Alcohol
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Online Addiction Counselling · Preston
Online Addiction Counselling in Preston
Online addiction counselling for Preston, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Preston, from the city centre and the markets to the streets around the Harris Museum, 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 Preston
Addiction Counselling for Preston, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Preston: from the city centre and the markets to Fulwood, Ashton and Ribbleton
- Known for
- The Harris Museum, the docks and the river Ribble
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Preston
What brings people in Preston to counselling?
Preston runs on institutions. The county council, the courts, the university and the hospital give the city a steady, professional layer that sits on top of an older industrial one. Both layers produce their own kinds of pressure and both are discreet about it. A solicitor near the centre and a warehouse worker in Ribbleton may have very little in common until you look at what each does at the end of a long day. Addiction here is rarely loud. It is a routine that has stopped being optional: the wine in Fulwood, the phone bet in Ingol, the tablets that were only ever meant to be temporary. What holds people back is not ignorance about help but the effort of admitting the need.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Preston
the city centreFulwoodAshton-on-RibbleRibbletonDeepdalePenworthamBroadgateIngol
Wherever you are in Preston, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Preston
Official figures for Preston, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 482.7 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 4.9 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the main addiction counselling page for the methods, the practical side for fees and session lengths, and my BACP registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
There is no room in Preston; Bradley works from Hove and everything runs by secure video. In a city where a lot of people work for the same few large institutions, not having a local address to be seen at matters more than it might elsewhere. Sessions are a set hour, arranged around work rather than the other way round. All that is required is a device, a connection and a place where you will not be interrupted.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can addiction counselling in Preston help with?
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 Preston
Why people in Preston come for addiction counselling
Addiction counselling takes in alcohol, drugs, prescribed medication, gambling and any compulsive habit that has outgrown your control over it. Across Lancashire, admissions to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions were running at 692.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24, higher than the England average of 611.7 per 100,000, which is a considerable amount of harm for a county that presents itself as steady. The counselling is neither a lecture nor a programme. It is an hour to look at what the habit provides, what it has replaced and what it now costs, and then at what could realistically be built in its place. Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support leads to Inspire Lancashire, which covers central Lancashire and Preston, and Lancashire Mind offers wider mental health support. Counselling belongs alongside those, not instead of them.
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 Preston
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Preston, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs 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.
Preston questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Preston: common questions
I work for one of the big employers here and word gets around. Is this discreet?
Completely. Nothing goes to an employer, there is no local venue, and no one you work with has any way of knowing. Sessions are private and paid for privately, and the only record is the counsellor's own confidential notes, which are not shared with anyone in Preston.
Is gambling part of this?
Yes, and so are gaming, spending and any other habit that has quietly become compulsory. Betting is often the last thing people raise, because the harm is financial and invisible until it is very large. There is no requirement to have reached that stage before bringing it.
How do I get to Inspire Lancashire from Preston?
Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support sets out the county's services, and Inspire Lancashire covers central Lancashire including the city. It provides assessment, prescribing and structured treatment programmes. Counselling and that service are complementary rather than competing, and starting one does not require finishing the other.
What will this cost over a few months?
It depends entirely on how often you decide to come. Each hour is £80, ninety minutes £100 and two hours £120, and the free 15-minute consultation comes before any of that. Weekly for three months would be twelve sessions; fortnightly, half that. It is reviewed as you go rather than fixed at the start.
How quickly can I be seen?
Generally within a week or two, sometimes sooner. There is no referral to chase and no assessment queue, which is the practical reason a lot of people look privately. You make contact, have the free consultation, and if it suits, a regular time is agreed from what is available.
I've never talked about this before. Where do we start?
We start with whatever feels manageable. There's no script you have to follow and no rush. In the first session we just talk, get a sense of what's going on and what you'd like to change. You set the pace throughout, and nothing is pushed on you.
How soon can I start addiction counselling in Preston online?
Usually within a week. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then set your first full session by secure video or phone. I work from Hove and see people across Preston online, from Fulwood to Penwortham, so there is no local clinic list to wait on.
How do your fees compare with NHS addiction help in Preston?
Preston has free drug and alcohol support through Lancashire County Council's alcohol and drugs support, set out further down this page. Working with me starts with a free 15-minute consultation, after which it is £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes or £120 for two.
Do you offer in-person or evening addiction sessions in Preston?
I do not work in person here; my room is in Hove and Preston sessions are all online. That saves the drive along the ring road or into the centre, and working online makes evening and quieter daytime slots easier to fit around work and family.
Online Addiction Counselling in Preston, 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: Blackburn, Blackpool, Lancaster. See all of North West.
Close to this in Preston, 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.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.