Online Trauma Counselling · Reading

Online Trauma Counselling in Reading

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

In and around Reading

Trauma Counselling for Reading, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Reading: from the centre and the university quarter to Caversham, Tilehurst and Earley
Known for
The Thames, the Oracle and the Kennet
Region
London & South East (England)
Local NHS / support route
NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Reading

Why people in Reading get in touch

Trauma does not care how well organised your life is. In Reading it often turns up in people whose days are entirely under control on the surface: a crash on the motorway that nobody mentions any more, an assault years ago, a childhood that gets described as fine. What shows is indirect. Sleep breaks up, concentration disappears in the middle of a meeting, a particular junction gets avoided out of habit. Staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital carry the accumulation of hard shifts. Students at the University of Reading arrive with things from home that nobody around them knows about. A fast town makes it easy to keep moving, and moving is a very effective way of not dealing with something.

the University of Readingthe Royal Berkshire Hospitalthe Thames Valley technology corridor

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Reading

CavershamTilehurstEarleyLower EarleyWoodleyWhitleySouthcoteColeyEmmer Green

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

The local picture

The local picture in Reading

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

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.

What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the main trauma counselling page for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost for fees and session lengths, and professional standards and registration if you want to check who you would be working with.

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.

Trauma sessions take place online by secure video; Bradley is in Hove and there is no room in Reading. For this work the arrangement suits people well. You stay somewhere familiar, you decide who else is at home, and when the hour finishes you are already where you want to be rather than facing a commute while raw. Nothing runs to a schedule, and a session spent slowing down is a perfectly legitimate session.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What sort of things do people bring?

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 Reading

Why people in Reading come for trauma counselling

People get in touch when the past has begun interfering with the present in ways that no longer make sense to them: startling at nothing, avoiding places, feeling oddly absent during an ordinary afternoon. You are not asked to give an account of what happened. Bradley uses the Human Givens Rewind Technique, which allows a memory to be processed without being described aloud, and it moves at whatever speed you set. The first stretch of the work is about steadying the nervous system, so that nothing spills over into the working week. Emergency admissions for self-harm here ran at 69.8 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well below the England average of 117 per 100,000, and a county-wide figure tells you nothing about your own week. NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies provides trauma-focused treatment on self-referral, and Mind in Berkshire is available alongside.

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 Reading

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Reading, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Berkshire 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.

Reading questions

Online Trauma Counselling in Reading: common questions

Do I need to describe the event to get anywhere?

No. The Rewind Technique works without a spoken account, which is why it suits people who have avoided talking about this for years. You say what you want to say and no more than that. Plenty of people give almost no detail and the work still moves.

What does a trauma session cost?

Trauma sessions are charged at £80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two. A longer appointment gives more room to settle before finishing, which some people prefer for this kind of work. The free 15-minute call comes first, with no obligation to book afterwards.

Does NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies work with trauma?

Yes. Trauma-focused therapy is part of what it offers and you can refer yourself without seeing a GP first. Waits differ from one part of Berkshire to another. There is no reason not to hold that place while starting private work, and a lot of people do exactly that.

Can sessions fit around a demanding job without anyone at work knowing?

They can. Times are set around your calendar, early mornings and evenings included, and nothing is shared with an employer. Private counselling leaves no trace at work. Bradley works to the BACP Ethical Framework, and the limits on confidentiality are explained at the outset.

I have kept working through all of this. Would counselling make me worse at my job?

That is a fair worry, and the pacing exists to answer it. Things are steadied before we go near anything difficult, and every session is closed off properly rather than left hanging. If a week is heavy, we spend the hour on stability and pick things up later.

Can I do trauma counselling around a full-on Reading working week?

Yes. Because sessions are online with nothing to travel to, we can find a regular time that survives the commute, often in the evening. We also go at a pace that respects a demanding week, never pushing into difficult material faster than feels safe.

How soon can I start trauma counselling online in Reading?

Often within a week of a free consultation. Bradley works online with Reading clients, so there is no clinic to travel to across town. Doing trauma work from your own private space, in Earley or Caversham, can feel steadier when difficult memories are involved.

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

Trauma counselling is £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours, with the longer sessions often suiting this work best. NHS Talking Therapies Berkshire is free but can be oversubscribed, so many in Reading begin privately to be seen sooner.

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

Many Reading clients find online trauma work just as steadying, with familiar surroundings to return to afterwards. Bradley keeps some evening slots for those working long Thames Valley hours, and the Hove room is available by train if face-to-face sessions would help you feel safer.

Online Trauma Counselling in Reading, 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: Slough, Oxford, Basingstoke, London. See all of London & South East.

Also available in Reading: 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.