Alcohol
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Online Addiction Counselling · Stirling
Online Addiction Counselling in Stirling
Online addiction counselling for Stirling, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Stirling, from the old town and the castle to the streets around the Wallace Monument, 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 Stirling
Addiction Counselling for Stirling, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Stirling: from the old town and the castle to Bridge of Allan, Raploch and Bannockburn
- Known for
- The castle, the Wallace Monument and the Ochils
- Region
- Scotland
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS inform's drugs and drug use pages
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Stirling
Why do people in Stirling reach out?
Stirling is a small city with very sharp edges of difference. Bridge of Allan and Raploch are barely fifteen minutes apart and the lives inside them do not much resemble each other. The University of Stirling brings several thousand young people into the middle of that every autumn, with the drinking, gaming and betting that student life normalises, and plenty of others commute out to the central belt and get home with the evening already gone. Under the castle and the National Wallace Monument the city looks settled and historic. Habits grow here the way they grow anywhere: privately, gradually, and with nobody quite deciding that anything has changed.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Stirling
Bridge of AllanRaplochBannockburnCausewayheadSt NiniansCambusbarronCorntonCambuskenneth
Wherever you are in Stirling, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Stirling
Official figures for Stirling, for context rather than as a description of you.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in the Stirling council area averaged 21.4 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, just below the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
In Stirling, 6.9% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Scotland average of 6.1%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
Reviewed June 2026.
What is addiction counselling, in practice?
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 approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on everything on addiction counselling, alongside how I work and how to check my registration.
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 works from Hove, so there is no Stirling room and sessions are online by secure video. In a compact city where you might well know the person in a waiting area, that privacy counts for a lot. Appointments can be taken from a student flat in Causewayhead, a house in St Ninians or a car before a commute, and they move if term or work does. The 15-minute consultation is free and there is no obligation after it.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can addiction counselling in Stirling 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 Stirling
Why people in Stirling come for addiction counselling
Addiction is meant broadly here, taking in gambling, gaming and compulsive spending as well as alcohol and drugs, all of which behave in much the same way. In the Stirling council area the drug-misuse death rate averaged 21.4 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, a little below the Scotland average of 22.5, and alcohol-specific deaths averaged 18.0 against 21.9 for Scotland. A city can look comparatively well and still contain households where somebody is in serious trouble. Sessions work on function rather than quantity: what the habit interrupts, what it replaces, and what would need to exist for you to do without it. The Forth Valley Recovery Service runs hubs in Stirling for drug and alcohol support, your GP can refer you into NHS care, and Breathing Space Scotland is free on 0800 83 85 87.
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 Stirling
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Stirling, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through NHS inform's drugs and drug use pages.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can 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.
Stirling questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Stirling: common questions
I am a student here and it started as ordinary nights out. When does it stop being that?
When the rest of the week begins to organise itself around it, when you are doing it alone, or when stopping for a fortnight turns out to be harder than you assumed. Student culture hides a great deal, so those markers matter more than what your friends are doing.
What are the fees?
£80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, paid one session at a time with nothing committed in advance. Free local support exists as well, and there is no reason not to use both. A 15-minute consultation before you start costs nothing.
What is available locally through the NHS?
The Forth Valley Recovery Service operates hubs in Stirling providing drug and alcohol support, and your GP can refer you into NHS services. The NHS 'find a service' directory lists treatment options, and Breathing Space Scotland answers free on 0800 83 85 87 in the evenings.
Will a session work from a shared student flat?
It generally does, with headphones and a closed door. Only your voice can be heard, and there is nothing afterwards that a flatmate could come across. A study room or a parked car works equally well if the flat is never empty.
My gaming and my spending have blurred into each other. Is that one problem or two?
Usually one problem wearing two coats. In-game purchases sit very close to gambling by design, and the money side is often what finally makes it visible. We would look at both together rather than treating the spending as a separate accident.
Stirling is small, will people know I am having counselling?
That is a common worry in a smaller city, and it is one reason online work suits many people here. There is no local waiting room to sit in and no one to pass on the street. Sessions happen privately by secure video from your own home.
How soon can I start addiction counselling online in Stirling?
Usually within a week. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first secure video session. There is no local waiting room to sit in and nothing to travel to, so from Bridge of Allan to Bannockburn you can start quickly and privately from home.
What are your fees, and how do they compare to NHS help in Stirling?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Forth Valley talking therapy is free but can carry a wait; private work costs money yet begins sooner, without a queue to join.
Stirling is small, can online evening sessions keep things private?
Yes. That worry is common in a smaller city, and it is one reason online work suits people here. Evening sessions run by secure video from your own home, so there is no local waiting room to be seen in and no one to pass on the street.
Online Addiction Counselling in Stirling, 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 Scotland: Falkirk, Perth, Glasgow. See all of Scotland.
Close to this in Stirling, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about the four Rs framework and illness or indulgence?.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same addiction counselling is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.