Online Trauma Counselling · Chichester

Online Trauma Counselling in Chichester

Online trauma counselling for Chichester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Chichester, from the cathedral quarter and the city centre to the streets around the Market Cross, 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 Chichester, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Chichester

Trauma Counselling for Chichester, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Chichester: from the cathedral quarter and the city centre to Summersdale, Whyke and nearby Bognor
Known for
The cathedral, the Market Cross and the harbour
Region
London & South East (England)
Local NHS / support route
NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Chichester

Why do people in Chichester reach out?

Trauma is not only what happens to soldiers or to people in the news. It can be a car on a rural road, a medical emergency, a marriage that was frightening for years, or something in childhood you have never given a name to. Chichester is a settled, comfortable place, and settled comfortable places are where a great deal of this stays unspoken, sometimes for decades at a time. Emergency admissions for self-harm here ran at 127.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 117 per 100,000. The body keeps its own record regardless of how orderly a life looks from Fishbourne Road or the cathedral quarter.

Chichester Festival Theatrethe University of Chichesterthe Goodwood estateChichester Harbour

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Chichester

SummersdaleWhykeFishbourneParklandsPortfieldGraylingwellDonningtonFishbourne Road

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

The local picture

The local picture in Chichester

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

Reviewed June 2026.

What does trauma counselling involve?

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.

What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the full trauma counselling page for the methods, how I work, sessions and fees for fees and session lengths, and my BACP registration if you want to check who you would be working with.

What happens in 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.

Trauma sessions for people in Chichester take place online by secure video. In this work the room you sit in belongs to you, and that is deliberate. You are not travelling home afterwards with everything stirred up, and you are not in a strange building trying to feel safe on somebody else's terms. A quiet room at home, or a car parked near the harbour, both do the job, provided it is somewhere your body is already at ease.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

Which difficulties does trauma counselling address?

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 Chichester

Why people in Chichester come for trauma counselling

The fear that stops people making contact is nearly always the same one: that they will be asked to go back into it and describe everything. You will not be. Trauma work here is paced, and the pace is set by you rather than by me or by a protocol. The early part is about steadiness, so that you have dependable ways of bringing yourself back down before anything else is approached, and there is no timetable pushing you past that stage. Where it is appropriate, the Human Givens Rewind Technique is available, and it involves no retelling of the event. You stay awake, relaxed and in control, and you can halt it whenever you want to. Self-referral to NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies is open and they can advise on trauma-focused NHS options, with West Sussex Wellbeing there for wider county council 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 Chichester

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Chichester, you can refer yourself directly to NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies 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.

Chichester questions

Online Trauma Counselling in Chichester: common questions

It happened a very long time ago. Is there any use in addressing it now?

No. Time by itself does not process a memory, it only puts distance between you and it, which is why something from decades back can still land as though it were recent. The age of the event matters far less to this work than most people assume.

How much will it cost, and how many sessions am I signing up for?

None in advance. An hour is £80 / 60 min, with £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min for longer appointments, paid as you go. This work is often briefer than expected, and the free 15-minute call is where to ask what is likely in your case.

Is there an NHS option for trauma in West Sussex?

Yes. NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies takes self-referrals and can advise on trauma-focused NHS treatment, though waiting times vary. If tonight is difficult, your GP is the quicker route and Samaritans are there around the clock. Private work alongside an NHS referral is perfectly fine.

I have lived here forty years and never told anyone. Where would I even begin?

With the present rather than the past. We would start from how it affects you now: what your sleep does, what you avoid, what helps you settle again. No account of the original event is required, and long silence about something is common rather than unusual.

Can this be done over video, or does trauma work need to be face to face?

Video suits it well, and a good number of people prefer it. Your own surroundings do much of the steadying that a therapy room would otherwise have to supply, and you keep control of the door. Ending the call leaves you already somewhere familiar.

Can I address past trauma discreetly, without anyone in Chichester knowing?

Yes. Sessions are held privately online from home, with no local room to be seen entering and nothing that need involve anyone in the city. Everything stays confidential, and we approach difficult memories gently, building safety before going any further.

How soon can I start trauma counselling online in Chichester?

Often within a week of a free consultation. Bradley works online with Chichester clients, so there is no clinic to reach across the city. Trauma work from your own private space, in Summersdale or Whyke, can feel steadier when memories are difficult.

What do trauma sessions cost, and can the NHS help in Chichester?

Trauma work is £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours, with longer sessions often suiting it. NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies is free but frequently oversubscribed, so many in Chichester begin privately to be seen sooner.

Is online trauma counselling as effective as in person in Chichester, and are evenings available?

Many Chichester clients find online trauma work just as containing, with familiar surroundings to steady them afterwards. Bradley offers some evening slots, and the Hove room is a coastal train ride away if meeting in person would help you feel safer.

Online Trauma Counselling in Chichester, 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: Portsmouth, Crawley, Horsham. See all of London & South East.

People who come for trauma counselling in Chichester often also look at anxiety counselling, addiction counselling and psychotherapy.

Closer to the Sussex coast? The same trauma counselling is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.