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Online Addiction Counselling · Liverpool
Online Addiction Counselling in Liverpool
Online addiction counselling for Liverpool, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Liverpool, from the waterfront and the centre to the streets around the two cathedrals, 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 Liverpool
Addiction Counselling for Liverpool, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Liverpool: from the waterfront and the centre to Toxteth, Anfield, Allerton and Walton
- Known for
- The waterfront, the two cathedrals and the music heritage
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS drug & alcohol service finder (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Liverpool
What brings people in Liverpool to counselling?
Liverpool is a city that talks, and that is not the same as a city that tells you everything. The humour is real, the warmth is real, and so is the expectation that you will be all right for everyone else. From the terraces of Anfield and Walton to Aigburth and Woolton, the instinct is to carry it and crack on. Addiction thrives on exactly that. Drink is woven into the social life of the place, gambling has gone entirely into the phone, and cocaine moves easily through a city with a busy night economy around the waterfront and the Baltic Triangle. The problem is rarely finding a reason to use. It is finding a moment when admitting to it does not feel like letting the side down.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Liverpool
the city centre and waterfrontToxtethAnfieldAllertonWaltonAigburthWavertreeWooltonKensingtonthe Baltic Triangle
Wherever you are in Liverpool, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Liverpool
Official figures for Liverpool, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 596 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 13.9 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 does addiction counselling involve?
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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the full addiction counselling page, with how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and qualifications, registration and ethics for registration and ethics.
How do online sessions actually work?
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, so there is no room in Liverpool and nothing local to walk into. Sessions are by secure video, and in a city where you can meet three people you know on the way to the shop, that privacy counts for a lot. There is no waiting area and no address to be spotted near. An hour, a door and a signal is the whole of it, and evenings and early mornings are both available.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can addiction counselling in Liverpool 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 Liverpool
Why people in Liverpool come for addiction counselling
Addiction counselling in Liverpool covers alcohol, drugs, prescription medication, gambling and the behavioural habits people rarely name. The city carries a heavy alcohol burden: hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions were 1151.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000. That is not a figure about strangers; it describes ordinary households right across the city. What is hard to arrange in a place like this is not information but an hour where you do not have to be the strong one. The work looks at what the habit does for you and what it has begun to cost, without a programme to complete or a script to follow. River, run by Change Grow Live, and Mersey Care's Hope Centre provide the treatment side, and the NHS 'find a service' directory lists them. Counselling runs alongside, at your pace.
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 Liverpool
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. You can find your nearest free NHS-funded drug and alcohol service via the NHS “find a service” directory (search “Liverpool”).
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.
Liverpool questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Liverpool: common questions
I am the one everyone else leans on. How do I admit this?
Slowly, and to one person first. That is a large part of what the free 15-minute consultation is for. Being the reliable one in a family is not a character flaw, but it does make it very hard to be the one who needs something. Nobody in Liverpool has to know you made the call.
Is gambling covered here as well as drink and drugs?
It does, along with gaming, spending and any habit that has taken over more of your week than you agreed to. Gambling in particular tends to arrive late, once the debt is substantial, because there is nothing visible to give it away. Earlier is easier, though later is still workable.
What is River and how does it fit with counselling?
River is the community drug and alcohol service for Liverpool, run by Change Grow Live since April 2025, and Mersey Care's Hope Centre also provides NHS drug and alcohol services. Both handle assessment, prescribing and structured treatment. Counselling is the private, unhurried part, and using one does not close off the other.
What does it cost and when do I pay?
£80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes, £120 for two hours, and the first 15-minute consultation is free. Payment is around the time of each session rather than up front. Nothing is booked in blocks, so stopping costs nothing beyond the session you have already had.
How soon could I start?
Usually within days rather than weeks. You get in touch, arrange the free consultation, and if it fits, a slot is agreed from what is free. There is no waiting list and no referral to obtain, which is often the practical reason people look at private counselling in the first place.
Can I get help without everyone finding out?
Yes. Working online means no one sees you walk into a service. You speak from home, in confidence, and what you share stays between us. In a close-knit city like Liverpool that privacy matters, and it's one of the main reasons people choose online counselling.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Liverpool?
Often within a week. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first full session by secure video or phone. I am based in Hove and work across Liverpool and Merseyside online, from Aigburth to Anfield, so there is no local waiting list to sit on.
How do your fees compare with NHS addiction support in Liverpool?
The free option in Liverpool is the NHS drug and alcohol service finder, linked below alongside the other local services. My own fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a consultation that costs nothing.
Do you see people in person in Liverpool, or only online in the evenings?
Only online. My room is in Hove, so every Liverpool session is by video or phone, whether you are in Wavertree, Woolton or over on the Wirral. That flexibility means evenings and quieter daytime slots are usually easy to arrange around work.
Online Addiction Counselling in Liverpool, 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: Warrington, Preston, Chester. See all of North West.
Close to this in Liverpool, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour and the four-stage cycle of addiction.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.