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Online Addiction Counselling · Halifax
Online Addiction Counselling in Halifax
Online addiction counselling for Halifax, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Halifax, from the Piece Hall and the centre to the streets around the Minster, 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 Halifax
Addiction Counselling for Halifax, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Halifax: from the Piece Hall and the centre to King Cross, Sowerby Bridge and Illingworth
- Known for
- The Piece Hall, the Minster and the Calderdale hills
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Calderdale Council's drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Halifax
What brings people in Halifax to counselling?
Halifax is a handsome town on difficult ground. The Piece Hall holds the middle of it, and Dean Clough carries the banking and textile heritage that made the place. The steep streets climbing away from them lead somewhere quite different. Up through Ovenden, Illingworth and Mixenden, and out along the valley to Sowerby Bridge, work has been insecure for a long time and the hills make everything feel further away than the map suggests. Addiction settles into that isolation. Drink after a shift, a betting account open at midnight, tablets that were once prescribed for something specific. In a town where you tend to see the same faces, saying any of it aloud feels like a much bigger step than it is.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Halifax
King CrossSowerby BridgeIllingworthOvendenPellonSavile ParkSkircoatWarleyBoothtownMixenden
Wherever you are in Halifax, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Halifax
Official figures for Halifax, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 494.1 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 11 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
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. addiction counselling in detail explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and my credentials and registration 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.
This work is delivered online by secure video from Hove, so nothing depends on getting down the hill in bad weather or finding a bus that runs when you need it. That alone removes a real barrier for people in the outlying villages. There is nowhere local to be recognised walking into, and no one at home has to be told where you are going. Weekly slots stay consistent and can be placed around shifts or school hours.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does addiction counselling 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 Halifax
Why people in Halifax come for addiction counselling
Addiction counselling here is not only about alcohol. Gambling, cocaine, cannabis, prescribed medicines and compulsive spending bring people to the same conversation. What is striking about the local picture is how uneven it is. Hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) were 494.1 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 504.1 per 100,000, so on paper the town looks unexceptional, yet the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 11 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, close to double the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Statistics that look calm can hide a great deal. Calderdale Recovery Steps runs the drug and alcohol service from its Halifax hub, reached through Calderdale Council's drugs support, and Healthy Minds Calderdale covers wider mental health. What I add is the reasoning underneath: what the habit is for, and what it has been protecting you from.
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 Halifax
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Halifax, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Calderdale Council's drugs 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:
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.
Halifax questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Halifax: common questions
Halifax is small enough that people talk. Would anyone here know I had started?
No one need know. There is no building to be seen at, no receptionist and no local list your name appears on. I do not write to your GP, your employer or your family unless you ask, and the only exception is a serious immediate risk to life.
How does this work with Calderdale Recovery Steps?
They deliver structured drug and alcohol treatment from the Halifax hub, including anything medical, and Calderdale Council's drugs support is the way to reach them. Counselling with me handles the reflective side. Most people who use both find the combination sturdier than either one alone.
What will this cost me?
Sessions are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, and you pay for each one as you have it. The 15-minute consultation that comes first costs nothing. If it turns out I am not the right person, that conversation has still cost you nothing.
I live up in the hill villages. Is travel a problem for counselling?
Not here, because there is no travel involved. That is the main reason people from the higher villages get in touch, since a short distance on the map can mean a long, inconvenient journey in practice and evening buses are not reliable enough to build a routine on.
Can I bring a gambling problem to addiction counselling?
Yes. Betting and gaming operate on the same loop of relief and chasing as substances, and they are considerably easier to conceal because there is nothing to see or smell. The money simply moves, and often nobody notices until a great deal has gone.
Do you have a room in Halifax?
No - I work online from Hove, so we'd meet by secure video rather than face to face. In the Calder Valley, where travel can be slow and floods sometimes cut routes off, meeting from home removes that obstacle entirely; you can talk without any journey at all.
Is there addiction counselling available in Halifax, and how quickly?
There is no consulting room in Halifax, but I work right across the area by secure video from Hove. Whether you are near Savile Park or Sowerby Bridge, we can arrange a free 15-minute call first and then a weekly time for addiction counselling, often within days of you getting in touch.
Is addiction counselling for Halifax done online or face to face?
I do not offer face-to-face sessions in Halifax; everything is by confidential video call. For addiction, that often helps, as you can speak openly from a private space rather than a waiting room. I keep a few evening slots alongside daytime ones, so working around Dean Clough and the Piece Hall quarter is manageable.
Online Addiction Counselling in Halifax, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Huddersfield, Bradford. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
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 Halifax.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: the four Rs framework and illness or indulgence?.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same addiction counselling is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.