Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Gateshead
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Gateshead
Online counselling for drinking problems for Gateshead, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Gateshead, from the Quays and the centre to the streets around the Angel of the North, 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 Gateshead
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Gateshead, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Gateshead: from the Quays and the centre to Low Fell, Felling and Dunston
- Known for
- The Angel of the North, the Sage and the Millennium Bridge
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Gateshead
What brings people in Gateshead to counselling?
Drinking in Gateshead is generous, sociable and deeply normal, which is exactly why a problem can sit inside it undetected for years. A few at home after a late finish in Low Fell, a heavier weekend in Blaydon or Winlaton, and a slow annual creep that nobody, including you, has been counting. Round here the drinker is often the last person to think anything is wrong, because everyone visible is doing something similar. What eventually prompts the phone call tends to be quiet: a blank hour you cannot reconstruct, a look from one of your kids, or a blood test result that came back with a comment attached.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Gateshead
Low FellFellingDunstonBenshamSaltwellWhickhamBlaydonBirtleyWrekentonWinlaton
Wherever you are in Gateshead, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Gateshead
Official figures for Gateshead, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 1210.6 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 18.6 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.
The method travels; only the geography changes. everything on counselling for drinking problems explains it properly, session lengths and fees answers the practical questions, and professional standards and registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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 borough happens online, by secure video, delivered from Hove. There is no venue here and therefore nothing to be seen entering. That removes the single biggest reason people put this off. Sessions keep a fixed weekly slot so the week has an anchor, and can be placed late in the evening, which is usually when the drinking starts and when clear thinking is hardest to come by.
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 Gateshead
Why people in Gateshead come for counselling for drinking problems
You are not required to be abstinent, to be in crisis, or to describe anything as rock bottom. Some people here stop; many reduce; others simply want to understand what the drink has been doing before they decide. The borough's figures are among the most striking anywhere: admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 1210.6 per 100,000 in 2023/24, roughly double the England average of 611.7 per 100,000, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 18.6 per 100,000 in 2024 against an England average of 13.8. Those are the outcome of ordinary evenings repeated over years. In sessions we look at what alcohol regulates for you, and at what changed around the time the amount did. Anything physical belongs with a doctor or Gateshead Recovery Partnership first, through Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs support.
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 Gateshead
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Gateshead, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs 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.
Gateshead questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Gateshead: common questions
Gateshead drinks heavily and I fit right in. So why would I need help?
Fitting in is not evidence of safety, it is evidence of company. The local admission rate for alcohol-specific conditions is roughly double the England average, which tells you the shared standard here is not a healthy one. Judge it by its effect on you.
Do I need to have stopped drinking before starting here?
No. Arriving still drinking is the usual situation, not an obstacle. We would look at pattern, timing and what the alcohol is doing for you before anybody talks about targets. Any change you make afterwards comes from understanding it, not from being told.
What if I get withdrawal symptoms?
See a doctor before altering how much you drink, because withdrawal from alcohol can be medically serious. Gateshead Recovery Partnership manages that locally and you reach them via Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs support. Counselling continues alongside whatever they arrange for you.
What do sessions cost here?
Rates are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min. The opening 15-minute consultation is free, and it is a genuine conversation rather than a sales pitch. You pay as you go, and you are free to stop after any session without giving a reason.
Can counselling help if I only drink after night shifts?
Yes, and that pattern comes up a lot round here. Alcohol used as a sleeping aid after nights works briefly and then wrecks the sleep it was meant to fix, which drives the amount up. We would work on the sleep and the shift pattern as much as the drinking.
Do I need to have decided to quit before I start?
No. Many people come unsure what they want, and that's a fine place to begin. We start from where you are - whether that's abstinence, cutting down, or just making sense of your drinking - and work out together what change would genuinely help.
Is there drinking problem counselling available in Gateshead, and how quickly?
There is no consulting room in Gateshead, but I work right across the area by secure video from Hove. Whether you are near Low Fell or Whickham, 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 Gateshead done online or face to face?
I do not offer face-to-face sessions in Gateshead; 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 Team Valley business estate is manageable.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Gateshead, 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, Durham. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Also available in Gateshead: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.
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.