Alcohol
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Online Addiction Counselling · Gloucester
Online addiction counselling for Gloucester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Gloucester, from the historic docks and the city centre to the streets around the cathedral, with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.

In and around Gloucester
Life in Gloucester
Gloucester is a working cathedral city on the Severn with a proud but pressured industrial past, and parts of the city carry real deprivation. Insecure work, money worries and the everyday grind can build into stress and low mood that often go unspoken.
Gloucester works for its living. The restored docks on the Severn, once the most inland port in England, now mix warehouse-conversion flats and the outlet shops of the Quays with streets like Barton and Tredworth where money is tighter. The cathedral still draws visitors and film crews, and on match days Kingsholm fills with rugby crowds, but for many the week is shaped by shift work, the hospital, or a job that offers no guarantees. It is an unshowy city, proud and getting on with things, sitting in the shadow of smarter Cheltenham next door. That make-do spirit is a strength, yet it can also keep worries private for too long, when talking them through would ease the load.
Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.
Gloucester's acute hospital is Gloucestershire Royal Hospital (Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust); the city is known for Gloucester Cathedral and the historic Gloucester Docks.
Areas covered
Wherever you are in Gloucester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Gloucester are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 422.8 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 5.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, below the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
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.
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.
Gloucester sits on the M5 with rail links towards Cheltenham, Bristol and Birmingham, and the two towns almost run together, though local buses can be slow going. Secure online sessions remove any need to travel, so we can meet from somewhere private at home. The room itself is in Hove, meaning Gloucester is served online; in-person appointments are only practical for those able to reach the Sussex coast.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Compassionate, confidential help with substance use.
Breaking the cycle of compulsive gambling, guilt and debt.
Support for food and process addictions.
Help for those living alongside someone's addiction.
We treat the cause, not just the symptom.
Addiction Counselling in Gloucester
Gloucester's make-do, get-on-with-things spirit is a real strength, but it can also keep worries private for far too long, and addiction thrives on being kept quiet. Amid shift work, uncertain jobs and the everyday grind of an unshowy working city, a habit can take hold with nobody the wiser. Counselling offers a confidential space to talk it through and ease the load, with no travel to add to a busy week. Sessions are held by secure video; the room is in Hove, so Gloucester is served online, with in-person appointments only for those able to reach the Sussex coast.
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 callMy online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Gloucester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery support.
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:
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.
Gloucester questions
Yes. I work with people right across Gloucester, from the historic docks and the city centre outwards, and anywhere else in South West, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
No. We begin wherever you are. The work is about understanding the need the behaviour has been meeting, not passing a test first.
Yes. The same approach applies to gambling, food and other compulsive behaviours, because we work with the underlying pattern rather than only the substance.
Completely. Sessions are private, online means no waiting room, and everything is held under the BACP Ethical Framework.
No. Because sessions are online, they can be arranged around changing rotas and busy weeks, with no travel to add to the day. We meet by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Gloucester is served online rather than in person.
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 Gloucester, from Barton to Tredworth, you can begin without waiting for a local referral.
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 Gloucester, through your GP or services around Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, is free but can involve a wait, whereas private online work with me usually starts within days.
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 Gloucester near the historic docks, and I keep some later appointments for busy weeks.
No. Because sessions are online, they can be arranged around changing rotas and busy weeks, with no travel to add to the day. We meet by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Gloucester is served online rather than in person.
Yes. Sessions are held by secure video, so it makes no difference which side of the two towns you live on. The room itself is in Hove, on the Sussex coast, and we would simply meet online wherever you are.
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: Cheltenham, Worcester, Swindon. See all of South West.
All counselling & therapy in Gloucester: 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.