Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Bristol
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Bristol
Online counselling for drinking problems for Bristol, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bristol, from the harbourside and the centre to the streets around the Suspension Bridge, 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 Bristol
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Bristol, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bristol: from the harbourside and the centre to Clifton, Bedminster, Stokes Croft and Easton
- Known for
- The Suspension Bridge, the harbourside and the Downs
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Bristol
Why people in Bristol get in touch
Bristol drinks confidently. There is a pub or a bar for every version of yourself, from Clifton to Bedminster to whatever has just opened in Stokes Croft, and the city treats that as character rather than a difficulty. Which makes one figure hard to place: hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 1156.4 per 100,000 in 2023/24, close to double the England average of 611.7. That is not the visible drinking. That is the drinking that happens afterwards, at home and alone, in Knowle or Horfield or Fishponds, once the sociable version has done its work and gone quiet for the night.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bristol
CliftonBedminsterStokes CroftEastonBishopstonSouthvilleRedlandMontpelierFishpondsKnowleHorfieldSt Pauls
Wherever you are in Bristol, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bristol
Official figures for Bristol, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 1156.4 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 15.3 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 does counselling for drinking problems involve?
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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: everything on counselling for drinking problems sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and how to check my registration covers accountability.
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.
Everything is online by secure video, as Bradley works from Hove. For alcohol specifically that solves a practical problem: no journey to make, no parking, and no evening spent hoping you meet nobody you know. Sessions can be booked before work or late enough that the flat has gone quiet. Keeping the same weekly slot gives you a fixed point, which is often the first structure anything has had in a while.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does counselling for drinking problems address?
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 Bristol
Why people in Bristol come for counselling for drinking problems
You need no diagnosis, no rock bottom and no promise of abstinence to start this. Most people who come are still working, still parenting, still holding everything together in every visible way, which is precisely why nobody has said anything to them. None of this hinges on willpower. It looks at what the drinking does for you: the edge it takes off, the hour it fills, the feeling it postpones. Some people choose to stop. Others change how and when they drink and find that is enough. The alcohol-specific death rate here reached 15.3 per 100,000 in 2024, above the England average of 13.8, which is worth knowing without being frightened by. If you drink heavily every day, talk to a doctor before changing anything; Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol support is the local route, with Bristol Drugs Project providing the service.
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 Bristol
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bristol, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol 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.
Bristol questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Bristol: common questions
I function fine. Do I really need counselling for this?
Functioning and being alright are not the same thing. If drinking has become what you look forward to, plan around, or feel defensive about, that is worth an honest hour. Nothing is decided in the free 15-minute call except whether you want to carry on.
What do sessions cost, and when could I start?
An hour is £80, with £100 and £120 options for 90 and 120 minutes. The opening 15-minute conversation costs nothing. Once you decide to go ahead, a weekly slot usually begins within a fortnight, and no referral or waiting list is involved at all.
What is Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol support for?
It is the free statutory route for the city, leading to Bristol Drugs Project, and it covers medically supervised withdrawal, prescribing and structured programmes. Counselling does none of that. If your body has become dependent on alcohol, start there and use this alongside it.
Can sessions fit around long hours?
Yes. Early starts and later evening appointments both exist, and because no travelling is involved, the whole thing takes an hour rather than half a day. People working long stretches in tech, media or the aerospace cluster at Filton tend to find that flexibility is what makes it possible.
Everyone I know here drinks like this. Why would I be the problem?
You may not be the problem so much as the one who noticed. Measuring yourself against a sociable city is a poor test. The better one is private: whether you can stop when you meant to, and how you feel on the morning after you did not.
Everyone around me in Bristol drinks. How do I know if it's a problem?
If drink has become something you plan around, hide, or struggle to cut back on, that is worth exploring, whatever those around you do. Counselling offers space to look honestly. We meet online by secure video; the room is in Hove.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Bristol?
Usually within days. We start with a free 15-minute consultation to see whether we are a good fit, then book your first full session. It is all online, so you can begin from anywhere in Bristol, from Montpelier to Fishponds, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Bristol?
My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS alcohol support in Bristol, through your GP, is free but can mean a wait, whereas private online sessions with me are paced around you.
Is online drinking problem counselling private, and can we meet in the evening in Bristol?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Bristol, including Knowle or Horfield. I offer some evening slots for after work. My only in-person room is in Hove, so face-to-face suits those able to travel to the Sussex coast.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Bristol, 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 South West: Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester. See all of South West.
People who come for counselling for drinking problems in Bristol often also look at addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: questioning “once an addict” and riding out an urge.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling for drinking problems is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.