Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Aberdeen
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Aberdeen
Online counselling for drinking problems for Aberdeen, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour to the streets around the granite architecture, 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 Aberdeen
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Aberdeen, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Aberdeen: from the granite centre and the harbour to Old Aberdeen, Torry and Bridge of Don
- Known for
- The granite architecture, the harbour and the North Sea
- Region
- Scotland (Scotland)
- Local NHS / support route
- Local council drug & alcohol service (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Aberdeen
Why people in Aberdeen reach out
Aberdeen, the granite city on the north-east coast, has lived through the booms and busts of the oil and energy industry, and that volatility brings real insecurity. Long rotas offshore, the strain on families left behind and the remoteness of the far north-east all shape what people here carry.
Aberdeen is built from granite that glitters in the sun and turns steel-grey in the rain, a city set between two rivers on the cold edge of the North Sea. For decades its fortunes have risen and fallen with the oil and gas industry, and that rhythm shapes everything: the workers flying out to the rigs on long rotas, the families counting the weeks until they are home, and the anxiety that ripples through the city whenever the energy price turns. Beyond the harbour and the corporate offices sit the old cobbled streets of Footdee, the student quarter of Old Aberdeen, and the tight-knit community of Torry across the water. It can be a hard place to feel settled when so much depends on forces far offshore.
Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.
Aberdeen is the centre of the UK's North Sea oil and gas industry and home to the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the main hospital for NHS Grampian.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Aberdeen
Old AberdeenTorryBridge of DonRosemountFerryhillMannofieldFootdeeDyceCultsKincorth
Wherever you are in Aberdeen, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Aberdeen
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Aberdeen are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised alcohol-specific death rate in Aberdeen City averaged 21.7 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, close to the Scotland average of 21.9 Source: National Records of Scotland, Alcohol-specific deaths 2024 (Table 4B) (2020-2024).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
The counselling for drinking problems itself
Counselling for drinking problems here looks beneath the habit at what drives it, you do not need to have hit rock bottom to begin, and signposts medical, detox and peer support where useful.
The approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main counselling for drinking problems page and on how I work.
How online sessions work
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
Aberdeen sits a long way north, and specialist counselling can be harder to reach here than in the central belt, with NHS Grampian talking therapies often carrying a wait. Offshore rotas make fixed weekly appointments difficult too. Secure video changes that: sessions can reach a flat in the city, a room at home, or wherever you have signal and privacy. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work with clients across Scotland and the UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online counselling for drinking problems in Aberdeen can help
The cause, not the habit
Looking beneath the drinking to what drives it.
Anxiety and low mood
Working with what the alcohol has been managing.
Privacy at home
Sensitive support without anyone needing to know.
Signposting
Links to medical, detox and peer support where useful.
Without the anaesthetic
Reconnecting with the person beneath the drinking.
Counselling for Drinking Problems in Aberdeen
Why people in Aberdeen come for counselling for drinking problems
Many in Aberdeen's energy world describe the same pattern: dry weeks offshore, then heavy drinking in the short time home, trying to unwind and reconnect all at once. For the families counting down to those weeks, it can be hard to watch, and for you it can be hard to break. Add the insecurity that comes with every downturn, and alcohol can quietly become the pressure valve. Counselling offers a confidential space, by secure video around your rota, to look honestly at the drinking without judgement and find a way of coming home that feels better for everyone.
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 Aberdeen
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Aberdeen, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.
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, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Aberdeen questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Aberdeen: common questions
Can I get online counselling for drinking problems if I live in Aberdeen?
Yes. I work with people right across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Do I have to stop drinking completely to start?
No, and you do not need to have hit rock bottom. We look at the role drinking plays and find a steadier way forward at your pace.
Can you help me cut down rather than quit?
For many people moderation is a valid goal, and we will be honest together about what is realistic for you.
What if I've tried before and relapsed?
Relapse is part of many people's recovery, not a failure. We learn from it rather than start the count again from zero.
I only drink heavily when I am back onshore, is that a problem?
It can be. A pattern of dry spells followed by heavy drinking is still worth understanding, especially if it is straining your health or your time at home. We look at what alcohol is doing in those weeks back, without judgement, and what you would want to change.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem online in Aberdeen?
Often within a week. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then arrange your first secure video session. Nothing needs travelling to across the city or the wider north east, and there is no waiting list, so you can begin from home whenever suits.
What do sessions cost, and how does that compare to NHS help in Aberdeen?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Grampian alcohol support is free but can carry a wait; paying privately brings a cost yet usually a much sooner start.
Can I have evening online sessions about my drinking in Aberdeen?
Yes. Secure video means we can meet in the evening from your own home, or around the pattern of offshore work. There is no journey across Aberdeen and no waiting room, so a private hour to talk about your drinking stays easy to keep.
Can counselling work around an offshore rota?
Yes. Because sessions are held by secure video, we can arrange times that fit your onshore weeks, and pick up again when you're back. There's no clinic to get to, so the pattern of your work matters far less than having a private hour and a connection.
Do you see people in Aberdeen face to face?
No. I work from Hove on the English south coast and see clients across Scotland entirely online. For anyone in Aberdeen that means secure video sessions, which spares the long distances many here would otherwise travel for specialist support.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Aberdeen, 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: Dundee, Perth. See all of Scotland.
All counselling & therapy in Aberdeen: Addiction · Substance Use · Anxiety · Depression · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling for drinking problems is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.