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Online Addiction Counselling · Edinburgh
Online Addiction Counselling in Edinburgh
Online addiction counselling for Edinburgh, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Edinburgh, from the Old Town and New Town to the streets around the castle, 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 Edinburgh
Addiction Counselling for Edinburgh, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Edinburgh: from the Old Town and New Town to Leith, Morningside and Portobello
- Known for
- The castle, Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile
- 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 Edinburgh
What is going on for people in Edinburgh?
Edinburgh is very good at looking composed. Scotland's financial services sector runs on long hours and a strong professional face, and the same face is expected at Holyrood, in the courts, and across the University of Edinburgh. Underneath, a lot of people are managing themselves chemically or compulsively simply to keep the performance going. In August the whole city tips over, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe fills every room, the hospitality shifts run until four, and habits that were seasonal do not always pack up in September. Flats in Marchmont and Newington cost a fortune, which adds a financial edge to everything else. From the outside, none of it shows.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Edinburgh
Old TownNew TownLeithMorningsidePortobelloStockbridgeBruntsfieldMarchmontCorstorphineNewington
Wherever you are in Edinburgh, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Edinburgh
Official figures for Edinburgh, for context rather than as a description of you.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in the City of Edinburgh averaged 20.6 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, below the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
In the City of Edinburgh, 4.0% 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 is addiction counselling, in practice?
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 method travels; only the geography changes. the addiction counselling page explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and qualifications, registration and ethics shows how the practice is held to account.
What do I need for 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 and there is no Edinburgh room, so this is online by secure video. In a city where you could easily sit opposite a colleague in a waiting area, that anonymity is not a small thing. Sessions can be taken from a flat in Leith or Bruntsfield without anyone knowing you had an appointment at all, and there is no cross-town journey at rush hour. The free 15-minute consultation is the starting point.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can addiction counselling in Edinburgh help with?
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 Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh come for addiction counselling
Addiction here is often high-functioning, which is why it lasts so long before anyone looks at it. The mortgage is paid, the work is delivered, and the private arrangement with alcohol, cocaine, gambling or spending goes on undisturbed. Drug-misuse deaths in the City of Edinburgh averaged 20.6 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, below the Scotland average of 22.5, and alcohol-specific deaths averaged 20.8 against 21.9 nationally. A city can sit under the average and still contain a great deal of quiet harm in its most competent-looking households. Counselling looks at what the habit protects you from, whether that is exhaustion, a fear of not being good enough, or a life arranged entirely around output. The Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership runs locality Recovery Hubs, the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre works in the north of the city, 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 Edinburgh
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Edinburgh, 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.
Edinburgh questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Edinburgh: common questions
I am functioning well at work. Can it still be an addiction?
Function is not the test. Plenty of people meet every deadline while organising a considerable part of their private life around a habit, and the competence is often what keeps it hidden. What counts is whether it has become non-negotiable and what it now costs you.
What are the fees?
£80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min, £120 / 120 min, paid per session with nothing bought in advance. Edinburgh living costs are high, so it is worth knowing that free local support exists alongside this. The 15-minute consultation is free and there is no obligation afterwards.
What can I access through the NHS or the council here?
The Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership runs locality Recovery Hubs across the city, and the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre serves the north. Your GP can refer you, the NHS 'find a service' directory lists treatment, and Breathing Space Scotland is on 0800 83 85 87.
Could I be recognised in a video session?
Only by me. There is no building, no reception and no diary anyone else reads, which in a city this small professionally tends to be the deciding factor. People join from home, from a locked office, or from a car, and nothing about the appointment is visible to anyone.
My drinking and spending both spiral in August. Is that just the Fringe?
The festival intensifies things rather than causing them. Long shifts, broken sleep and a month where everyone else is drinking will expose a pattern that was already there, and the useful question is what happens to it in November when the city empties again.
Will addiction counselling in Edinburgh stay private?
Yes. Sessions are held by secure video from wherever you feel private, your flat in Marchmont, a quiet room, or a parked car. There is no local waiting room and no one to pass in the street, which many Edinburgh clients find makes speaking honestly far easier.
How soon can I start addiction counselling online in Edinburgh?
Usually within a week or so. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first full session by secure video. There is no travel across Edinburgh and no local waiting list, so from Leith to Morningside you can start quickly from home.
What are your fees, and how do they compare to NHS services in Edinburgh?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. Talking therapy through NHS Lothian is free but can carry a wait; private work costs money yet starts sooner, with no queue to join.
Do you offer evening online sessions for people working in Edinburgh?
Yes. Because everything runs by secure video, we can arrange times outside office hours, useful if you work long days in the financial district or the festival season leaves little slack. You join from your own flat, from Stockbridge to Portobello, with nothing to travel to.
Online Addiction Counselling in Edinburgh, 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: Glasgow, Dunfermline, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
Close to this in Edinburgh, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about illness or indulgence? and a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.