Intrusive memories
Support for flashbacks, nightmares and re-experiencing.
Online Trauma Counselling · Portsmouth
Online trauma counselling for Portsmouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Portsmouth — from across Portsea Island, Southsea and Old Portsmouth to the streets around the Spinnaker Tower — with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
In and around Portsmouth
Life in Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the most densely populated city outside London and a historic naval base, and the forces connection runs deep. Long deployments, frequent moves and the strain on families left behind leave their mark, and on a tightly packed island city privacy can feel in short supply. Reaching out here often means doing so quietly, without anyone needing to know.
With deep forces connections, deployments and frequent moves leave their mark; online counselling travels with you and stays consistent through postings.
Portsmouth is home to His Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth (a principal Royal Navy base), the University of Portsmouth and Queen Alexandra Hospital.
The local picture
These figures are local context from official sources — not a description of you — but they show the scale of what people in and around Portsmouth are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of emergency hospital admissions for self-harm was 177.1 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).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
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.
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.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Support for flashbacks, nightmares and re-experiencing.
Help when your nervous system is stuck on high alert.
For when you cope by shutting down.
Healing the wound that drives the habit.
Reaching the quieter, accumulated hurts.
Working always at a pace that is led by you.
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Portsmouth, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire (italk) 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:
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.
Portsmouth questions
Yes. I work with people right across Portsmouth, from across Portsea Island, Southsea and Old Portsmouth 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.
No. Methods like the Human Givens Rewind let us process a memory without you reliving it or even speaking the detail aloud.
Yes, when it is paced carefully. We go slowly, keep you grounded, and you stay in control of what we approach and when.
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.
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: Southampton, Chichester. See all of London & South East.
Other online support from Portsmouth: Addiction, Substance Use, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship.