Intrusive memories
Support for flashbacks, nightmares and re-experiencing.
Online Trauma Counselling · Durham
Online Trauma Counselling in Durham
Online trauma counselling for Durham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Durham, from the peninsula and the centre to the streets around the cathedral, 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 Durham
Trauma Counselling for Durham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Durham: from the peninsula and the centre to Gilesgate, Neville's Cross and Framwellgate
- Known for
- The cathedral, the castle and the river Wear
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Durham and Darlington Talking Therapies
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Durham
Why people in Durham reach out
Durham's great cathedral and ancient university give the city a calm, storied face, but behind it sit intense academic pressure and a county still living with the loss of its coal industry. The gap between the gleaming university and the hard-pressed former pit villages around it shapes much of what people carry.
Durham is one of the great sights of northern England, its Norman cathedral and castle standing together on a wooded peninsula almost encircled by a loop of the river Wear, together a World Heritage Site. The cathedral, a masterpiece of Romanesque building, has drawn pilgrims for nearly a thousand years and, more recently, film crews. Around it winds a compact medieval city of narrow vennels, the market place and the colleges of Durham University, one of England's oldest. The city is also the spiritual home of the Durham coalfield: each July the Miners' Gala still fills the streets with banners and brass bands, honouring the pit communities of the surrounding county. Beyond, the former mining villages of County Durham spread across the hills.
Beneath a calm, historic surface, struggle can be hard to voice; a confidential online hour asks nothing of appearances.
Durham is home to Durham University and to University Hospital of North Durham (County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust); its Norman cathedral and castle form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the surrounding county still bears the legacy of its coal-mining past.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Durham
GilesgateNeville's CrossFramwellgate MoorBelmontCrossgateElvetSherburnBearparkUshaw MoorNewton Hall
Wherever you are in Durham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Durham
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Durham are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 85.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 117 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Emergency Hospital Admissions for Intentional Self-Harm (2023/24).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
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.
I'm based in Hove, far to the south, and work with people in and around Durham online, by secure video, rather than in person. You meet from home in the city or out in the county villages, with no journey to fit in. We'd keep a regular weekly time that works around study, work or family, the distance simply doesn't come into it by video.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online trauma counselling in Durham can help
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 Durham
Why people in Durham come for trauma counselling
Trauma can keep the nervous system braced long after the event, broken sleep, a quick startle, memories that surface uninvited, however capably you carry on around it. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, working with people across Durham by secure video rather than in person. Trauma work is careful and led entirely by you: we build a foundation of safety and grounding first, and only turn towards the hard memories when you're ready. Being in your own familiar space, rather than crossing the city to an unfamiliar room, can help you feel more in control while we do this steady work together.
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 Durham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Durham, you can refer yourself directly to Durham and Darlington 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.
Durham questions
Online Trauma Counselling in Durham: common questions
Can I get online trauma counselling if I live in Durham?
Yes. I work with people right across Durham, from the peninsula and the centre outwards, and anywhere else in Yorkshire & North East, 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.
Would doing this from home actually help?
For many people, yes. Being in your own familiar space, with your own things around you, often makes it easier to feel safe and in control during difficult work. There's also no journey to and from an appointment to manage at either end.
How soon can I start trauma counselling online in Durham?
We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, usually within a week, then a first video session at a careful pace. Working from Hove across Durham means no waiting list and no trip into the city when you're feeling vulnerable; the session simply comes to you.
How much is trauma counselling, and why not just use the NHS in Durham?
You can; County Durham NHS talking therapies and hospital services are free, though often with a wait. My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours. Longer sessions can suit trauma work, and privately you'd start sooner and choose the pace.
Is trauma work safe to do online instead of in person in Durham?
For many people, yes. Being in your own familiar space in Durham can feel steadier than an unfamiliar room after a trip into the city. I work from Hove by secure video, and we can use 90-minute or evening sessions so there's time to settle and close gently.
I'm a student at Durham University, can you help?
Yes. Online sessions carry on through term, vacations and placements wherever you are, so moving between Durham and home doesn't interrupt things. I work privately, separate from the university and college welfare teams, which you can also draw on alongside this.
Are you based in Durham?
No. I work from Hove on the south coast and see Durham clients by secure video call. For people out in the former pit villages especially, meeting online removes a journey into the city and makes a weekly session much easier to keep up.
Online Trauma Counselling in Durham, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Darlington. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
All counselling & therapy in Durham: 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.