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Online Addiction Counselling · Bournemouth
Online Addiction Counselling in Bournemouth
Online addiction counselling for Bournemouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bournemouth, from the seafront and the centre to the streets around the pier, 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 Bournemouth
Addiction Counselling for Bournemouth, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bournemouth: from the seafront and the centre to Boscombe, Winton and Charminster
- Known for
- The pier, the beaches and the pines
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Bournemouth
Why people in Bournemouth get in touch
Bournemouth fills and empties. Summer brings holidaymakers to the beaches, term brings students to Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth, and the language-school and tourism trade keeps a steady stream of people passing through for a season at a time. A habit thrives in that churn. When the faces around you change every few months, nobody is present long enough to notice a pattern, and there is always a new crowd to hide it in. Boscombe and Springbourne carry the town's harder edges; Westbourne and Southbourne carry its comfortable ones. Compulsion turns up in both. What links them is how private it stays, and how easy it is here to call it a good time.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bournemouth
BoscombeWintonCharminsterWestbourneSouthbourneSpringbourneKinsonThroopPokesdown
Wherever you are in Bournemouth, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bournemouth
Official figures for Bournemouth, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 315.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 504.1 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow) (2023/24).
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 11.5 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the main addiction counselling page, with how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and my credentials and registration for registration and ethics.
What happens in an online session?
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.
Bradley is in Hove, so Bournemouth is served entirely online by secure video. In a town where much of the work is seasonal and the hours change week to week, that flexibility does real work: a slot can move around a rota rather than the other way round. It also keeps the appointment out of anyone else's line of sight. No reception desk, no seafront traffic, no half hour spent explaining an absence to a shift manager.
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 Bournemouth
Why people in Bournemouth come for addiction counselling
Not everything dealt with here comes in a bottle or a bag. Gambling apps, gaming, shopping and pornography run on the same mechanics, and so does a phone you cannot put down. What we examine is the shape of the compulsion: the trigger, the ritual, the short relief, the longer cost, and the story told immediately afterwards. Shame is usually the strongest part of it, so nothing you say meets a reaction you have to brace for. The town's figures are worth knowing. Deaths from drug misuse ran at 11.5 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, roughly double the England average of 5.8, while hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions came in lower than average at 315.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24. BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services is the statutory route, We Are With You covers this area, and Dorset Mind sits alongside for mental health.
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 Bournemouth
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bournemouth, free local drug and alcohol support is available through BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services.
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 111 and choose the mental health option. The Samaritans are free, day or night, on 116 123, or 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.
Bournemouth questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Bournemouth: common questions
How does someone actually get started here?
With a free 15-minute call, arranged by phone or email. Nothing is assessed and no file is opened on you. If it feels right, a weekly slot usually opens within a week or two. There is no referral to chase, no waiting list, and no obligation afterwards.
What does it cost, and can I pay week by week?
Week by week, yes. Sixty minutes is £80, 90 minutes is £100, and a two-hour session is £120. The introductory 15-minute call is not charged for. Seasonal earnings make long commitments unwise for many people here, so nothing is sold in packages or blocks of sessions.
Is BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services a better option?
It is a different one, and it is free. That route reaches We Are With You, the commissioned drug and alcohol service, which handles structured treatment and anything prescribed. Counselling covers the weekly conversation about why the habit exists at all. Using both together is ordinary.
Do sessions work if I am sharing a flat in Boscombe?
They can. Headphones make most of the difference, and people often take the hour in a car, on a quiet stretch of seafront, or while housemates are out at work. If privacy is genuinely impossible, we can talk that through before you commit to anything.
I only gamble on my phone during the quiet season. Is that an addiction?
Labels matter less than pattern. Winter is long in a resort, and an app that fills empty hours is doing something for you that is worth understanding. If the money, the secrecy or the sheer time spent has grown, that is the thing to bring.
I moved to Bournemouth and feel oddly alone here. Can counselling help with that?
It can. Arriving somewhere lively yet feeling unconnected is common in a resort with such a shifting population, and it is something we can work with alongside the habit. Sessions are held online by secure video from home. The counselling room is in Hove.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Bournemouth?
Once you get in touch we usually arrange a free 15-minute consultation within a few days, then book your first full session soon after. Everything runs online, so wherever you are in Bournemouth, from Boscombe to Winton, you can begin without waiting for a local referral.
What are your fees, and how do they compare with NHS support in Bournemouth?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, with a free 15-minute consultation first. NHS support in Bournemouth, through your GP or services around the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, is free but can involve a wait, whereas private online work with me usually starts within days.
Is online addiction counselling as effective as meeting in person in Bournemouth?
For most people it works just as well, and many prefer the privacy. My consulting room is in Hove, so face-to-face suits only those able to travel to the Sussex coast. Meeting online spares you the trip across Bournemouth near the seafront, and I keep some later appointments for busy weeks.
Online Addiction Counselling in Bournemouth, 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 South West: Poole, Southampton. See all of South West.
Also available in Bournemouth: substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour and the four-stage cycle of addiction.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.