Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Exeter
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Exeter
Online counselling for drinking problems for Exeter, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Exeter, from the cathedral quarter and the quay to the streets around the university, 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 Exeter
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Exeter, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Exeter: from the cathedral quarter and the quay to St Thomas, Heavitree and Pinhoe
- Known for
- The cathedral, the quay and the university
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Devon County Council's alcohol and drug support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Exeter
What is going on for people in Exeter?
Drinking in Exeter usually has a respectable frame around it. There is the students' version, loud and visible for a few years and then gone, and there is everybody else's, which is quieter and lasts a great deal longer. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 568.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 611.7, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 10.6 per 100,000 in 2024. Those figures do not describe a city with a visible problem. They describe one where the problem is domestic: a bottle after a shift at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, or an evening in Pinhoe that finishes the same way daily.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Exeter
St ThomasHeavitreePinhoeSt LeonardsExwickWhiptonAlphingtonWonfordTopsham
Wherever you are in Exeter, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Exeter
Official figures for Exeter, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 568.2 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 10.6 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on everything on counselling for drinking problems, with how I work, sessions and fees for the practical questions and how to check my registration for registration and ethics.
What happens in 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.
All Exeter appointments are online by secure video, because Bradley works from Hove. With alcohol that has a particular value. There is no car to arrange, so an evening session becomes possible, and there is nowhere public to be seen going into, which removes the excuse people most often use for putting it off. Slots sit before work or after the house has settled. What matters is that the same hour recurs weekly.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling for drinking problems in Exeter 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 Exeter
Why people in Exeter come for counselling for drinking problems
There is no requirement to reach a rock bottom first, and none to promise you will never drink again. Those two beliefs keep more people out of counselling than anything else does. You can come while you are still drinking, and still unsure. What we do is look honestly at the role alcohol has taken on: when it stopped being optional, what it settles, and what it now costs in sleep, money and self-respect. Some people move towards stopping and some towards drinking differently, and both are legitimate aims. If you drink heavily every day, please talk to a doctor before making changes, because that part needs medical oversight. Devon County Council's alcohol and drug support is the free route to it, delivered here by the Together drug and alcohol service, and Devon Mind covers the low mood that often runs underneath.
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 Exeter
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Exeter, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Devon County Council's alcohol and drug 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.
Exeter questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Exeter: common questions
How do I know whether this is bad enough to warrant help?
If you are asking the question, that is usually the answer. No measurement qualifies you and no severity threshold has to be reached. The free 15-minute call exists so you can describe it to somebody and hear what they say, without committing to anything further.
What do sessions cost, and can I stop whenever I want?
An hour is £80, 90 minutes is £100 and two hours is £120, and yes, you can stop at any point. Nothing is prepaid or packaged. The initial 15-minute conversation is free, and plenty of people use it purely to decide whether they want to start.
What does Devon County Council's alcohol and drug support offer?
It is the county's free route into alcohol and drug help, with the Together drug and alcohol service providing it locally. Medically supervised withdrawal, prescribing and structured programmes all sit there. This work is the weekly talking, and it sits comfortably beside them.
I finish late. Would an evening session be possible?
Evening slots exist and so do early ones. Because no travel is involved, a late finish does not rule out an appointment the way it would if you had to drive into the city first. We can look at what your week actually allows before anything is booked.
My drinking happens at home, alone. Is that worse or better?
It is neither, though it is harder to see. Drinking alone in Exwick or Alphington has no witnesses and no natural stopping point, so it tends to grow very quietly. That is an extremely common shape for this, and a workable one.
I live outside Exeter and drinking has crept up on me. Can I still get help?
Yes. Meeting online means no drive into the city and no bus to catch, and we speak by secure video from home. A confidential hour lets you look at your drinking honestly. The counselling room is in Hove, so Exeter is served online.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Exeter?
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 Exeter, from Wonford to Topsham, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Exeter?
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 Exeter, through your GP or the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, 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 Exeter?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Exeter, including St Thomas or Heavitree. 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 Exeter, 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: Plymouth, Torquay, Taunton. See all of South West.
People who come for counselling for drinking problems in Exeter often also look at addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about why practice makes permanent and questioning “once an addict”.
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.