Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Cheltenham
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cheltenham
Online counselling for drinking problems for Cheltenham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Cheltenham, from the Promenade and Montpellier to the streets around the Pittville Pump Room, 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 Cheltenham
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Cheltenham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Cheltenham: from the Promenade and Montpellier to Pittville, Charlton Kings and Hesters Way
- Known for
- The Promenade, the Pittville Pump Room and the racecourse
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Cheltenham
Why do people in Cheltenham reach out?
Drinking in Cheltenham is sociable, well dressed and everywhere. Festival weeks, race meetings, the bars around Montpellier and the Suffolks, and an events calendar that gives most months a reason. All of which makes it very hard to see where enthusiasm ends. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 425.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 611.7, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 11.2 per 100,000 in 2024. Below average is not the same as fine. It usually means the drinking doing the damage is happening at home, in Benhall or Fairview or Prestbury, with no audience and no occasion attached.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Cheltenham
MontpellierPittvilleCharlton KingsHesters WayLeckhamptonThe SuffolksPrestburyBenhallFairviewLansdown
Wherever you are in Cheltenham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Cheltenham
Official figures for Cheltenham, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 425.2 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 11.2 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 is counselling for drinking problems, in practice?
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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the counselling for drinking problems page, with session lengths and fees for the practical questions and how to check my registration for registration and ethics.
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.
Bradley works from Hove, which means every Cheltenham appointment is online by secure video. Nobody sees you arrive, and there is no drive home afterwards to plan around. With drinking, the hardest hour of the day tends to be a fixed one, and sessions can be placed to meet it: early before work, or later once the evening has started to feel long. The weekly slot becomes something reliable.
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 Cheltenham
Why people in Cheltenham come for counselling for drinking problems
You do not have to describe yourself as an alcoholic, and you do not have to stop drinking before you begin. Both are conditions people set for themselves and then use as a reason to wait. Most of those who come are functioning, well regarded and quietly worried. We look at when the drinking became necessary rather than pleasant, what it holds off, and what the mornings are like now. Some decide on abstinence and some decide to change the pattern instead. Either can work and neither is judged. Where drinking is daily and heavy, please speak to a doctor before you alter it: Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery support is the free local route, with Via Gloucestershire delivering treatment from its hub. Counselling is the weekly conversation running alongside all of that.
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 Cheltenham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Cheltenham, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery 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.
Cheltenham questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Cheltenham: common questions
I have never had a crisis. Is it too early to come?
It is not too early, and earlier is easier. Waiting for something dramatic enough to justify the phone call is the most common way people lose years to this. If you have started noticing the drinking yourself, that is the right moment to say so.
What are the fees, and how long do people usually come for?
Sessions cost £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute call. Length varies enormously and stays your decision throughout. Some people come for a couple of months, others stay longer while things settle down.
Should I be with Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery support instead?
It is free and it does things counselling cannot, including prescribing and supervised withdrawal through Via Gloucestershire. So it is not a choice between them. If you are physically dependent, that route comes first. This work deals with the reasons the drinking took hold.
Can I have a session without leaving the house?
That is how all of them happen. You need somewhere private for an hour, headphones if the house is busy, and a decent connection. Nobody locally need ever know you are doing it, which for a lot of people is what makes it possible at all.
Everyone drinks heavily during the festivals here. Am I making too much of it?
A busy events calendar gives drinking a permanent excuse, and that is exactly what makes it hard to gauge. The useful question is what the drinking looks like in the ordinary weeks in between, when there is nothing on and nobody is watching you.
Cheltenham's social life revolves around drinking. Can counselling still be discreet?
Yes. Meeting online means no local waiting room and no one need know you are attending. A confidential hour lets you look at your drinking honestly. We speak by secure video; the counselling room is in Hove, on the Sussex coast.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Cheltenham?
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 Cheltenham, from Benhall to Fairview, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Cheltenham?
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 Cheltenham, 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 Cheltenham?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Cheltenham, including Lansdown or Montpellier. 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 Cheltenham, 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: Gloucester, Worcester. See all of South West.
Also available in Cheltenham: 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.
Within reach of Sussex? counselling for drinking problems is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.