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Online Addiction Counselling · Leeds
Online Addiction Counselling in Leeds
Online addiction counselling for Leeds, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Leeds, from the centre and the waterfront to the streets around the arcades, 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 Leeds
Addiction Counselling for Leeds, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Leeds: from the centre and the waterfront to Headingley, Chapeltown, Armley and Roundhay
- Known for
- The arcades, the waterfront and the universities
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Leeds
What is going on for people in Leeds?
Leeds runs at a professional tempo, and a compulsion can keep pace with it for a very long time. Around Wellington Place the financial and legal sector rewards people who never drop a ball, which makes a private habit easy to fund and easy to hide behind competence. Student Leeds has its own version in Hyde Park and Headingley, where the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University fill the evenings. Out in Armley, Beeston and Holbeck the pressure is different and the money is thinner. What links them is how invisible the problem stays: gambling accounts, cocaine, drink and constant scrolling all fit neatly inside a busy diary.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Leeds
HeadingleyHyde ParkChapel AllertonRoundhayKirkstallMeanwoodHorsforthArmleyBeestonHolbeckMorleyPudsey
Wherever you are in Leeds, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Leeds
Official figures for Leeds, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 443.7 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 9.3 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 approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the main addiction counselling page, alongside how sessions run and what they cost and how to check my registration.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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.
Sessions run online by secure video, with nothing at all to travel to. Bradley is in Hove, so nothing here involves a room in Leeds or a name on a waiting-list board. For people whose colleagues share an open-plan floor, that matters more than convenience. An early slot before the office, a lunchtime hour from home in Chapel Allerton or Meanwood, or an evening after the commute back to Horsforth all work equally well. Start with the free 15-minute consultation and decide afterwards.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Leeds
Why people in Leeds come for addiction counselling
The people who contact me from Leeds are often the last ones anyone would suspect. They hit deadlines, they are good company, and the gap between how the week looks and how it feels has become exhausting to maintain. Addiction covers more ground than substances, and behavioural compulsions land hardest on exactly this group: an in-play betting account that follows the football, hours lost to a screen, spending that never quite gets counted. In sessions we trace the loop rather than police it. What sets it off, what it delivers in the first ten minutes, what it costs by morning. Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service is the free local route for drink and drugs, Forward Leeds takes self-referrals directly, and Leeds Mind covers broader mental health. Counselling sits beside those, not above them. Where daily use is involved, your GP should be part of the picture too.
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 Leeds
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Leeds, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service.
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.
Leeds questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Leeds: common questions
Could my employer in the city centre ever find out I am doing this?
Not through me. There is no report to an employer, no insurer involved and no occupational health copy. You pay directly and the arrangement stays between us. If your firm offers its own scheme, keeping that separate is often exactly why people choose to arrange something independently.
Is gambling covered, or would I need a different service in Leeds?
It is covered here. Betting behaves like any other compulsion once you look at the mechanism rather than the object, and the in-play markets make it faster than most. Forward Leeds also works with people whose gambling sits alongside drink or drugs, and both routes are open to you.
What are the fees and can I book irregularly around client work?
Sessions are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, booked one at a time so a week of travel or a trial does not cost you anything. The 15-minute consultation beforehand is unhurried and free. Nothing here is bought as a package.
I live in a house share in Headingley - is there anywhere private enough?
Headphones solve most of it, since only your half of the conversation carries. People use a bedroom with the door shut, a booked study room, or a parked car when the house is full. Nothing arrives by post and no letter goes to your GP unless you want one.
How long before I would notice anything shifting?
Often within three or four sessions there is a change in how you think about the habit, even before the behaviour moves. The pattern stops feeling like a character flaw and starts looking like something with a shape. Longer-standing compulsions usually need a few months of steady work.
Is online addiction counselling as effective as meeting in person?
For many people, yes. What matters most is the relationship and consistency, and video allows both without the barrier of travelling across Leeds. You can talk from home or a private space, which often makes it easier to keep sessions regular and to speak openly.
Can I start addiction counselling in Leeds soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Leeds online rather than from a room in the city. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then set a regular weekly slot for addiction support, usually starting within a week or two once you feel ready.
Do you offer in-person or evening addiction counselling in Leeds?
For Leeds it is online rather than in person, since my room is in Hove on the south coast. Many find secure video suits addiction work well, joining from home in Headingley or Roundhay without a commute. I hold some daytime and early-evening slots, so we can usually find a regular time that fits.
Online Addiction Counselling in Leeds, 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: Bradford, Wakefield, Sheffield. 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 Leeds.
You may also find it useful to read about the four Rs framework and illness or indulgence?.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.