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Online Addiction Counselling · Lisburn
Online Addiction Counselling in Lisburn
Online addiction counselling for Lisburn, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Lisburn, from the city centre and the cathedral to the streets around the Lagan, 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 Lisburn
Addiction Counselling for Lisburn, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Lisburn: from the city centre and the cathedral to Old Warren, Lagmore and nearby Hillsborough
- Known for
- The cathedral, the Lagan and the linen heritage
- Region
- Northern Ireland
- Local NHS / support route
- ASCERT, which supports people across Northern Ireland with drug and alcohol use
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Lisburn
Why do people in Lisburn reach out?
Lisburn runs on other people's timetables. The motorway and the trains take a large share of the city out early and bring it back late, and whatever is left of the evening has to hold everything else. That is fertile ground for a habit, because a habit is efficient. Twenty minutes of it will do what a whole evening of anything else would take. An account opened on the phone during the journey home, a routine that starts the moment the door shuts, money that never shows up on a shared statement. Around Old Warren, Ballymacash or out towards Hillsborough, none of it is visible from the street. What gets noticed first is how much of the week has quietly gone missing.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Lisburn
Old WarrenLagmoreHildenWallace ParkKnockmoreBallymacashHillsboroughDunmurryBlaris
Wherever you are in Lisburn, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Lisburn
Official figures for Lisburn, for context rather than as a description of you.
There were 7 drug-related deaths registered in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council area in 2023, out of 169 across Northern Ireland (NI age-standardised rate 9.1 per 100,000). Source: NISRA - Drug-related and drug misuse deaths in Northern Ireland, 2023 (2023).
In Lisburn and Castlereagh, 5.9% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Northern Ireland average of 5.2%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
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 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 session lengths and fees and my credentials and registration.
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.
Bradley works from Hove, so this is online by secure video and there is nothing to travel to at the end of a day already spent travelling. That is the practical argument. The private one counts for more in a city this size: no car outside a building people recognise, no name at a desk, no account of where you were. Appointments can sit before the commute or after it, and the same weekday each week holds better than a slot that keeps moving.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can addiction counselling in Lisburn 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 Lisburn
Why people in Lisburn come for addiction counselling
Addiction is used broadly here because the line between substances and behaviours is thinner than most people expect. Gambling, gaming, phones and shopping generate the same sequence: reliable relief, then mounting cost, then the effort of keeping it from the people nearest to you. That last part is usually what exhausts someone. In session we look at what the habit is for and what it replaced, because nearly every habit began as a reasonable solution to something. The local figures look small on paper and are not small underneath: 7 drug-related deaths were registered in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council area in 2023, out of 169 across Northern Ireland at a rate of 9.1 per 100,000. Where statutory support helps at the same time, ASCERT works throughout Northern Ireland on drugs and alcohol, and a GP referral opens Health and Social Care.
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 Lisburn
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Lisburn, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through ASCERT, which supports people across Northern Ireland with drug and alcohol use.
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 Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can 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.
Lisburn questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Lisburn: common questions
How long would I be waiting for a first appointment?
Normally a week or two. It begins with a free 15-minute consultation arranged by email, then a weekly hour if you want to continue. Nothing has to be approved by anyone and no waiting list applies, which is often the difference between doing this now and doing it next year.
What are the session fees?
£80 buys the standard hour. Ninety minutes is £100 and two hours is £120, which some people use when the week has been complicated. The 15-minute consultation before any of it is free. There is no registration fee and no charge for correspondence between sessions.
What is the local route if I want statutory help too?
Start with your GP, who can refer you into Health and Social Care for anything medical. ASCERT takes self-referrals for drug and alcohol support anywhere in Northern Ireland. Working with a statutory service and a counsellor at once is perfectly normal and often the more useful arrangement.
Can sessions fit around the commute rather than competing with it?
Yes, and that is much of the point of working online. Early slots before you leave and later ones once you are home both exist, and no travelling attaches to the appointment itself. People with unpredictable weeks tend to book a fixed evening and protect it.
My gambling is on the phone and nobody has noticed. Is it too early to come?
It is early in the best sense. Habits caught before the debts and the disclosures are far easier to work with, and you avoid the part that does the lasting damage, which is the lying that grows to cover the losses. Coming early is not wasting anybody's time.
When could I fit sessions around commuting to Belfast?
That is exactly what online counselling allows. Sessions happen by secure video from home, so there is no clinic to reach after work. The counsellor works across Northern Ireland from a Hove base, letting you talk in the evening from Lisburn once the commute is done.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Lisburn?
Usually within a week or two. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then book a first full session around your week. As it is all online by secure video, there is no clinic to reach after the commute to Belfast and no waiting list in Lisburn.
How do your fees compare with NHS addiction services in Lisburn?
NHS addiction support here runs through the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and is free, though referrals can take time. My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation, with no wait before your first session.
Can I have evening online addiction sessions in Lisburn?
Yes. Evening slots work well when your day is already taken up by commuting on the M1 or the Dublin line. Sessions are held by secure video from home, from the city centre to Old Warren or Hillsborough, needing only a private space and a steady connection.
Online Addiction Counselling in Lisburn, 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 Northern Ireland: Belfast, Craigavon. See all of Northern Ireland.
People who come for addiction counselling in Lisburn often also look at substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: illness or indulgence? and a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour.
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.