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Online Addiction Counselling · Swansea
Online Addiction Counselling in Swansea
Online addiction counselling for Swansea, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Swansea, from the centre and the marina to the streets around the bay, 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 Swansea
Addiction Counselling for Swansea, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Swansea: from the centre and the marina to Uplands, Sketty and Morriston
- Known for
- The bay, the marina and the Gower beyond
- Region
- Wales
- Local NHS / support route
- DAN 24/7, the Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Swansea
What is going on for people in Swansea?
Swansea holds two facts at once. There is the bay, the marina and the Gower beyond it, and there is what industrial decline left behind in Landore, Townhill and Bonymaen. Living somewhere beautiful does not soften insecure work or a short month. It can make things lonelier, because the place looks like it ought to be enough. Habits grow well in that gap. A drink that started as part of the weekend, a bet placed while the tide comes in, an app that fills the hours between shifts that were not offered this week. In a city with a big student population and a long working history side by side, an awful lot of this goes entirely unmentioned.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Swansea
UplandsSkettyMorristonMumblesBrynmillTownhillSt ThomasLandoreGorseinonClydachKillayBonymaen
Wherever you are in Swansea, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Swansea
Official figures for Swansea, for context rather than as a description of you.
In Swansea the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate was 14.3 per 100,000 in 2022 to 2024, well above the Wales average of 8.5 per 100,000. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Deaths related to drug poisoning by local authority, England and Wales (drug misuse, Table 6) (2022 to 2024).
In Swansea, 5.5% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Wales average of 6.9%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the main addiction counselling page, with how I work for the practical questions and qualifications, registration and ethics for registration and ethics.
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.
Swansea is covered online only, since the counselling happens from Hove. That is a genuine convenience in a city that stretches from Clydach to Mumbles. No traffic along the seafront, no parking near the marina, and no bus in from Gorseinon for a fifty-minute appointment. You take a weekly slot and hold it. Because nobody sees you arriving anywhere, the whole thing stays between you and the person you are talking to.
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 Swansea
Why people in Swansea come for addiction counselling
This service is deliberately wide, and people use it for very different things. Some come about drink, some about drugs, and a large number about gambling, which has grown quietly enormous since it moved onto phones and stopped needing anybody to walk into a shop. Others come about gaming, spending, pornography or food. The behaviour differs; the machinery does not. Something works too well as relief, the relief costs more each time, and the person doing it starts to feel untrustworthy in their own eyes. That last part is what usually needs attention first, because shame is what keeps the whole thing in the dark. Barod, through the Newid partnership, runs substance use services across Swansea, the NHS find a service directory lists other routes, and Swansea Mind is on 01792 642999 for wider mental health support.
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 Swansea
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Swansea, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through DAN 24/7, the Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline.
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 press 2 for urgent mental health support. The CALL Helpline for Wales is free on 0800 132 737, 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.
Swansea questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Swansea: common questions
What happens at the very beginning?
There is a free 15-minute call. You describe what has been going on as roughly or as fully as you like, and I explain how I work and what the sessions involve. If you decide to go ahead, a weekly time is usually available within a fortnight.
What do sessions cost, and is the first call charged for?
£80 for an hour. Ninety minutes is £100 and two hours is £120 for anyone who wants more time in a single sitting. The initial 15-minute conversation costs nothing, and there is no obligation of any kind attached to having it.
Where do I look for NHS or council drug and alcohol help in Swansea?
Barod delivers substance use services here as part of the Newid partnership, and the NHS find a service directory shows what is available near your postcode. Swansea Mind, on 01792 642999, covers mental health more broadly. Any of them can run alongside counselling.
Does this cover gambling as well as drink and drugs?
It does, fully. Online betting causes serious harm and attracts very little sympathy, which makes people slow to talk about it. Here it is treated as what it is: a habit with a grip, attached to debt and secrecy, and worth understanding rather than simply condemning.
I am a student here. Will this interfere with university?
Not at all. There is no contact with Swansea University, no record shared with anyone and nothing that touches your studies. Sessions are arranged around lectures and placements, and plenty of people at the Singleton and Bay campuses keep it entirely to themselves.
I live out towards Gower, can we still work together?
Yes. Because sessions are held by secure video, how far you are from the city centre makes no difference. People along the Gower coast and in the villages work with me online just as easily as those near the marina, with no journey involved.
How soon can I start online addiction counselling in Swansea?
Usually within a week. After a free 15-minute consultation we book your first full session at a convenient time. Whether you are in the Uplands, Sketty or out towards Mumbles and Gower, sessions run by secure video, so there is no waiting list to join.
How do your fees compare with NHS addiction services in Swansea?
NHS substance misuse support through Swansea Bay health board and the free Dan 24/7 helpline costs nothing, though waits vary. My private sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation and no waiting list.
Do you offer evening online addiction sessions in Swansea?
Yes. Many people around the marina and city centre work long hours, so I keep some evening slots. You meet me by secure video from home, whether in Brynmill or Morriston, which means no drive across the bay once the working day is done.
Online Addiction Counselling in Swansea, 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 Wales: Neath, Llanelli, Cardiff. See all of Wales.
Related work in Swansea: substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: 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.