Online Addiction Counselling · Peterborough

Online Addiction Counselling in Peterborough

Online addiction counselling for Peterborough, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Peterborough, from the cathedral and the centre to the streets around the river Nene, with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.

Online across the UKSecure videoFree 15-min consultation
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
Bradley Riddell, BACP-registered counsellor offering online addiction counselling for Peterborough, introducing his approach
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Peterborough

Addiction Counselling for Peterborough, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Peterborough: from the cathedral and the centre to Bretton, Orton and Werrington
Known for
The cathedral, the river Nene and the fenland beyond
Region
East of England (England)
Local NHS / support route
Peterborough City Council's drug and alcohol misuse support
Format
Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.

Life in Peterborough

What brings people in Peterborough to counselling?

Peterborough has grown fast, and much of that growth arrived for work. The logistics and distribution sector along the A1 runs on nights, agency shifts and unsociable hours, while the East Coast Main Line commuter link takes another part of the city away before dawn. A lot of people here are relatively new and still building the friendships that would notice something going wrong. Compulsions expand into that gap. Locally, 7.5 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5 per 1,000, which suggests a city where these problems are both common and, unusually, actually being brought forward.

Peterborough CathedralPeterborough City Hospitalthe logistics and distribution sector along the A1the East Coast Main Line commuter link

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Peterborough

BrettonOrtonWerringtonStangroundDogsthorpePastonMillfieldHamptonWaltonFletton

Wherever you are in Peterborough, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.

The local picture

The local picture in Peterborough

Official figures for Peterborough, for context rather than as a description of you.

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.

Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the full addiction counselling page sets out the methods, how sessions run and what they cost covers the practicalities, and my BACP registration covers accountability.

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 there is nowhere in Peterborough to attend, and for a shift-working city that turns out to be the point. A session can sit at eight in the morning after a night in a warehouse, or at nine in the evening from a room in Bretton or Orton. No bus, no parking, no hour lost either side. If you move house, change employer or start commuting again, the arrangement stays exactly the same.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What does addiction counselling help with?

Alcohol

For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.

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 Peterborough

Why people in Peterborough come for addiction counselling

The word covers a good deal more than substances. Gambling, especially on a phone during a long shift, comes up as often as cocaine or drink, and so do compulsive spending, gaming and pornography. Every one of them works the same way: a reliable method of altering how you feel, repeated until it starts running your week. In a city of new arrivals, isolation is the accelerant. Without the people who would have raised an eyebrow years ago, a habit can double in size unremarked. Sessions look first at what it is holding together for you. Peterborough City Council's drug and alcohol misuse support is the free route into structured treatment, delivered by the Aspire recovery service run here by Change Grow Live, and CPSL Mind covers the wider mental health ground alongside it.

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 call

Drug, alcohol & addiction support in Peterborough

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Peterborough, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Peterborough City Council's drug and alcohol misuse 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.

Peterborough questions

Online Addiction Counselling in Peterborough: common questions

How long would I have to wait?

Not long. There is no list, the free 15-minute call is usually within a few days, and the first full session typically follows a week or two later. Nothing needs a referral, which matters when the impulse to ask for help tends not to last very long.

What are the fees?

£80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, paid session by session after a free 15-minute conversation. If gambling or cocaine has already taken a serious bite out of your wages, say so early and we can set a frequency that is actually sustainable.

Is this different from Peterborough City Council's drug and alcohol misuse support?

Quite different, and complementary. The council route is free and leads to Aspire for assessment, prescribing and groups. Counselling gives you one private hour a week with the same person, working on the causes. A great many people here keep both going.

I work nights in a warehouse. Can sessions fit that?

They can. Morning slots after a night shift and late evening slots both work, and the time can move week by week with a changing rota. That flexibility is difficult to get from any service that runs to fixed office hours in one building.

I moved here for a job and have barely any friends locally. Does that make it worse?

It commonly does. Without established friendships, nobody is close enough to comment, and the habit becomes the most reliable company in the evening. That isolation is a real part of the problem and it gets worked on directly rather than treated as background.

My life runs to shift work. Can addiction counselling fit around that?

Yes. Because everything is online from Hove, we are not tied to clinic hours or a commute across the city. We can find a time that works around rotas at the distribution parks or an early London train, and you join from home.

How soon can I start addiction counselling online in Peterborough?

Usually within a week. I work from Hove by video and phone with people across Peterborough and the Fens, and there is no local waiting list. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then set a first session that fits around shift patterns or an early London train.

What are your fees, and how do they compare with NHS addiction help in Peterborough?

I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation first. NHS addiction services in Peterborough are free but can involve a wait, whereas private online sessions with me start quickly and are not tied to clinic opening hours.

Do you offer in-person or evening addiction sessions for Peterborough?

I work online only, by video or phone from Hove, not from a room in the city. That suits lives run by rotas at the distribution parks, and evening or early times are available. From Bretton or Orton, you join from home with nothing to travel to.

Online Addiction Counselling in Peterborough, 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 East of England: Cambridge, Kettering, Lincoln. See all of East of England.

People who come for addiction counselling in Peterborough often also look at 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.

For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.