Daily or binge drinking
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Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Cardiff
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cardiff
Online counselling for drinking problems for Cardiff, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Cardiff, from the bay and the centre to the streets around the castle, 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 Cardiff
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Cardiff, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Cardiff: from the bay and the centre to Cathays, Roath, Canton and Grangetown
- Known for
- The castle, the bay and the Principality Stadium
- Region
- Wales
- Local NHS / support route
- DAN 24/7, the Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Cardiff
What is going on for people in Cardiff?
On a match day the whole of Cardiff seems to be drinking, and the city wears it lightly. That public version is not usually what brings someone here. The private version is a flat in Canton or a house in Cyncoed on an ordinary Tuesday, the second bottle opened without any particular decision, the television still on at one in the morning. It is a professional life that functions perfectly well from nine until six and then needs something to close the day down. In a capital where the drink is always part of the occasion, the person quietly worried about their own is unlikely to say so, because everyone else appears to be doing precisely the same thing.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Cardiff
CathaysRoathCantonGrangetownSplottAdamsdownButetownLlandaffWhitchurchCyncoedRiversidePontcanna
Wherever you are in Cardiff, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Cardiff
Official figures for Cardiff, for context rather than as a description of you.
In Cardiff the age-standardised alcohol-specific death rate was 14.0 per 100,000 in 2022 to 2024, below the Wales average of 16.6 per 100,000. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Alcohol-specific deaths in England and Wales by local authority (2022 to 2024).
In Cardiff, 8.5% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Wales average of 6.9%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
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 method travels; only the geography changes. the main counselling for drinking problems page explains it properly, how sessions run and what they cost answers the practical questions, and qualifications, registration and ethics shows how the practice is held to account.
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.
Since Hove is where Bradley works, Cardiff sessions take place by secure video. For alcohol that turns out to help in an ordinary practical way: the hour can be placed at the point in the evening where things usually start, and there is no going out to get to it. If mornings are your clearest time, book then instead. What matters is that it repeats at the same hour each week, so it becomes a fixture rather than a decision.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does counselling for drinking problems help with?
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 Cardiff
Why people in Cardiff come for counselling for drinking problems
Two beliefs keep people away from alcohol counselling, and both deserve dismantling. One is that you must already be certain you will never drink again. You need not be, and insisting on it at the start usually just delays the conversation by years. The other is that you must have hit some catastrophe first. Most drinking that damages a life never produces a catastrophe at all; it simply carries on, a little heavier each year, until the mornings are unpleasant and the evenings are not optional. Here we take the drinking seriously without treating you as a category. What is it regulating? Anxiety, loneliness, an old grief, the pace of the city, the quiet after a demanding job? For NHS and statutory support, CAVDAS covers Cardiff and the Vale, and the NHS find a service directory lists alcohol services. Where drinking is heavy and daily, a GP should be involved before anything changes.
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 Cardiff
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Cardiff, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through DAN 24/7, the Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline.
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 press 2 for urgent mental health support. The CALL Helpline for Wales is free on 0800 132 737, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can 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.
Cardiff questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cardiff: common questions
How do I know if my drinking is actually a problem?
A useful test is not the amount but the relationship. Do you think about it more than you would like, plan around it, defend it, or feel uneasy at the idea of a week without it? Those answers tell you more than any number of units ever will.
What are the session fees?
£80 covers an hour, which is what most people book. Ninety minutes is £100 and two hours £120 if you want a longer stretch. The 15-minute introductory call is free and often enough to tell you whether it feels like the right sort of help.
What is the NHS route for alcohol in Cardiff?
For alcohol and drugs, CAVDAS is the service for Cardiff and the Vale, and the NHS find a service directory shows what is reachable from your postcode. Recovery Cymru runs peer groups locally. If your drinking is daily and heavy, your GP should know before anything changes.
Everyone I work with in Cardiff drinks like this. Am I overthinking it?
Comparison is a poor instrument here. Whole workplaces can share a habit that costs each person something privately. The question worth asking is what yours takes from your sleep, your mood, your money and your relationships, not how it measures against the office.
Can I keep drinking while I am having counselling?
Yes, and many people do at first. Stopping is not a condition of being seen. The one request is that you are sober enough during the session to take it in, because an hour you cannot remember afterwards is not much use to either of us.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Cardiff?
Often within days. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first full session at a convenient time. Because everything is online by secure video, wherever you are in Cardiff, there is no queue and no need to travel across the capital to be seen.
What does drinking problem counselling cost compared with NHS help in Cardiff?
NHS alcohol services through Cardiff and Vale health board and the free Dan 24/7 line cost nothing but can carry a wait. My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation to begin.
Are there evening online sessions for a drinking problem in Cardiff?
Yes. Evenings are often when drinking feels hardest, so I keep some later slots. You meet me by secure video from home, anywhere from Pontcanna to Splott, which keeps the work private and removes any journey across the city at the end of the day.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cardiff, 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 Wales: Newport, Barry, Pontypridd. See all of Wales.
If counselling for drinking problems is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling may fit better in Cardiff.
There is more on this in my writing: riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.
For anyone near the coast, the same counselling for drinking problems runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.