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Online Addiction Counselling · Aberdeen
Online Addiction Counselling in Aberdeen
Online addiction counselling for Aberdeen, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour to the streets around the granite architecture, 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 Aberdeen
Addiction Counselling for Aberdeen, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Aberdeen: from the granite centre and the harbour to Old Aberdeen, Torry and Bridge of Don
- Known for
- The granite architecture, the harbour and the North Sea
- Region
- Scotland
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS inform's drugs and drug use pages
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Aberdeen
What brings people in Aberdeen to counselling?
Aberdeen runs on a rota. Three weeks out, three weeks back, and a habit fits neatly into the gap. Offshore work out of Dyce leaves long empty hours in a cabin, where a betting app is open at four in the morning and nobody is awake to notice. Then the onshore fortnight arrives with its own pressure: catching up, making it count, spending or drinking as though there is a deadline on it. The North Sea oil and gas industry has never stopped swinging between boom and redundancy, and that insecurity sits under a great deal of what gets called a rough patch. In Torry, Bridge of Don and Kincorth, plenty of households have lived through both ends of that cycle more than once.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Aberdeen
Old AberdeenTorryBridge of DonRosemountFerryhillMannofieldFootdeeDyceCultsKincorth
Wherever you are in Aberdeen, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Aberdeen
Official figures for Aberdeen, for context rather than as a description of you.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in Aberdeen City averaged 23.3 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, slightly above the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
In Aberdeen City, 5.0% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 6.1%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens in addiction counselling?
Addiction counselling here treats the pain beneath the habit, not just the symptom, alcohol, drugs, gambling, food or behavioural, so recovery is something you grow into rather than force.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the addiction counselling page sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and qualifications, registration and ethics covers accountability.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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.
There is no room to walk into in Aberdeen. Bradley is in Hove, and every session runs online by secure video, which is what makes a three-and-three rota workable at all. Keep one weekday slot and shift it between offshore and onshore weeks, or pause for a trip and pick the thread up again. Nothing about it is visible to anyone in Rosemount or Ferryhill. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, so you can test the fit before you book.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does addiction counselling address?
Drugs and substances
Compassionate, confidential help with substance use.
Gambling
Breaking the cycle of compulsive gambling, guilt and debt.
Food and behavioural
Support for food and process addictions.
Affected by a loved one
Help for those living alongside someone's addiction.
The pain underneath
We treat the cause, not just the symptom.
Addiction Counselling in Aberdeen
Why people in Aberdeen come for addiction counselling
Addiction here is broader than drink. Gambling is often what people arrive most ashamed of, because there is nothing to smell and nothing to see, only a balance that stops making sense. Cocaine on a weekend home, painkillers left over from a back injury, a bet placed before shift: the shape varies, the pull underneath does not. Drug-misuse deaths in Aberdeen City averaged 23.3 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, slightly above the Scotland average of 22.5, while the alcohol-specific rate of 21.7 sat close to the Scotland figure of 21.9. Those numbers describe a city rather than a person. What we look at instead is what the habit is doing for you: flattening the drop after a trip, filling hours, holding down something you have never had space to think about. Alcohol and Drugs Action offers a helpline and drop-in in the city, the NHS 'find a service' directory lists local treatment, and Breathing Space Scotland is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 callDrug, alcohol & addiction support in Aberdeen
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Aberdeen, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through NHS inform's drugs and drug use pages.
For confidential information and advice, FRANK (on 0300 123 6600) and Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 are free, and Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery run peer-support meetings you can find online.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can text SHOUT to 85258.
If you drink heavily or use drugs daily, do not stop suddenly on your own. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Speak to your GP or a local drug and alcohol service first, and they can arrange a safe, medically supported withdrawal. Counselling works alongside that, not instead of it.
Aberdeen questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Aberdeen: common questions
I work a three-week rota offshore. Can counselling really fit around that?
Yes. Because sessions are online, the pattern bends around the rota instead of the other way round. Many people hold a weekly slot while onshore and either pause during a trip or, where the connection allows, carry on from the cabin. We agree the rhythm at the start and change it whenever your schedule does.
What does it cost, and can I pay one session at a time?
You can. Fees are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, settled session by session, with no block booking and no contract. That matters in a city where work can turn from busy to uncertain inside a month. The first 15-minute consultation is free and there is no obligation after it.
What free help is there in Aberdeen alongside private counselling?
Alcohol and Drugs Action runs a helpline and a drop-in for people across the city, and the NHS 'find a service' directory sets out local drug and alcohol treatment; your GP can start a referral too. Breathing Space Scotland is free on 0800 83 85 87 when a night turns bad.
The gambling happens on my phone. Does talking about it over video make sense?
It works better than most people expect. The device that carries the habit becomes the place you speak about it honestly, and that shifts something on its own. Sessions run by secure video on a laptop or a phone, from home, a parked car, or wherever you happen to be that week.
Aberdeen feels small. Could someone I work offshore with find out?
Not through me. Nothing goes to an employer, and there is no waiting area anywhere in the city where you might run into a colleague. The limits of confidentiality are explained plainly in the first session, and BACP registration and its Ethical Framework govern how your notes are held.
Can addiction counselling work around my offshore rota?
Yes. Because we meet by secure video, we can arrange sessions for your onshore weeks and pick up again when you are back. There is no clinic to reach, so the shape of your work matters far less than having a private hour and a connection.
How soon can I start addiction counselling online in Aberdeen?
Usually within a week or so. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first secure video session. Aberdeen sits a long way north, but online there is no distance to travel, so from Torry to Bridge of Don you can start quickly from home.
What are your fees, and how do they compare to NHS help in Aberdeen?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Grampian talking therapy is free but often carries a wait this far north; private work costs money yet begins sooner, with no queue.
Can online addiction sessions work around an offshore rota from Aberdeen?
Yes. Because sessions run by secure video, we can fit times to your onshore weeks and pick up when you are back, with evenings available too. There is no clinic in the city to reach, so your rota matters far less than a private hour and a connection.
Online Addiction Counselling in Aberdeen, 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 Scotland: Dundee, Perth. See all of Scotland.
Related work in Aberdeen: substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about the four Rs framework and illness or indulgence?.
Within reach of Sussex? addiction counselling is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.