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Online Addiction Counselling · Sunderland
Online Addiction Counselling in Sunderland
Online addiction counselling for Sunderland, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Sunderland, from the city centre and the river to the streets around the river Wear, 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 Sunderland
Addiction Counselling for Sunderland, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Sunderland: from the city centre and the river to Roker, Hendon and Washington
- Known for
- The river Wear, Roker beach and the Stadium of Light
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Sunderland
What brings people in Sunderland to counselling?
Sunderland has rebuilt itself more than once, from shipbuilding and glassmaking to Nissan and the automotive sector, and the local virtue that carried the city through all of it is coping. Coping is superb until it becomes the reason nobody knows. A compulsion thrives in that silence. Rotating shifts leave whole afternoons awake when the rest of the street is at work, and an afternoon like that will take a betting app or a bottle without complaint. In Roker and Fulwell it looks respectable and contained; in Hendon, Southwick or Millfield it may look rougher, but the internal shape is identical and so is the reluctance to say so.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Sunderland
RokerSeaburnHendonWashingtonSouthwickFulwellMillfieldSilksworthRyhopeHoughton-le-Spring
Wherever you are in Sunderland, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Sunderland
Official figures for Sunderland, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 842.9 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 8.1 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 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see everything on addiction counselling for the methods, session lengths and fees for fees and session lengths, and how to check my registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
Work is delivered online by secure video. Bradley is in Hove, which means there is no room in Sunderland and nothing anyone can see you attending. In a city where families have lived on the same streets for generations, that privacy tends to be the thing that makes it possible at all. Sessions can be set for a morning after nights, a gap between shifts, or an evening once a house in Silksworth is quiet. The opening 15-minute conversation commits you to nothing whatsoever.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does addiction counselling address?
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 Sunderland
Why people in Sunderland come for addiction counselling
It takes a lot for someone here to say they are not managing, and by the time they do, the habit has usually been running for years. That delay is not a character flaw; it is what happens when a place values endurance and treats asking as weakness. Addiction includes gambling and other behavioural compulsions as well as drink and drugs, and betting in particular slots into shift life without any obvious trace. In sessions we take the loop apart: what sets it off, what it delivers within minutes, and what it charges by the following morning. Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support is the free local route, Wear Recovery is the city's integrated drug and alcohol service, and Sunderland Mind covers the broader mental health picture. If you drink or use every day, bring your GP in before changing anything.
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 Sunderland
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Sunderland, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs 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.
Sunderland questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Sunderland: common questions
I work rotating shifts - can counselling actually fit that?
It can, because nothing is fixed to one permanent weekly slot. We arrange each session once your rota is confirmed, including mornings after a run of nights. Shift patterns are one of the commonest reasons people here choose online work over travelling to an appointment.
Does gambling get taken as seriously as drinking?
Just as seriously. A betting account runs the same circuit of anticipation, relief and hiding, and it can empty a wage in an afternoon without leaving a smell on your breath. Gaming and compulsive spending are worked with in the same way, whatever the object is.
What does it cost, and is there free help in Sunderland?
Counselling is charged at £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, and the first 15-minute consultation is free. Wear Recovery provides free confidential drug and alcohol treatment for the city, reached through Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support.
Everyone in my family copes with things themselves - why would I pay someone?
Because coping alone has a ceiling, and hitting it is information rather than defeat. What you are buying is an hour where nothing has to be managed for anyone else's benefit, with somebody whose only job is to help you understand what is happening.
Will we have to go back into my childhood?
Only if it turns out to be relevant, and you decide when. Some patterns are recent and practical and never require going back at all. Others rest on something older, and in those cases we would approach it slowly and with your agreement each step of the way.
Are you based in Sunderland?
No, I work from Hove on the south coast and see Sunderland clients by secure video call. The distance makes no difference online - sessions come to you at home in Roker, Washington or wherever's private, rather than needing any journey across Wearside.
Is there addiction counselling available in Sunderland, and how quickly?
There is no consulting room in Sunderland, but I work right across the area by secure video from Hove. Whether you are near Roker or Seaburn, we can arrange a free 15-minute call first and then a weekly time for addiction counselling, often within days of you getting in touch.
Is addiction counselling for Sunderland done online or face to face?
I do not offer face-to-face sessions in Sunderland; everything is by confidential video call. For addiction, that often helps, as you can speak openly from a private space rather than a waiting room. I keep a few evening slots alongside daytime ones, so working around Nissan and the automotive sector is manageable.
Online Addiction Counselling in Sunderland, 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: Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Durham. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Also available in Sunderland: substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour and the four-stage cycle of addiction.
Within reach of Sussex? addiction counselling is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.