never mentioning something can outlast the thing itself by decades.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bristol
CliftonBedminsterStokes CroftEastonBishopstonSouthvilleRedlandMontpelierFishpondsKnowleHorfieldSt Pauls
Wherever you are in Bristol, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bristol
Official figures for Bristol, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 222.9 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).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens in trauma counselling?
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 method travels; only the geography changes. everything on trauma counselling explains it properly, the practical side answers the practical questions, and how to check my registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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.
Everything happens by secure video, with Bradley working from Hove. There is no room in this city to attend, and that turns out to suit trauma. You remain in your own space, you choose what the camera shows, and you can close the call yourself at any point, which hands back a kind of control that may have been missing for years. Some people sit with the camera off for a while. Some need the door kept in view. Both are fine.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does trauma counselling address?
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 Bristol
Why people in Bristol come for trauma counselling
Nobody will ask you to describe what happened. That matters more than anything else here, because the dread of having to retell it is what keeps people away for years. The work is paced and led by you from the first session onwards. We begin with the present-day picture: sleep, startle, temper, the things you steer around without thinking about it, and whatever already brings the volume down a little. The Human Givens Rewind Technique allows a memory to be processed without being spoken aloud, at a distance you control, and we reach it only once the ground beneath is steady. If you want to stop, we stop, and that counts as sound judgement rather than avoidance. VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service, accepts self-referrals in England and can assess trauma and route it onward, with Bristol Mind as a further local option.
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 Bristol
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bristol, you can refer yourself directly to VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service 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.
Bristol questions
Online Trauma Counselling in Bristol: common questions
I have never told anyone. Do I have to begin by telling you?
No. You can start with the effects rather than the events, describing what your sleep and your temper are doing without going near the story at all. The Rewind Technique is built so a memory can be dealt with unspoken. What you disclose remains your decision, at every single session.
Self-harm admissions in Bristol are 222.9 per 100,000. What if that is me?
Tell your GP, and keep Samaritans to hand for the difficult hours. That rate is for 2023/24 against an England average of 117 per 100,000, so you would be far from alone in it. Counselling works alongside medical support, and we would plan carefully rather than start anywhere near the memory.
Would VitaMinds take a trauma referral?
It would. VitaMinds, the BNSSG NHS Talking Therapies service, accepts self-referrals in England with no GP letter needed, assesses what you are dealing with, and routes trauma-focused work accordingly. Where symptoms are severe, involving your GP at the same time is a reasonable step rather than an overreaction.
I share a house in Easton and the walls are thin. Is trauma work even possible?
It is. Headphones mean only your voice carries, and your part is often the quieter half of an hour. Sessions can be booked for times when the house empties out. Because this work does not require you to narrate anything, there is much less to overhear than people assume.
How many sessions will it take, and what will they cost?
That depends on whether we are working with one event or with years of them, and nothing is booked as a fixed course. It costs £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety, £120 for two hours. We review as we go, and the free 15-minute consultation is where to ask about your own case.
Will I have to go into everything straight away in trauma counselling?
No. We move at a pace you set, and you never have to say more than you are ready to. The work is gentle and confidential, held online by secure video from wherever you are in Bristol. The counselling room itself is in Hove.
How do I begin trauma counselling online from Bristol?
Trauma counselling for Bristol is delivered online across the city, so support is not held up by finding a local space. After a free 15-minute consultation we agree a steady pace, and can usually begin secure video sessions within a week. The counselling room is in Hove.
What are the fees for trauma work, and how does the NHS compare in Bristol?
NHS trauma support in Bristol comes through VitaMinds and is free, but the wait can be hard when you are struggling. Privately, I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation. Longer sessions can suit trauma work.
For trauma, is online as effective as in person, and are Bristol evenings possible?
For trauma, many Bristol clients prefer online, staying in a familiar, private space rather than travelling anywhere. We work by secure video at a pace you set, with evening slots where possible. In-person sessions are only for those able to reach Hove on the Sussex coast.
Online Trauma Counselling in Bristol, 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 South West: Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester. See all of South West.
People who come for trauma counselling in Bristol often also look at anxiety counselling, addiction counselling and psychotherapy.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.