Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Lancaster
Online Addiction Counselling in Lancaster
Online addiction counselling for Lancaster, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Lancaster, from the city centre and the castle to the streets around the Ashton Memorial, 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 Lancaster
Addiction Counselling for Lancaster, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Lancaster: from the city centre and the castle to Bowerham, Scotforth and nearby Morecambe
- Known for
- The castle, the Ashton Memorial and the river Lune
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Lancaster
Why people in Lancaster get in touch
Lancaster is a small city with a large student population, and the two live somewhat separately. Term time fills the pubs and the streets around the centre; out of term, the city is quieter and older. That split matters for addiction, because it produces two very different versions of the same problem. A student in a shared house near the centre drinks in a way that is expected and invisible. A person in Scotforth or Skerton who has been drinking or betting steadily for twenty years has no such cover. The castle and the market keep the city looking settled, and being some distance from bigger centres can make the right kind of help feel further away than it is.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Lancaster
the city centreBowerhamScotforthSkertonMarshFreeholdHaltonnearby Morecambe
Wherever you are in Lancaster, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Lancaster
Official figures for Lancaster, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 482.7 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 4.9 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).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens in addiction counselling?
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 main addiction counselling page explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and professional standards and registration shows how the practice is held to account.
What happens in 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 room in Lancaster, so this runs by secure video. Distance stops being a factor once the appointment is on a screen, which matters in a city where a lot of specialist help sits somewhere else. Sessions are an hour at an agreed time. Students, shift workers and people who cannot easily get away in the day all tend to want different slots, and there is usually a way to fit one in.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does addiction counselling address?
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 Lancaster
Why people in Lancaster come for addiction counselling
Addiction here means whatever has taken more control than you intended, and that includes gambling, gaming and compulsive spending as readily as alcohol or drugs. Across Lancashire, 4.7 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, slightly above the England average of 4.5 per 1,000, so local services are used, though never by everyone who could. The counselling is not a programme with stages. It is an hour a week to work out what the habit is holding together and what would need to be in place before it could be let go. Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support is the route to structured treatment, Inspire Lancashire covers the north of the county including Lancaster, and Lancashire Mind is there for the wider mental health side. None of them rule out the others.
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 Lancaster
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Lancaster, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Lancashire County Council's alcohol and 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.
Lancaster questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Lancaster: common questions
I am a student here and drinking is just what everyone does. Is mine a problem?
Student drinking hides a lot, because the volume that would worry anyone elsewhere is unremarkable in term time. The useful question is not how much but whether you can stop when you plan to, and what happens on the nights you had decided not to. If that decision keeps failing, it is worth an hour.
Does this cover things that are not drink or drugs?
Yes. Gambling, gaming, spending and other compulsive habits all belong here. They rarely get taken seriously until the money or the hours have done real damage, partly because there is no physical substance to point at. The work looks at the compulsion itself, which behaves much the same whatever it attaches to.
What is Inspire Lancashire?
Inspire Lancashire is the drug and alcohol service run by Change Grow Live, covering north Lancashire including Lancaster, and Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support pages explain how to reach it. It handles assessment, prescribing and the structured treatment programmes. Counselling here is the private, reflective side, and there is no reason to pick one over the other.
What do you charge?
£80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, with a free 15-minute consultation before anything is agreed. Payment is per session. For students and anyone on an irregular income, that matters more than a discount would, because you are never committed beyond the next appointment.
Can I keep going if I leave Lancaster after my course?
Yes, and that is one of the quiet advantages of working this way. The counselling is not attached to a place, so moving for work, going home for the summer or leaving the city entirely does not interrupt it. The same hour continues from wherever you have landed.
Specialist help feels a long way off up here. Does online close that gap?
Yes. Being outside the bigger cities doesn't limit what's available online. We meet by secure video or phone wherever you are around Lancaster, so you get regular, qualified support without the long journeys that living in the rural north-west usually involves.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Lancaster online?
Usually within a week. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then set your first session by secure video or phone. I am based in Hove and work across Lancaster online, from Bowerham to Morecambe, so there is no long drive and no clinic list to wait on.
How do your fees compare with NHS addiction help in Lancaster?
Lancaster has free drug and alcohol support through Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support, set out further down this page. Working with me starts with a free 15-minute consultation, after which it is £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes or £120 for two.
Do you offer in-person or evening addiction sessions in Lancaster?
I do not work in person here; my room is in Hove and Lancaster sessions are all online. In the rural north where support can mean a long drive, that helps, and evening and quieter daytime slots are usually easy to arrange around work.
Online Addiction Counselling in Lancaster, 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 North West: Preston, Blackpool, Carlisle. See all of North West.
Related work in Lancaster: substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about the four-stage cycle of addiction and the four Rs framework.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.