Daily or binge drinking
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Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Belfast
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Belfast
Online counselling for drinking problems for Belfast, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Belfast, from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter to the streets around the City Hall, 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 Belfast
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Belfast, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Belfast: from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter to the Falls, the Shankill, east Belfast and the south of the city
- Known for
- The City Hall, the Titanic Quarter and the shipyard cranes
- Region
- Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland)
- 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 Belfast
Why people in Belfast reach out
Belfast is a resilient, fast-changing capital still living with the legacy of the Troubles alongside the ordinary pressures of a modern city. Intergenerational trauma, community divisions and real deprivation in parts of the city all shape what people here carry, and privacy can matter all the more.
Belfast wraps around the Lagan and the great yellow cranes of the old Harland and Wolff yard, a city that has remade itself around the Titanic Quarter, Queen's University and a lively Cathedral Quarter. Days move between the Glider buses running east and west, the covered stalls of St George's Market, and the green rise of Cave Hill above the north of the city. Students fill Botanic and the Holylands, workers pour through the new Grand Central Station, and the ferries slip out towards Cairnryan and Liverpool. From Ballyhackamore's cafes to the murals of the Falls and the Shankill, it is a place of strong loyalties and warm humour, where a great deal of ordinary life is lived close to a complicated past.
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.
Belfast is home to Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University's city campus, and to the Royal Victoria Hospital and Belfast City Hospital, with health and social care delivered by the Belfast HSC Trust.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Belfast
Cathedral QuarterTitanic QuarterFallsShankilleast BelfastBotanicStranmillisOrmeauBallyhackamoreAndersonstownMaloneSydenham
Wherever you are in Belfast, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Belfast
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Belfast are living with, and why local support matters.
There were 77 alcohol-specific deaths registered in the Belfast council area in 2023, the highest of any Northern Ireland LGD and 22.6% of the 341 alcohol-specific deaths across Northern Ireland that year. Source: NISRA - Alcohol-specific deaths in Northern Ireland, 2023 (2023).
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.
Reaching support in Belfast can be as simple as finding a quiet hour and a reliable connection. Sessions here are held online, by secure video, right across Northern Ireland, so you never need to cross the city or sit in a waiting room. Please know the counsellor is based in Hove and works UK-wide by video rather than seeing anyone in person here, which means help fits around your day wherever you are in the city.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online counselling for drinking problems in Belfast 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 Belfast
Why people in Belfast come for counselling for drinking problems
Drink is woven through so much of Belfast life, from the Cathedral Quarter bars to the quiet bottle at home after a hard week, which can make a drinking problem easy to overlook and harder to name. When alcohol has become the way you manage stress or memory, talking honestly matters. Online counselling for drinking gives you a confidential hour by secure video, without walking into a service where a neighbour might see you. Wherever you are in the city, from Ballyhackamore to Andersonstown, you can begin quietly from home, in your own time and on your own terms.
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 Belfast
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Belfast, 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 Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Belfast questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Belfast: common questions
Can I get online counselling for drinking problems if I live in Belfast?
Yes. I work with people right across Belfast, from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter outwards, and anywhere else in Northern Ireland, 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.
How do I know if my drinking is actually a problem?
If drink has become how you cope, or others have voiced concern, it is worth talking about, whatever the amount. There is no threshold to cross first. A confidential online session across Northern Ireland lets you explore it honestly from home in Belfast.
How soon can I get help for a drinking problem in Belfast?
You can usually begin within a week. A free 15-minute consultation lets us talk without pressure, then we book a first full session that suits you. Everything is online by secure video, so you can start from anywhere in Belfast without joining a waiting list.
What does help for drinking cost here compared with NHS options in Belfast?
NHS alcohol support in Belfast is free through the Belfast Trust and community services, though it can take time to be seen. Working with me privately costs £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation, with no delay in starting.
Do you offer evening online sessions for a drinking problem in Belfast?
Yes. Evenings often work best when drinking has become tied to the end of the day. Sessions are held by secure video from home, whether you live near Botanic, the Ormeau Road or out east, so you can talk somewhere private without heading into the city.
Can I see the counsellor in person in Belfast?
No. The counsellor is based in Hove and works only online, by secure video, with people across Northern Ireland. You can have sessions from home anywhere in Belfast, which many people find more private than attending somewhere in the city.
Does online counselling work as well from Belfast?
Many people find a video session from their own front room easier than travelling across the city. All you need is a private space and a steady connection, whether you are in the east, the north or the south of Belfast.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Belfast, 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 Northern Ireland: Lisburn, Newtownabbey, Bangor. See all of Northern Ireland.
All counselling & therapy in Belfast: 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.