Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Oxford
Online Addiction Counselling in Oxford
Online addiction counselling for Oxford, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Oxford, from the city centre and Jericho to the streets around the dreaming spires, 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 Oxford
Addiction Counselling for Oxford, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Oxford: from the city centre and Jericho to Cowley, Headington and Summertown
- Known for
- The dreaming spires, the Cherwell and the colleges
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Oxfordshire County Council's alcohol and drug support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Oxford
What brings people in Oxford to counselling?
Oxford keeps a peculiar timetable. The academic calendar runs at a relentless pitch, and the expectation to perform, whether you are a student, an academic, or working at the John Radcliffe Hospital, leaves very little room to admit anything is going wrong. Meanwhile the Mini plant at Cowley runs shifts belonging to a different rhythm altogether, and Oxford Brookes University adds a third. What all of it shares is that competence is the currency. So the drinking, the pills, the betting account, the two hours a night that go somewhere unaccountable, all get managed rather than mentioned. Jericho and Summertown look composed from the pavement. Behind the doors, perfectionism and exhaustion hold a great many habits steadily in place.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Oxford
JerichoCowleyHeadingtonSummertownBotleyMarstonIffleyRose HillWolvercote
Wherever you are in Oxford, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Oxford
Official figures for Oxford, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 413.8 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below 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 2.9 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, below 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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the main addiction counselling page sets out the methods, how I work covers the practicalities, and my credentials and registration covers accountability.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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 Oxford is worked with online by secure video. In a city this small and this interconnected, that carries a specific value: no waiting area, and no chance of being seen by a colleague, a tutor or somebody from your college. The hour costs you an hour and nothing else. People join from a room in Headington, from a parked car, or from a borrowed desk with a door.
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 Oxford
Why people in Oxford come for addiction counselling
This is the wide version of the service. Substances are in it, and so are gambling, gaming, shopping, pornography and the phone: anything that has become the reflex when a feeling shows up. In a city organised around achievement, the shape is often high-functioning. Everything gets delivered, nothing gets missed, and the habit runs underneath the whole performance. Oxford's recorded figures are low. Alcohol-specific hospital admissions stood at 430.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24 against an England average of 611.7 per 100,000, and deaths from drug misuse at 2.9 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024. Low numbers are not the same as few people, and often mean a difficulty that is being carried well. What we examine is the loop, not the label. Oxfordshire County Council's alcohol and drug support is the statutory route, and Turning Point runs Roads to Recovery Oxfordshire from a hub in the city centre.
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 Oxford
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Oxford, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Oxfordshire County Council's alcohol and drug 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.
Oxford questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Oxford: common questions
I can only do this if it does not eat into the working week. How does it start?
It starts with a free 15-minute consultation, usually available within days and arranged at a time that fits round teaching, clinics or shifts. There is no referral to obtain and no queue to enter. A weekly slot generally opens within a week or two, and it is one hour, not an afternoon.
What are the fees?
£80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, paid one appointment at a time with nothing bought in advance. The 15-minute consultation that comes first is free. Statutory services across Oxfordshire cost nothing, so paying is a choice about speed and privacy rather than a necessity.
What is the local council route for addiction?
Oxfordshire County Council's alcohol and drug support is the statutory way in, and Turning Point runs Roads to Recovery Oxfordshire from a hub in the city centre. Prescribing and structured treatment happen there. Oxfordshire Mind covers the wider mental health side if that is also in play.
Everyone knows everyone here. How private is this really?
Nothing takes place in Oxford, so there is no building to be seen entering and no receptionist who might know your department. Appointments are held by secure video wherever you happen to be. What is said stays between the two of us, within limits explained before the first session.
I am functioning perfectly well. Is a betting habit really addiction?
Functioning is not the test, and it is often the thing that keeps something going for years. Gambling leaves no physical trace, so the only evidence is money and attention, both of which hide easily inside a demanding job. If it has become the automatic answer to pressure, it belongs here.
I am a student and worried about being seen using support during term.
Online sessions keep things discreet. You join from your room or another private space, with no counselling room in town to enter and no chance of passing someone you know on the way. Many students find that privacy makes it far easier to start.
How soon can I start online addiction counselling in Oxford during term?
Usually within a week. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then we find a slot that fits between lectures, clinics or shifts. Because the sessions are online, there is no travel and no waiting list, so students and staff around Jericho, Cowley or Headington can begin without losing hours to term-time demands.
What does addiction counselling cost in Oxford, and can the university or NHS cover it?
This is a private practice: £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. Separately, your college or student welfare team, your GP, and Oxfordshire's council-funded drug and alcohol service all offer support, the NHS route being free and open to self-referral.
Is Oxford addiction counselling online, and can it work around the academic calendar?
Yes, it is online, which sidesteps the coach and rail links that mostly point at London and would cost you hours in term. Sessions fit around teaching, research or hospital shifts, evenings included. The room is in Hove if you can travel down to the Sussex coast for an in-person meeting.
Online Addiction Counselling in Oxford, 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 London & South East: Reading, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, London. See all of London & South East.
Close to this in Oxford, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: the four-stage cycle of addiction and the four Rs framework.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same addiction counselling is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.