Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Gloucester
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Gloucester
Online counselling for drinking problems for Gloucester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Gloucester, from the historic docks and the city 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 Gloucester
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Gloucester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Gloucester: from the historic docks and the city centre to Barton, Tredworth and Quedgeley
- Known for
- The cathedral, the historic docks and the quays
- 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 Gloucester
What is going on for people in Gloucester?
Drinking in Gloucester is ordinary, sociable and easy to lose track of. Match days at Kingsholm, a Friday that begins the moment a shift ends, a few cans at home because the alternative is a long evening with nothing in it. County figures put hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions at 425.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 611.7, with an alcohol-specific death rate of 11.2 per 100,000 in 2024. A low rate does not mean nobody is struggling. It means much of the drinking that does harm here happens indoors, in Tuffley or Hucclecote or Quedgeley, where nothing about it looks like a problem from outside.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Gloucester
BartonTredworthQuedgeleyKingsholmLonglevensHucclecotePodsmeadMatsonAbbeymeadTuffley
Wherever you are in Gloucester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Gloucester
Official figures for Gloucester, 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 does counselling for drinking problems involve?
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 how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and how to check my registration for registration and ethics.
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.
Every Gloucester appointment is online by secure video, since Bradley works from Hove. With alcohol the practical gains are obvious. No driving, no waiting area, and no explanation owed to anybody about where you are going. Sessions can go early in the morning or late in the evening, whichever end of the day is hardest. Booking the same time weekly gives the drinking something to be measured against.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling for drinking problems in Gloucester 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 Gloucester
Why people in Gloucester come for counselling for drinking problems
You do not have to have lost anything yet, and you do not have to sign up to never drinking again. Those two ideas keep people waiting for years, and neither is a condition of this work. Most of those who come are still going to work, still looking after people, still doing everything that is expected of them. What has changed is that the drink stopped being a choice somewhere along the way. We look at when that happened and what it is doing for you now. Some people stop. Others cut back and rebuild the evening around something else. Where drinking is heavy and daily, please speak to a doctor before altering it, because that carries genuine medical risk. Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery support is the free route and Via Gloucestershire provides the treatment.
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 Gloucester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Gloucester, 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.
Gloucester questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Gloucester: common questions
How bad does it have to get before I ring?
It does not have to get worse at all. Most people come while everything still looks fine from outside, which is the easiest point to work from. The free 15-minute call asks nothing of you and commits you to nothing, and many use it simply to think aloud.
What are the fees here?
Sixty minutes is £80, 90 minutes is £100 and two hours is £120. The 15-minute call that comes first is not charged for. Payment happens session by session, so if a week is tight you can miss one without penalty and pick the work up again afterwards.
Where should I go if I think I am physically dependent?
To a doctor first, and to Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery support, which leads to Via Gloucestershire for supervised withdrawal and prescribing. Counselling cannot do that part and should not attempt it. Once the medical side is in hand, this work sits alongside well.
Does it matter that I have never done anything like counselling before?
Not at all. Most people arriving for this have not. There is nothing to prepare and no correct way to talk. A first session is mostly you describing how things reached this point, at whatever pace suits you, with a few questions along the way.
Everyone I work with drinks like I do. Why am I the one worrying?
Because you noticed, which is a different thing from being worse. Shift work and long weeks can make heavy drinking look normal right across a workplace. The measure that counts is private: whether you can leave it alone when you intended to, and what that costs.
Can drinking counselling fit around an unpredictable working week in Gloucester?
Yes. Because we meet online, appointments can be arranged around changing rotas and busy weeks, with no extra travel. We speak by secure video from home. The counselling room is in Hove, so Gloucester is served online rather than in person.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Gloucester?
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 Gloucester, from Matson to Abbeymead, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Gloucester?
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 Gloucester, through your GP or Gloucestershire Royal 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 Gloucester?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Gloucester, including Tuffley or Barton. 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 Gloucester, 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: Cheltenham, Worcester, Swindon. See all of South West.
Also available in Gloucester: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
You may also find it useful to read about questioning “once an addict” and riding out an urge.
For anyone near the coast, the same counselling for drinking problems runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.