Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Portsmouth
Online Addiction Counselling in Portsmouth
Online addiction counselling for Portsmouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Portsmouth, from across Portsea Island, Southsea and Old Portsmouth to the streets around the Spinnaker Tower, 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 Portsmouth
Addiction Counselling for Portsmouth, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Portsmouth: across Portsea Island, from Southsea and Old Portsmouth to Fratton, Cosham and Copnor
- Known for
- The Spinnaker Tower, the harbour and the seafront
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Portsmouth City Council's drug and substance misuse support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Portsmouth
What is going on for people in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth is packed tight and it drinks that way. Almost all of it sits on Portsea Island, which holds an enormous number of people in a very small space, and privacy is genuinely scarce: in Fratton, Buckland or North End the terraces share walls and a routine is legible from the street. HM Naval Base Portsmouth sets its own pattern, with deployments, sudden postings and long stretches where a household reorganises itself around an absence. Then there is the return, which is often harder than the going. Against that background a habit is easy to build and difficult to conceal. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions here ran at 932.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Portsmouth
SouthseaOld PortsmouthFrattonCoshamCopnorNorth EndPortseaMiltonBuckland
Wherever you are in Portsmouth, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Portsmouth
Official figures for Portsmouth, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 557.7 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 11.8 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.
The method travels; only the geography changes. addiction counselling in detail explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and how to check my registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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, along the same stretch of coast, and all Portsmouth appointments are held online by secure video. On a densely built island that answers the privacy problem directly: no doorway to be seen going through, no car parked outside anything recognisable. It also survives a posting. If you move, or you are away for a spell, the same weekly hour continues wherever there is a signal, which is rarely true of a service tied to a building.
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 Portsmouth
Why people in Portsmouth come for addiction counselling
This service is deliberately wide. Alcohol and drugs are in it, and so are gambling, gaming, shopping, pornography and the phone: whatever has become the reflex answer to a feeling. Gambling has a particular grip in a city working shift patterns and fixed pay dates, because a betting app is open at three in the morning when nothing else is. The local picture is not a gentle one. Deaths from drug misuse ran at 11.8 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, against an England average of 5.8 per 100,000, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 24.8 per 100,000 in 2024 against 13.8 nationally. The work goes after the loop rather than the label: what it does for you, when it took hold, what it takes, and which feeling it keeps arriving in front of. Portsmouth City Council's drug and substance misuse support is the statutory 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 Portsmouth
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Portsmouth, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Portsmouth City Council's drug and substance 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.
Portsmouth questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Portsmouth: common questions
I might be posted away in a few months. Is it worth starting?
Yes, and it is one of the reasons online suits this city. The weekly hour moves with you, so a posting interrupts the geography rather than the counselling. A free 15-minute consultation can usually be arranged within days, and a regular slot within a week or two of that.
What do sessions cost?
Fees are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, with the first 15-minute consultation free. You pay one appointment at a time and nothing is signed for in advance. Portsmouth City Council's route is free at the point of use if cost is the deciding factor.
What is the council route for addiction in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth City Council's drug and substance misuse support is the statutory way in, and The Portsmouth Recovery Hub, run by the Society of St James with Inclusion, provides local recovery services. Prescribing and medical care belong there. Solent Mind covers wellbeing across the city.
The house is small and full. Where am I supposed to take this call?
That comes up constantly on the island. Headphones cover most of it, and plenty of people take the hour in a car, on a lunch break, or when the house finally empties. The camera can stay off. Telephone works if a connection in a terrace will not hold steady.
Is gambling actually part of this, or only drink and drugs?
Fully part of it. Betting leaves no bottles and no smell, only a pay packet that has gone somewhere, which is why it survives so long undetected. A wage arriving on a fixed date and a phone that never closes make an efficient combination, and it brings people here often.
It's such a close-knit island city. How private is this really?
Very private. There is no local waiting room to be seen in and nobody on your street need know. You join securely from home, and everything discussed stays confidential, which many people in Portsmouth value given how closely the city is packed together.
How soon can I start online addiction counselling in Portsmouth?
Usually within a week. After a free 15-minute consultation we set a regular time. On a crowded island city where even a short trip means traffic across the few roads on and off Portsea, the advantage is that you meet securely from home in Southsea, Fratton or Cosham, whenever suits.
What are the fees in Portsmouth, and is addiction counselling on the NHS?
Privately, £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. For free NHS help, your GP can refer you and Portsmouth's council-funded drug and alcohol service takes self-referrals. Forces families can also use dedicated military welfare support.
I want support without anyone on the base or street knowing. Is online discreet in Portsmouth?
Yes. On a tightly packed island where privacy feels scarce, online sessions are done quietly from home, with no waiting room where you might be recognised. Sessions flex around deployments and postings, evenings included. The room is in Hove, a train along the coast, if you would ever prefer to meet in person.
Online Addiction Counselling in Portsmouth, 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: Southampton, Chichester. See all of London & South East.
Close to this in Portsmouth, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
You may also find it useful to read about illness or indulgence? and a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.