Daily or binge drinking
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Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Birmingham
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Birmingham
Online counselling for drinking problems for Birmingham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Birmingham, from the city centre and the Jewellery Quarter to the streets around the Bullring, 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 Birmingham
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Birmingham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Birmingham: from the city centre and the Jewellery Quarter to Edgbaston, Moseley, Erdington and Handsworth
- Known for
- The Bullring, the canals and the Library of Birmingham
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS drug & alcohol service finder (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Birmingham
What brings people in Birmingham to counselling?
Drinking in Birmingham is entirely ordinary until it is not. It is a round after work near Colmore Row, a bottle opened while the tea cooks in Bournville, cans at the end of a late shift at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. The city is not short of places to drink and it is not short of reasons. What tips it is usually private and gradual: the glass that turned into three, the evening that stopped happening without one. Admissions for alcohol-specific conditions hit 783.6 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000. That gap is not made up of heavy drinkers alone. A good deal of it is people who look entirely fine at work.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Birmingham
Jewellery QuarterEdgbastonMoseleyErdingtonHandsworthDigbethBournvilleKings HeathSelly OakHarborneSutton Coldfield
Wherever you are in Birmingham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Birmingham
Official figures for Birmingham, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 783.6 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions (2023/24).
the alcohol-specific death rate was 19.8 per 100,000 in 2024, above the England average of 13.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Alcohol-specific mortality (2024).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together in counselling for drinking problems?
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 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 counselling for drinking problems in detail, alongside session lengths and fees and my credentials and registration.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
This city is served online, by secure video from Hove, which fits alcohol work better than people expect. There is no drive home afterwards, so an evening appointment need not be planned around whether you have already had a drink. Nobody watches you arrive anywhere. And if an honest hour comes easier at seven in the evening than at eleven in the morning, that can usually be arranged without fuss.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Birmingham
Why people in Birmingham come for counselling for drinking problems
You do not need to have hit anything to come here. No threshold has to be crossed first, no job lost, no rock bottom reached, and no promise made that you intend to stop for good. A great many people arrive simply because the amount has crept upward and they cannot account for it. What gets examined is what the alcohol is doing for you: the edge it takes off, the sleep it appears to help and then ruins, the arguments it shortens. The picture across the city is stark enough. The alcohol-specific death rate stood at 19.8 per 100,000 in 2024, against an England average of 13.8 per 100,000. If you want structured help too, the NHS 'find a service' directory leads to alcohol treatment, and Change Grow Live Birmingham runs the service locally. Anything physical belongs with a doctor rather than a counsellor.
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 Birmingham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. You can find your nearest free NHS-funded drug and alcohol service via the NHS “find a service” directory (search “Birmingham”).
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.
Birmingham questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Birmingham: common questions
I am not sure I drink enough for this. Should I book anyway?
If the question is in your head, that is usually reason enough to ask it out loud. No unit count qualifies you and no comparison against anyone else decides it. The free 15-minute call exists for precisely this, and some people use it and conclude the timing is wrong.
What are the fees, and is that first call genuinely free?
It genuinely is, and it carries no obligation at the end of it. After that, £80 / 60 min is the usual arrangement, with £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min available when a longer session helps. Payment is made session by session rather than upfront.
Does the NHS 'find a service' directory cover alcohol as well as drugs?
It does, and it will take you to alcohol treatment near you. Change Grow Live Birmingham is the local service and can arrange medically supervised withdrawal where that is needed. Counselling here runs beside that provision; it has never been a substitute for medical care.
Can I have a session in the evening after work in the Jewellery Quarter?
Evening slots are the most requested and they do exist, though they go quickly. Because the whole thing is by video, the session ends and you are already at home. That removes the awkward stretch between finishing work and reaching somewhere across town on time.
My family drinks much the way I do. Where does that leave me?
In a very common position. Where drink is woven through family life, birthdays and Sunday afternoons, changing it can feel like stepping away from people you love. That deserves working through slowly rather than quickly, and it is often the real difficulty rather than the alcohol.
Do I have to stop drinking before starting?
No. You do not need to have it all worked out or to have quit already. Counselling is a place to look honestly at your drinking and decide what you want to change, at your own pace. Many people come while still drinking and unsure.
How soon can I get help for a drinking problem in Birmingham?
Soon. Support for a drinking problem is offered online across Birmingham from the Hove consulting room, so there is no local queue. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, letting us talk quietly before you commit, and a first full session usually follows within the week.
What are the fees for drinking problem counselling versus NHS alcohol services in Birmingham?
Private sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation to begin. Birmingham's NHS alcohol services are free but can carry a wait, while private counselling starts more quickly and at times that fit your week.
Is drinking problem counselling done in person, and are evenings available for Birmingham?
It is done online, as the room is in Hove and Birmingham is served by video, so nobody sees you arrive at a clinic. Evening appointments can often be arranged, which helps if daytime drinking worries are tangled up with long hours or a demanding commute.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Birmingham, 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 Midlands: Solihull, Coventry, Wolverhampton. See all of Midlands.
People who come for counselling for drinking problems in Birmingham often also look at addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling for drinking problems is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.