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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 (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 Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh reach out
Edinburgh balances a historic capital with a high-pressure professional, financial and festival life, and behind the elegant facades sit some of the highest living costs in Scotland. The intensity of work, study and the city's seasonal crowds can make it hard to find space for yourself.
Edinburgh wears two faces at once: the medieval closes and wynds tumbling down from the castle in the Old Town, and the ordered Georgian terraces of the New Town below. Life here runs between them. Office workers in the financial district around St Andrew Square, students filling the pubs of the Southside, and families walking the sands at Portobello all share a city that swells enormously each August when the Festival and Fringe arrive. The tourist crowds, the steep cost of a flat in Marchmont or Stockbridge, and the long professional hours in law, finance and government can leave residents feeling they are performing in a city that is always on show. Behind the elegant frontages, plenty of people are quietly worn out.
Capital-city life is exhilarating and exhausting at once, with time and privacy always short; an hour that comes to you is often what makes therapy possible.
Home to the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (NHS Lothian), Edinburgh is also one of the UK's largest financial centres, which shapes a high-pressure professional and student population.
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
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Edinburgh are living with, and why local support matters.
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).
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.
Edinburgh has more counselling and NHS mental health provision than most of Scotland, yet waits for talking therapy through NHS Lothian can still stretch on, and a busy diary rarely leaves room to travel across town for an appointment. Because these sessions happen by secure video, they reach any flat or quiet room in the city. I work from Hove on the south coast of England, seeing clients across the whole UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online addiction counselling in Edinburgh can help
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
In a capital that always seems to be performing, the festival crowds, the financial offices around St Andrew Square, the polished New Town frontages, an addiction can be one of the best-kept secrets a person carries. When so much of Edinburgh life is about appearing composed, a compulsion you cannot control sits painfully at odds with the image. Whether it has grown around a substance, gambling or another behaviour, the shame of it can keep you silent for years. Counselling offers a confidential hour, by secure video from your own flat, to look honestly at the cycle without the performance and begin to loosen its grip.
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 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.
Edinburgh questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Edinburgh: common questions
Can I get online addiction counselling if I live in Edinburgh?
Yes. I work with people right across Edinburgh, from the Old Town and New Town 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.
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.
Can I have counselling in Edinburgh if I can't get time off work?
Yes. Sessions run by secure video, so you can join from home, from a parked car, or from a quiet room on a lunch break anywhere in the city. There's no journey across Edinburgh to fit in, which makes a regular appointment far easier to keep.
Do you have a room in Edinburgh?
No. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work with people across Scotland and the wider UK entirely online. For Edinburgh clients that means video sessions rather than a room in the city, which many people find more private and easier to arrange.
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.
All counselling & therapy in Edinburgh: 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.