Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Leicester
Online Addiction Counselling in Leicester
Online addiction counselling for Leicester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Leicester, from the centre and the Cultural Quarter to the streets around the market, 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 Leicester
Addiction Counselling for Leicester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Leicester: from the centre and the Cultural Quarter to Belgrave, Highfields and Clarendon Park
- Known for
- The market, the King Richard III centre and the universities
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Leicester City Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Leicester
What is going on for people in Leicester?
Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in the country and its communities live closely together. That closeness holds people up, and it can also make a private difficulty very hard to name. In Belgrave, Highfields, Evington or Stoneygate, word travels through families rather than through official channels, and shame does much of the work that secrecy then finishes. Meanwhile the houses around the University of Leicester and De Montfort University refill every autumn. Alcohol-related admissions in the city ran at 520.7 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 504.1 per 100,000. Not everybody here drinks, and not every difficulty is drink. Some of it is a phone, a card and a long run of numbers.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Leicester
BelgraveHighfieldsClarendon ParkEvingtonKnightonAylestoneBraunstoneStoneygateWestcotesOadby
Wherever you are in Leicester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Leicester
Official figures for Leicester, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 520.7 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above 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 6.5 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 everything on addiction counselling, alongside session lengths and fees and professional standards and registration.
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.
Leicester is worked with online, by secure video from Hove. Where a community is close and reputation carries weight, that privacy is not a small consideration. Nobody sees you arrive anywhere and there is no local building that could be recognised or mentioned later. You can take an hour from a bedroom in Clarendon Park, from a room at work with the door shut, or from a car parked somewhere entirely ordinary. Headphones cover nearly every remaining situation.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can addiction counselling in Leicester 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 Leicester
Why people in Leicester come for addiction counselling
Addiction covers far more ground than drink and drugs, even though those are what people expect to hear about. Gambling is the one that arrives silently, and gaming, spending and pornography take the same route: a private, dependable adjustment to how the next hour feels. What gets examined is the loop, not your character. When it grips hardest, what it delivers, what it has cost so far, and what it is standing in front of. Deaths from drug misuse in Leicester ran at 6.5 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Where treatment is needed, Leicester City Council's alcohol and drugs support is the local route, and Turning Point Leicester provides the drug and alcohol service. Counselling runs alongside those at a different pace and around different questions.
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 Leicester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Leicester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Leicester City 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.
Leicester questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Leicester: common questions
How soon can I be seen, and do I need a referral?
No referral is needed from anybody. You book a free 15-minute call, usually within a few days, and if it suits, weekly sessions begin a week or two later. There is no waiting list and no assessment panel standing between you and a first appointment.
How much do sessions cost?
An hour is £80 / 60 min, which is what most people book. Ninety minutes costs £100 / 90 min and two hours costs £120 / 120 min. Nothing is charged for the opening 15-minute consultation, and there is no package or minimum number of sessions to buy.
Where does Leicester City Council's alcohol and drugs support fit?
That is the local route into treatment, and it takes you to Turning Point Leicester for prescribing, structured programmes and medical review. Counselling does none of those things. Running the two in parallel is ordinary, and the statutory service hears nothing from these sessions.
My family and community would not understand. Could anyone find out?
Nobody finds out. Nothing is sent to your GP unless you ask for that, no letters arrive at the house, and no local service holds your name anywhere. Sessions sit under the BACP Ethical Framework, with narrow legal exceptions about serious risk that would be discussed with you.
It is gambling, and my family believe it is under control. Where do I start?
Start with however much you can bear to say first. Gambling tends to be kept from the closest people longest, and the debt outruns the story you have been telling. We look at what the betting regulates and at what would need to be true before stopping felt possible.
Will anyone find out I am having counselling?
No. Sessions are confidential, and because they take place online you can join from wherever feels most private. In close-knit communities that discretion often matters, and meeting by video means no waiting room and no chance of bumping into someone you know.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Leicester?
Fairly quickly. Leicester is served online from the Hove consulting room, so there is no citywide waiting list. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then arrange your first full session, often within the same week, at a time that fits around work or family.
How do private addiction counselling fees compare with NHS support in Leicester?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS addiction support in Leicester is free through your GP or community services but can mean waiting, while private work starts sooner and at your own pace.
Can we meet in person, or are evenings possible for Leicester?
The room is in Hove, so Leicester is served online rather than face to face. Because sessions are private and by video, there is no waiting room and no chance of meeting a familiar face, which matters in close communities. Evening appointments can often be arranged.
Online Addiction Counselling in Leicester, 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 Midlands: Nottingham, Coventry, Derby. See all of Midlands.
Close to this in Leicester, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
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.