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Online Addiction Counselling · Rotherham
Online Addiction Counselling in Rotherham
Online addiction counselling for Rotherham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Rotherham, from the town centre and the Minster to the streets around the Magna steelworks, 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 Rotherham
Addiction Counselling for Rotherham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Rotherham: from the town centre and the Minster to Wickersley, Maltby and Rawmarsh
- Known for
- The Minster, the Magna steelworks and the surrounding coalfield
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Rotherham Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Rotherham
Why people in Rotherham get in touch
Rotherham keeps its business to itself. Steel and mining shaped a town where people look after their own and do not air things outside the family, and after some hard years of public attention that instinct has only tightened. It makes a compulsion unusually easy to carry alone. Shift patterns in the town's steel and advanced manufacturing sector leave awkward hours, and an account on a phone will happily take them. Whether you are in Wickersley or Maltby, Rawmarsh or Dinnington, the same streets that offer support also make privacy hard, so the help people want is often help that nobody local can see them receiving.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Rotherham
WickersleyMaltbyRawmarshWathKimberworthDinningtonThryberghBrinsworthGreasbroughSwinton
Wherever you are in Rotherham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Rotherham
Official figures for Rotherham, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 655.4 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 8.3 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 actually happens 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 addiction counselling in detail for the methods, session lengths and fees for fees and session lengths, and my BACP registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
Sessions are run online by secure video, and there is no room in Rotherham because Bradley is in Hove. For a town of this size that is usually the point rather than a drawback: no car in a car park, no waiting area, no explaining where you were. A slot can fit round a shift, a school run from Brinsworth, or a quiet hour once the house in Thrybergh has emptied. The free 15-minute consultation comes first and leaves you under no obligation.
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 Rotherham
Why people in Rotherham come for addiction counselling
People here tend to arrive late and apologetic, having decided years ago that this was something to be sorted out privately. It rarely can be, and that is not a personal failing. Addiction is broader than drink and drugs: gambling accounts, gaming and compulsive spending run the same circuit, and around here betting often sits alongside a wage that does not stretch far enough. The work begins with what the habit is for, because a compulsion nobody understands is one nobody can negotiate with. Then we look at the triggers, the story you tell yourself in the twenty minutes before, and what has to be different afterwards. Rotherham Council's drug and alcohol support is the free local route, and Rotherham Alcohol and Drug Service, provided by With You, offers confidential treatment at no cost. Counselling runs beside those. Speak with your GP if use is daily.
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 Rotherham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Rotherham, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Rotherham Council's drug and alcohol 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.
Rotherham questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Rotherham: common questions
Rotherham is small and everyone talks - could anyone find out?
There is nothing to find out about. No building to be seen leaving, no local receptionist, no shared file with any service in town. Payment comes straight from you and nothing reaches your GP, your workplace or Rotherham Council unless you choose to tell them yourself.
Is gambling included, or only drink and drugs?
Gambling is included, and it is one of the commonest reasons people get in touch. The mechanism is identical: a reliable hit of anticipation, a short relief, then concealment. Compulsive spending and gaming are worked with in exactly the same way, whatever the object happens to be.
What are the fees, and is there free help in Rotherham?
Counselling costs £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, with the first 15-minute conversation free. Rotherham Alcohol and Drug Service is free and confidential for drink and drugs, and Rotherham Council's drug and alcohol support explains how to get referred.
I do rotating shifts in manufacturing - can appointments move week to week?
They can. Nothing is tied to one permanent weekly hour, so we set each session as your pattern for the fortnight becomes clear, including early and late slots. Irregular hours are among the main reasons people find online work more sustainable than travelling somewhere.
I have never spoken to a counsellor before - what is it like?
Ordinary, mostly. A conversation where you say more than you are used to saying and nobody flinches. I ask questions, you talk at whatever pace suits, and nothing is demanded of you between sessions. The first one is about understanding the shape of things, not fixing them.
Are you based in Rotherham?
No, I work from Hove and see Rotherham clients by secure video call. For people out in the surrounding pit and steel villages, where getting to appointments can mean a real journey, meeting online often makes support far easier to keep up week to week.
Can I start addiction counselling in Rotherham soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Rotherham online rather than from a room in the city. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then set a regular weekly slot for addiction support, usually starting within a week or two once you feel ready.
Do you offer in-person or evening addiction counselling in Rotherham?
For Rotherham it is online rather than in person, since my room is in Hove on the south coast. Many find secure video suits addiction work well, joining from home in Wickersley or Brinsworth without a commute. I hold some daytime and early-evening slots, so we can usually find a regular time that fits.
Online Addiction Counselling in Rotherham, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
If addiction counselling is not quite what you are looking for, substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling may fit better in Rotherham.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about the four Rs framework and illness or indulgence?.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.