Online Addiction Counselling · Crewe

Online Addiction Counselling in Crewe

Online addiction counselling for Crewe, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Crewe, from the town centre and the station to the streets around the railway heritage, 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 addiction counselling for Crewe, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Crewe

Addiction Counselling for Crewe, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Crewe: from the town centre and the station to Nantwich Road, Wistaston and Coppenhall
Known for
The railway heritage, the works and the surrounding Cheshire plain
Region
North West (England)
Local NHS / support route
Cheshire East Council's all-age drug and alcohol service
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Crewe

What is going on for people in Crewe?

Crewe was built around the railway and still runs to its timetable. The works, the junction, Bentley Motors out beyond the town: this is a place organised by shifts, and shift work has its own relationship with habit. Nights end when other people's mornings begin, and a drink at eight in the morning after a twelve-hour turn is not the same thing as drinking at breakfast, until one day it is. Around Coppenhall, Wistaston and Shavington, the pattern is domestic and unremarked. Gambling does well here too, because a betting app fits into a break and asks nothing of your body. Whatever the habit, it tends to grow in the gaps that shift work leaves.

the railway industry and Bentley Motorsthe NHS and Leighton HospitalCrewe Alexandra and the town's engineering heritage

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Crewe

the town centre and station areaNantwich RoadWistastonCoppenhallHaslingtonShavingtonWillastonLeighton

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

The local picture

The local picture in Crewe

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

Reviewed June 2026.

What does addiction counselling involve?

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: addiction counselling in detail sets out the methods, the practical side covers the practicalities, and professional standards and registration covers accountability.

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.

There is no room in Crewe; Bradley works from Hove and everything happens by secure video. For shift workers that is the practical part. A session can sit at seven in the morning after a night turn or in the afternoon before a late, and the time can move when the rota does, agreed a week or two ahead. Nothing requires you to be anywhere in particular, only somewhere private for an hour.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What sort of things do people bring?

Alcohol

For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.

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 Crewe

Why people in Crewe come for addiction counselling

Addiction counselling in Crewe covers alcohol, drugs, prescribed medication, gambling and the behavioural habits that never get a proper name. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions in Cheshire East reached 633.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000, which is a lot of harm for an area that does not think of itself as having a problem. The work is not about labels. It is about the function a habit performs and the price it has quietly started to charge. Shift patterns, redundancy and the loss of a job that was supposed to be for life all show up in this work, because habits often begin as a way of managing something that was genuinely difficult. Cheshire East Council's drug and substance misuse support and Change Grow Live in Crewe handle assessment, prescribing and structured treatment.

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

Drug, alcohol & addiction support in Crewe

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Crewe, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Cheshire East Council's all-age drug and alcohol service.

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.

Crewe questions

Online Addiction Counselling in Crewe: common questions

My rota changes every week. Can counselling actually work around that?

It can, provided you are willing to book a week or two at a time rather than the same slot forever. Shift work is the norm in Crewe and the arrangement is built for it. Early mornings after nights and mid-afternoons before a late shift are both usable hours.

Does gambling count as an addiction for this?

Yes, and it is one of the ones people leave longest, partly because there is nothing to show for it and partly because the debt makes it harder to admit. The counselling treats the compulsion as the problem and the money as a serious consequence that needs its own plan.

What does Cheshire East Council's substance misuse support actually do?

It is the route into the local drug and alcohol service, which in Crewe is run by Change Grow Live. That covers assessment, prescribing, structured programmes and supervised withdrawal where it is needed. Counselling is the reflective side and the two fit together without either getting in the other's way.

How much, and can I pay after each session?

Yes, payment is after or on the day, session by session. The rates are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, and there is a free 15-minute consultation first. Nothing is charged for that, and there is no obligation to book anything afterwards.

I have been made redundant once already. Is this about willpower?

No, and treating it as a character test is usually what keeps people stuck. Losing work you expected to keep is a real loss, and a habit that grew afterwards was doing a job. The question is what else could do that job now, which is a practical matter rather than a moral one.

I work shifts. Can counselling actually fit around that?

Yes. Because we meet online, we agree times around your rota rather than around fixed clinic hours. Whether you're on days or nights at the works or elsewhere in Crewe, we find slots that suit, and adjust as your shift pattern changes.

How soon can I start addiction counselling in Crewe online?

Usually within a week. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first session by secure video or phone. I work from Hove and see people across Crewe online, from Wistaston to Coppenhall, so there is nothing to arrange but a quiet hour and no clinic list to wait on.

How do your fees compare with NHS addiction support in Crewe?

In Crewe the free route is Cheshire East Council's drug and substance misuse support, which you will find linked below. Privately, the opening 15-minute call costs nothing, then sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours.

Do you offer in-person or evening addiction sessions in Crewe, around shift work?

I do not work in person here; my room is in Hove and Crewe sessions are all online. That suits shift patterns well, since there is no travel. We can use quieter daytime slots or evenings depending on your rota, and keep it as steady as we can.

Online Addiction Counselling in Crewe, 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 North West: Chester, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington. See all of North West.

If addiction counselling is not quite what you are looking for, substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling may fit better in Crewe.

Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: 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.