Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Durham
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Durham
Online counselling for drinking problems for Durham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Durham, from the peninsula and the centre to the streets around the cathedral, 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 Durham
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Durham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Durham: from the peninsula and the centre to Gilesgate, Neville's Cross and Framwellgate
- Known for
- The cathedral, the castle and the river Wear
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Durham County Council's drugs and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Durham
Why people in Durham get in touch
Drinking is stitched into Durham life at both ends of the city. In term time there is the student rhythm, where enormous consumption is expected and reframed as sport, and the ones who quietly cannot stop are hidden inside the crowd doing the same thing for fun. Out through Gilesgate and the villages beyond, the pattern is older and steadier: a habit carried since the pits, or since a job ended, that nobody remarks on because it has always been there. Neither group tends to seek help early. Both usually arrive because of something small, a lost morning, a row, a number on a form that surprised them.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Durham
GilesgateNeville's CrossFramwellgate MoorBelmontCrossgateElvetSherburnBearparkUshaw MoorNewton Hall
Wherever you are in Durham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Durham
Official figures for Durham, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 658.8 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 16.7 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the counselling for drinking problems page for the methods, session lengths and fees for fees and session lengths, and how to check my registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
What do I need for an online session?
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.
Alcohol counselling for this city is delivered online, by secure video from Hove. That matters in a place where people recognise each other constantly. There is no local venue to be seen at and no explanation owed to a housemate about where you are going. Sessions hold a steady weekly time and can run late enough that the household has settled, which is usually the hardest hour of the day.
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 Durham
Why people in Durham come for counselling for drinking problems
Nothing here requires you to say you have hit rock bottom, and nothing requires abstinence before you start. Some people stop, others cut back, and a fair number spend the early weeks just working out what the drink has been doing for them. The county sits well above the national picture: admissions for alcohol-specific conditions were 658.8 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 16.7 per 100,000 in 2024, against an England average of 13.8. Those outcomes build slowly, out of years rather than incidents. Counselling looks at what alcohol is holding together for you: sleep, social nerve, grief, or the pressure of a term that never lets up. Physical dependence is a medical matter and belongs with a doctor or the County Durham Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service first.
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 Durham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Durham, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Durham County Council's drugs 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.
Durham questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Durham: common questions
Everyone at my college drinks this much. How do I tell if mine is different?
The tell is usually not the volume but the relationship. If you drink to manage feeling rather than to join in, if you plan around it, or if you carry on when the people you started with have stopped, that is a different thing wearing the same clothes.
Do I have to give up drinking to be accepted for counselling?
You do not. Some people find abstinence is what eventually works, others do better reducing, and neither answer can be handed to you at the start. We look at what drinking gives you and takes from you until the choice is genuinely yours to make.
What should I do if I feel ill after a day without alcohol?
Contact a doctor before you change anything else. Shaking, sweating or nausea after a break can indicate physical dependence, which needs medical supervision. Durham County Council's drugs and alcohol support points to the county recovery service, and counselling can continue at the same time.
How much are appointments?
£80 / 60 min covers the standard hour, with £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min if a longer session suits you better. The introductory 15-minute consultation is free of charge. You pay for each appointment as it comes rather than committing to a course.
My drinking is fine in the holidays and awful in term. Is that still a problem?
It can be. A pattern that tracks pressure so precisely is telling you what the alcohol is being used for, which is useful rather than reassuring. Something that reliably reappears under strain tends to grow as the strain does, term after term, until the gaps between get shorter and the holidays stop resetting it.
Do I have to stop drinking completely to start counselling?
No. Counselling isn't about being handed rules. Some people aim for abstinence, others to cut back or understand their drinking better. We start from where you are and what you want, and figure out together what change would actually help you.
Is there drinking problem counselling available in Durham, and how quickly?
There is no consulting room in Durham, but I work right across the area by secure video from Hove. Whether you are near Gilesgate or Framwellgate Moor, we can arrange a free 15-minute call first and then a weekly time for drinking counselling, often within days of you getting in touch.
Is drinking problem counselling for Durham done online or face to face?
I do not offer face-to-face sessions in Durham; everything is by confidential video call. For drinking, that often helps, as you can speak openly from a private space rather than a waiting room. I keep a few evening slots alongside daytime ones, so working around the university and cathedral city is manageable.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Durham, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Darlington. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
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 Durham.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: 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.