Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Cambridge
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cambridge
Online counselling for drinking problems for Cambridge, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Cambridge, from the colleges and the centre to the streets around the Backs, 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 Cambridge
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Cambridge, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Cambridge: from the colleges and the centre to Mill Road, Cherry Hinton and Chesterton
- Known for
- The colleges, the Backs and the river Cam
- Region
- East of England (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 Cambridge
What is going on for people in Cambridge?
Drinking in this city hides easily inside good manners. Wine at a departmental dinner, a bottle shared at home in Newnham or Trumpington after a long day, a pint that turns into five because the conversation is interesting. Alcohol-specific hospital admissions here were 478.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 611.7 per 100,000, so almost nothing about the problem announces itself publicly. What people notice instead is private: the reading that stopped happening, the mornings that need an hour to become usable, the quiet arithmetic about how many nights this week have involved a drink. Nobody in the department has said anything, and that silence is part of the difficulty.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Cambridge
Mill RoadCherry HintonChestertonTrumpingtonNewnhamRomseyArburyPetersfieldKings HedgesColeridge
Wherever you are in Cambridge, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Cambridge
Official figures for Cambridge, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 478.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below 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 12 per 100,000 in 2024, below the England average of 13.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Alcohol-specific mortality (2024).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens 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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: counselling for drinking problems in detail sets out the methods, how I work covers the practicalities, and professional standards and registration covers accountability.
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.
Everything runs by video from Hove, so there is no city-centre building to be spotted entering and no cycle across town afterwards. For alcohol that helps in a specific way. An early evening slot taken at home in Chesterton or Cherry Hinton catches you before the first glass rather than after it. Sessions are weekly to begin with, and can be spaced out later once the pattern has shifted.
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 Cambridge
Why people in Cambridge come for counselling for drinking problems
You do not have to call yourself an alcoholic, commit to abstinence, or wait until something goes badly wrong. Most people who write are working, often at a high level, and simply unnerved by how much the amount has grown. In a city where achievement is the common currency, the shame of not managing a glass of wine can be sharper than the drinking itself. Sessions look at what alcohol is regulating: performance anxiety before teaching or presenting, isolation in a place people pass through, exhaustion that never resolves. Where drinking is heavy and daily, medical advice comes first, and stopping suddenly on your own is genuinely dangerous. Your GP, or the free Change Grow Live drug and alcohol service for Cambridgeshire listed in the NHS find a service directory, can assess that safely. This work then addresses the reasons the habit took root.
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 Cambridge
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 “Cambridge”).
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.
Cambridge questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cambridge: common questions
Can I keep drinking and still do this work?
Yes. Cutting down, taking a trial break, or simply examining the pattern are all valid goals. Some people move towards stopping later; some never do. Fixing on abstinence before you understand what the drink is for often makes it harder to sustain, not easier.
Everyone around me drinks like this. How do I know it is a problem?
A useful test is not the quantity but the grip: whether you can comfortably skip it, and what happens inside you when you try. In a social world where wine accompanies almost every event, that question is far more revealing than comparing yourself to colleagues.
What are the session fees?
One hour is £80, ninety minutes £100 and two hours £120, preceded by a free 15-minute call. There is no package to buy and no minimum number of weeks. You can pause during vacations or fieldwork and pick things up again afterwards without any penalty.
Is there free help in Cambridge if I cannot afford private sessions?
There is. The Change Grow Live drug and alcohol service covering Cambridgeshire is free, and the NHS find a service directory will locate it. CPSL Mind offers wider mental health support. Either can be used on its own or alongside counselling.
I am a student and my drinking started with the social side. Will you judge that?
No. Drinking that begins as belonging and turns into something you need is an ordinary story, particularly where terms are short and intense. What matters is what happens now when you try to have an evening without it, not how it began.
I am not sure my drinking is bad enough to need help. Should I still come?
Yes. You do not need to hit a crisis to talk about drinking; if it is on your mind, that is reason enough. Working online from Hove, you can weigh it up honestly from home, at a time that fits around study or work, without anyone needing to know.
Can I get help for a drinking problem online in Cambridge quickly?
Yes. Working from Hove, I support people across Cambridge by video and phone with no local waiting list, so we can usually begin within a week. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then we find a first session that fits around study, research or the daily commute.
What will drinking problem counselling cost compared with NHS help in Cambridge?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS alcohol services in Cambridge cost nothing but may involve a wait, whereas private online sessions with me can start quickly and stay private, with no waiting room to sit in.
Do you offer evening or in-person drinking counselling for people in Cambridge?
I work online only, from Hove, rather than a room in the city, and evening times are available. That helps if you would rather not be recognised near Mill Road or the colleges. You talk from a private space at home, around teaching terms, deadlines or shift work.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cambridge, 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 East of England: Peterborough, Norwich. See all of East of England.
Also available in Cambridge: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: why practice makes permanent and questioning “once an addict”.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.