Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Newtownabbey
Online Addiction Counselling in Newtownabbey
Online addiction counselling for Newtownabbey, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Newtownabbey, from Glengormley and the centre to the streets around the Antrim hills, 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 Newtownabbey
Addiction Counselling for Newtownabbey, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Newtownabbey: from Glengormley and the centre to Rathcoole, Monkstown and Mossley
- Known for
- The Antrim hills, Belfast Lough and the shore road
- 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 Newtownabbey
Why people in Newtownabbey get in touch
Newtownabbey is not one place but a run of them, from Glengormley up towards the hills to Rathcoole, Monkstown and Whiteabbey down beside the water. That gives the town a particular kind of privacy. Somebody can live here for years, use the Abbey Centre every week, and keep their own street's business entirely to themselves. It is a good arrangement right up until it works against you. A habit grows well in a place where everyone is half an hour from somewhere else and nobody is quite at the centre. Betting on the phone, drinking after the commute, an evening that has looked identical for two years: from outside none of it looks like anything at all.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Newtownabbey
GlengormleyRathcooleMonkstownMossleyCarnmoneyWhiteabbeyJordanstownBawnmoreHazelbank
Wherever you are in Newtownabbey, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Newtownabbey
Official figures for Newtownabbey, for context rather than as a description of you.
There were 12 drug-related deaths registered in the Antrim and Newtownabbey 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 Antrim and Newtownabbey, 2.0% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, well below 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 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the addiction counselling page for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost for fees and session lengths, and qualifications, registration and ethics if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
Bradley is in Hove and there is no room in the town, so sessions take place online by secure video. That takes the trip into the city off the list, which for anyone already making that journey daily decides whether they attend or give up. Nobody watches you go anywhere. The hour can be taken at home in Carnmoney or Hazelbank, before the traffic builds or once the house has emptied out for the day.
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 Newtownabbey
Why people in Newtownabbey come for addiction counselling
This is the widest of the three services, taking in gambling and the behavioural habits alongside alcohol and drugs. They share a page because they share a shape: reliable relief first, then cost, then the growing work of hiding it. Most people arrive worn out by that third part rather than the first. What we do is slow the whole thing down and ask what it was originally for, because habits are rarely stupid. They are old solutions still running long after the problem they solved has changed. There were 12 drug-related deaths registered in the Antrim and Newtownabbey council area in 2023, from a Northern Ireland total of 169 at a rate of 9.1 per 100,000. Where statutory help is wanted too, ASCERT covers drug and alcohol support across Northern Ireland and a GP referral opens the Health and Social Care route.
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 Newtownabbey
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Newtownabbey, 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.
Newtownabbey questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Newtownabbey: common questions
How does somebody actually get started with this?
By booking the free 15-minute consultation, which is a short call and nothing more. You can use it to ask questions and say very little about yourself if that is where you are. Should you decide to continue, weekly sessions generally begin within a week or two.
What are the costs involved?
An hour is £80, ninety minutes is £100, and two hours is £120. The 15-minute consultation at the start carries no charge whatsoever. Because sessions are online there is no travel or parking to add on top, which for most people makes the real cost of attending considerably lower.
Which statutory service covers this area?
Health and Social Care, entered through a GP referral, handles anything medical, and ASCERT works across Northern Ireland on drugs and alcohol and can be approached directly. The NHS find a service directory lists what runs locally. Counselling alongside either of those is a common arrangement.
The estates here are close-knit. Will anybody find out?
Not through this. No local service is contacted, no letters go to your address and no appointment appears anywhere near where you live. The whole thing happens on a screen in your own house, and what is said in it is held under the BACP Ethical Framework.
It is gambling rather than drink with me. Is this the right service?
It is exactly the right one. The gambling is often further advanced than a drink problem would be by the same stage, precisely because there is nothing to see or smell. What we work on is the pull, the chase and the secrecy, which behave the same either way.
Can I get addiction support without going into Belfast?
Yes. Sessions are held online by secure video, so you can talk from home in Newtownabbey rather than travelling into the city. The counsellor works across Northern Ireland from a Hove base, which many find more private and far easier to fit around work.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Newtownabbey?
Usually within a week or two. We open with a free 15-minute consultation, then arrange a first full session to suit you. Because everything is online by secure video, you can begin from home along the loughshore or up in Glengormley with no waiting list and no trip into Belfast.
How do your fees compare with NHS addiction services in Newtownabbey?
NHS addiction support here runs through the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and is free, though waits can be long. My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation, with no delay before you start.
Can I have evening online addiction sessions in Newtownabbey?
Yes. Evening slots suit people driving the M2 into Belfast and back each day. Sessions are held by secure video from home, from Rathcoole to Whiteabbey, so you need only a private space and a reliable connection rather than another journey after work.
Online Addiction Counselling in Newtownabbey, 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, Ballymena. See all of Northern Ireland.
Close to this in Newtownabbey, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
You may also find it useful to read about 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 Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.