Online Trauma Counselling · Hastings

Online Trauma Counselling in Hastings

Online trauma counselling for Hastings, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Hastings, from the Old Town and the Stade to the streets around the fishing beach, 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 Hastings, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Hastings

Trauma Counselling for Hastings, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Hastings: from the Old Town and the Stade to St Leonards, Ore and Silverhill
Known for
The Old Town, the fishing beach and the cliffs
Region
London & South East (England)
Local NHS / support route
Health in Mind, the East Sussex NHS Talking Therapies service
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Hastings

Why people in Hastings reach out

Hastings is a town of real character and real contrasts, a creative, independent place that also carries some of the sharpest deprivation on the south coast. Seasonal and insecure work, the distance from larger centres, and the long winters once the visitors have gone can all weigh on people, and good local support is not always easy to find.

Hastings is a town of vivid character, from the net huts and fishing boats on the Stade to the tangled lanes of the Old Town and the faded grandeur of St Leonards. A strong creative and independent community has made its home here, drawn by the light, the cheaper rents and the sea, and galleries and studios sit alongside the working fishing beach. Yet that colour exists next to some of the sharpest hardship on the south coast, with seasonal and insecure work common across Ore and Silverhill and the long winters weighing heavily once the visitors have gone. Being a distance from larger towns, and finding good support stretched, only adds to the load, and a dependable, confidential space can be genuinely hard to come by.

the fishing fleet on the Stadethe creative and arts communityHastings Contemporary gallery

A seaside town can feel cut off once the season ends and the front goes quiet, so online support that does not depend on who happens to practise nearby matters here.

Hastings is a coastal town with a long fishing heritage and is served by the Conquest Hospital; parts of the town are among the more deprived areas in the South East.

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Hastings

Old TownSt LeonardsOreSilverhillHollingtonBohemiaWest HillClive ValeCentral St Leonards

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

The local picture

The local picture in Hastings

These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Hastings are living with, and why local support matters.

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.

Hastings sits at the end of its rail lines, and travelling to appointments elsewhere can eat up much of a day. Online counselling changes that: you join securely from home, with no long journey along the coast or up the line. The practice room is in Hove, further west along the same shore if you would ever prefer to meet in person, but for Hastings the sessions are held online, close and dependable wherever you are in the town.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

How online trauma counselling in Hastings 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 Hastings

Why people in Hastings come for trauma counselling

In a town carrying real hardship, where good support is not always easy to find, a difficult past experience can go unaddressed for a long time. The insecurity of seasonal work and the isolation of the long Hastings winters can make trauma harder to sit with, surfacing in disturbed sleep, in a guardedness that will not lift, in low spells that arrive without warning. Trauma-focused counselling offers a contained, dependable space to work through what happened at your own pace, held securely online from home with no travel costs. The practice room is further west along the same coast in Hove if you would ever prefer to meet in person.

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 Hastings

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Hastings, you can refer yourself directly to Health in Mind, the East Sussex 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.

Hastings questions

Online Trauma Counselling in Hastings: common questions

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

Yes. I work with people right across Hastings, from the Old Town and the Stade outwards, and anywhere else in London & South 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.

Support here feels stretched. Can I get consistent trauma counselling in Hastings?

Yes. Online sessions give you a dependable, regular point of contact regardless of what local services can offer, held from home with no travel costs. We build safety first and move at your pace, so working through difficult experiences stays manageable.

How soon can I start trauma counselling online in Hastings?

Often within a week of a free consultation. Bradley works online with Hastings clients, so there is no clinic to reach across town. Trauma work from your own private space, in Ore or St Leonards, can feel steadier and safer.

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

Trauma counselling is £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours, with the longer sessions often suiting it. Health in Mind, the East Sussex service, is free but can be oversubscribed, so many in Hastings begin privately to be seen sooner.

Is online trauma counselling as good as in person in Hastings, and are evenings available?

Many Hastings clients find online trauma work just as steadying, with familiar surroundings between sessions. Bradley offers some evening slots for freelance and creative schedules, and the Hove room is a coastal train ride away if meeting in person would help.

Work here is seasonal and money is tight in winter. Is online counselling easier to keep up?

It can be, yes. Without travel costs or time lost to a journey, sessions are simpler to fit around insecure or seasonal work. We can also talk openly about money worries and the strain of the quiet months, which are a real part of life for many in Hastings.

Online Trauma Counselling in Hastings, 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: Eastbourne. See all of London & South East.

All counselling & therapy in Hastings: 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.