Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Manchester
Online Addiction Counselling in Manchester
Online addiction counselling for Manchester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Manchester, from the city centre and the Northern Quarter to the streets around the canals, 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 Manchester
Addiction Counselling for Manchester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Manchester: from the city centre and the Northern Quarter to Didsbury, Rusholme, Chorlton and Wythenshawe
- Known for
- The canals, the music venues and the two universities
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Manchester
Why do people in Manchester reach out?
Manchester runs fast and stays open. The bars in the Northern Quarter and Ancoats keep going, the work in Spinningfields keeps going, and a city built on music and nightlife has never treated a heavy week as a warning sign. Add rents that keep climbing and hours that keep stretching, and the habit that takes the edge off starts to look like basic maintenance. Addiction here rarely announces itself. It looks like the fourth night out this week, the betting app checked between meetings, the delivery that arrives after midnight in Fallowfield or Levenshulme. A city this busy is very good at hiding a person who is struggling, including from themselves.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Manchester
the Northern QuarterAncoatsDidsburyChorltonRusholmeFallowfieldLevenshulmeWithingtonHulmeWythenshawePrestwich
Wherever you are in Manchester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Manchester
Official figures for Manchester, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 535.8 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 10.4 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 would we do together 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 how I work, sessions and fees and my BACP 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 is in Hove and there is no room in Manchester, so this happens by secure video. In a city where the commute already eats an hour a day, not having to travel to an appointment is the difference between doing it and putting it off. Sessions are a fixed hour, and early or late slots exist for people whose work will not release them in the middle of the day. A closed door and a signal is all it takes.
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 Manchester
Why people in Manchester come for addiction counselling
Addiction counselling in Manchester covers the full range, from alcohol and drugs to prescribed medication, gambling, gaming and compulsive spending. The city's alcohol harm is well above the national picture, with hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions at 928.7 per 100,000 in 2023/24 compared with an England average of 611.7 per 100,000. Behind that number are ordinary weeks in Didsbury, Hulme and Wythenshawe that nobody would call remarkable. The work does not begin with a demand. It begins with the honest shape of a week: what happens on Thursday, what it costs on Sunday, and what the habit is protecting you from in between. Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use support and Change Grow Live Manchester provide assessment and structured treatment, and Manchester Mind covers wider mental health needs.
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 Manchester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Manchester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use 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.
Manchester questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Manchester: common questions
My job is intense and nobody there can know. Is that manageable?
It is the usual situation rather than an unusual one. Nothing goes to an employer, nothing appears in occupational health, and there is no local appointment for a colleague to notice. Early morning and evening slots exist precisely because people in demanding jobs cannot disappear for an hour at two in the afternoon.
Is gambling included, or is this only substances?
Gambling is included, and so are gaming, spending and any compulsive habit that has taken more of your life than you agreed to give it. In a city where everything is available on a phone at three in the morning, the behavioural side of this is not a footnote.
What does Manchester City Council's substance use support cover?
It is the route to local treatment, and Change Grow Live Manchester runs the city's drug and alcohol service. Assessment, prescribing, structured programmes and medically supervised withdrawal all sit there. Manchester Mind is separate again and covers wider mental health. Counselling is private and complements all of them without duplicating anything.
What are the charges?
The fees are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, with a free 15-minute consultation first. There is no charge for the consultation and no obligation afterwards. Paying per session rather than for a course means you can stop the week it stops being useful.
I moved here for work and hardly know anyone. Does that make it worse?
It frequently does. A habit fills the space that friends used to occupy, and a city this large can be extremely lonely at close range. The work usually ends up dealing with both, because trying to remove the habit without addressing the emptiness underneath it rarely holds for long.
Do I have to travel into central Manchester for counselling?
No. I work entirely online, so wherever you are in the city, from Didsbury to Wythenshawe, we meet by secure video or phone. You keep your own routine and speak from somewhere private, with no journey into town and no waiting room to sit in.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Manchester?
Usually within a week or so. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then arrange your first full session by secure video or phone. I work from Hove and see people right across Manchester online, from Ancoats to Chorlton and Wythenshawe, so there is no clinic waiting list to join.
What does addiction counselling cost, and how does it compare with the NHS in Manchester?
Free drug and alcohol support in Manchester runs through Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use support, linked further down this page. With me it is a free 15-minute consultation first, then £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120.
Do you offer in-person or evening addiction sessions in Manchester?
I do not work in person here; my room is in Hove and Manchester sessions are all online. That suits the city well, since there is no tram ride or centre parking to sort. Working online also makes evenings and quieter daytime slots easier to arrange around shifts and study.
Online Addiction Counselling in Manchester, 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: Bolton, Stockport, Oldham. See all of North West.
Close to this in Manchester, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: 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.