Online Addiction Counselling · Dundee

Online Addiction Counselling in Dundee

Online addiction counselling for Dundee, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Dundee, from the waterfront and the centre to the streets around the V&A, 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 Dundee, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Dundee

Addiction Counselling for Dundee, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Dundee: from the waterfront and the centre to Lochee, Broughty Ferry and the Hilltown
Known for
The V&A, the Tay and the design quarter
Region
Scotland (Scotland)
Local NHS / support route
Local council drug & alcohol service (see below)
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Dundee

Why people in Dundee reach out

Dundee has reinvented itself around design, games and its universities, but the city on the Tay also carries some of the sharpest deprivation in Scotland. Insecure work, money pressure and the contrast between the gleaming waterfront and hard-pressed neighbourhoods all shape the pressures people here carry.

Dundee has spent the last decade remaking itself. The waterfront that once shipped jute around the world now holds the V&A design museum, and the city trades on games, science and the two universities that fill its centre with students. The old nicknames, jute, jam and journalism, still linger, and DC Thomson's presses keep the comics and papers coming. Yet the city on the Tay carries some of the sharpest hardship in Scotland, and the gleaming new buildings by the river sit close to neighbourhoods like the Hilltown and Lochee where life is a great deal tougher. Broughty Ferry offers a gentler seaside edge to the east. It is a proud, creative, resilient place that also holds a lot of quiet struggle.

the University of DundeeAbertay UniversityV&A DundeeDC Thomson publishing

On the coast the nearest specialist can be a long way inland; a secure video link closes that distance completely.

Dundee is home to the University of Dundee, the major teaching hospital Ninewells, and V&A Dundee, the city's design museum on the waterfront.

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Dundee

LocheeBroughty FerryHilltownStobswellWest EndMenzieshillMaryfieldDouglasFintry

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

The local picture

The local picture in Dundee

These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Dundee are living with, and why local support matters.

Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.

The addiction counselling itself

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.

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 addiction counselling page and on how I work.

How online sessions 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.

Dundee has counselling services and the universities offer support to students, but NHS Tayside talking therapy can involve a wait, and not everyone wants to be seen going into a local service. Secure video sessions sidestep both, reaching anywhere in the city with a quiet corner and a connection. I work from Hove on the south coast of England, seeing people across Scotland and the wider UK online.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

How online addiction counselling in Dundee can help

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 Dundee

Why people in Dundee come for addiction counselling

Dundee has remade itself around design, games and its universities, yet the gleaming waterfront sits close to neighbourhoods where life is a great deal harder, and some of the sharpest struggle in Scotland is carried quietly here. An addiction can take hold in that gap between the bright new city and daily reality, whether it has grown around a substance, gambling or another compulsion. Counselling does not ask you to have it all figured out. By secure video from anywhere in the city with a quiet corner, it offers a steady, confidential hour to look honestly at the cycle and start to work your way free of it.

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 Dundee

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Dundee, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.

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, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.

Dundee questions

Online Addiction Counselling in Dundee: common questions

Can I get online addiction counselling if I live in Dundee?

Yes. I work with people right across Dundee, from the waterfront and the centre outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.

Do I have to be abstinent before we start?

No. We begin wherever you are. The work is about understanding the need the behaviour has been meeting, not passing a test first.

Can you help with gambling or behavioural addictions, not just substances?

Yes. The same approach applies to gambling, food and other compulsive behaviours, because we work with the underlying pattern rather than only the substance.

Is it really confidential if I'm worried about people finding out?

Completely. Sessions are private, online means no waiting room, and everything is held under the BACP Ethical Framework.

Is addiction counselling by video really as effective?

For most people, yes. Once we begin, talking over secure video quickly feels natural, and you get the same steady, confidential hour. It also spares any journey across Dundee, and many people find it easier to be honest from their own front room.

How soon can I start addiction counselling online in Dundee?

Usually within a week. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first secure video session. There is no local waiting list and nothing to travel to across the city, so from the West End to Broughty Ferry you can start quickly from home.

What are your fees, and how do they compare to NHS help in Dundee?

Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Tayside talking therapy is free but can involve a wait; private work costs money yet begins sooner, and the universities also offer student support.

Do you offer evening online addiction sessions for people in Dundee?

Yes. Everything runs by secure video, so we can meet outside working or study hours, from a flat in Stobswell or halls near the waterfront. There is no journey across Dundee and no waiting room, which many students and workers here find easier to manage.

I'm a student in Dundee, can I still see you?

Yes. Alongside the support your university offers, you can arrange private sessions by secure video from your flat or halls. Many students prefer keeping counselling separate from campus, and video makes that straightforward wherever you're living in the city.

Are you based in Dundee?

No, I'm based in Hove in southern England and work with clients throughout Scotland and the UK by video. For Dundee that means online sessions rather than a room in the city, private, flexible, and with no journey across town to manage.

Online Addiction Counselling in Dundee, 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: Perth, Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy. See all of Scotland.

All counselling & therapy in Dundee: Substance Use · Drinking Problems · Anxiety · Depression · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.

Closer to the Sussex coast? The same addiction counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.