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Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Inverness
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Inverness
Online counselling for drinking problems for Inverness, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Inverness, from the centre and the castle to the streets around the river Ness, 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 Inverness
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Inverness, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Inverness: from the centre and the castle to Crown, Hilton and Inshes
- Known for
- The castle, the river Ness and the Highlands beyond
- Region
- Scotland (Scotland)
- Local NHS / support route
- Local council drug & alcohol service (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Inverness
Why people in Inverness reach out
Inverness is the capital of the Highlands, a small city serving a vast and sparsely populated region where the nearest specialist can be hundreds of miles away. That remoteness, the long dark winters and the isolation of rural Highland life all shape what people here carry.
Inverness is a small city with an enormous job: it serves as the capital of the Highlands, a region that stretches for hundreds of miles of glen, loch and coast. People travel in from Skye, Wester Ross and the far north to shop, to study or to reach Raigmore Hospital, and for many the city is the nearest thing to a centre for a long way in any direction. The River Ness runs through the middle, the castle looks down from its hill, and Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal lie just beyond. Winters are long and dark this far north, and the isolation of rural Highland life, where a neighbour might be miles away, can weigh heavily on people through the quiet months.
Across the rural Highlands the nearest counsellor can be hours away and the winters long and dark; online sessions bring experienced support to you wherever you are.
Inverness is the capital of the Highlands, serving NHS Highland from Raigmore Hospital, and is a hub of the University of the Highlands and Islands across a vast rural region.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Inverness
CrownHiltonInshesMerkinchDalneighCullodenSmithtonRaigmoreWesthill
Wherever you are in Inverness, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Inverness
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Inverness are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised alcohol-specific death rate in the Highland council area averaged 22.6 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, slightly above the Scotland average of 21.9 Source: National Records of Scotland, Alcohol-specific deaths 2024 (Table 4B) (2020-2024).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
The counselling for drinking problems itself
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 approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main counselling for drinking problems page and on how I work.
How online sessions work
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
In the Highlands, the nearest specialist can be a very long drive, and NHS Highland covers a vast, thinly populated area where waits and travel are real barriers. This is where online work makes the biggest difference: a secure video session reaches Inverness, and the glens and villages around it, without anyone facing a round trip of hours. I'm based in Hove on the south coast of England and see clients across the Highlands and the whole UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online counselling for drinking problems in Inverness can help
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 Inverness
Why people in Inverness come for counselling for drinking problems
Through the long Highland winters, when the dark sets in early and the nearest town may be miles off, drink can quietly become a companion. In Inverness and the scattered communities it serves, isolation and the quiet of rural life can make it easy for alcohol to fill the evenings, and hard to notice when it has become a problem. Counselling reaches you wherever you are by secure video, with no long drive involved. It is a confidential space to look honestly at what the drinking is doing for you, without judgement, and to find steadier footing through the seasons.
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 Inverness
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Inverness, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Inverness questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Inverness: common questions
Can I get online counselling for drinking problems if I live in Inverness?
Yes. I work with people right across Inverness, from the centre and the castle outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Do I have to stop drinking completely to start?
No, and you do not need to have hit rock bottom. We look at the role drinking plays and find a steadier way forward at your pace.
Can you help me cut down rather than quit?
For many people moderation is a valid goal, and we will be honest together about what is realistic for you.
What if I've tried before and relapsed?
Relapse is part of many people's recovery, not a failure. We learn from it rather than start the count again from zero.
The winters are long and I drink more to get through them, can that be helped?
Yes. Using drink to get through the dark months is more common than you would think, and it is something we can work on. By secure video we look at what alcohol is doing for you through the season and find other ways to steady yourself, without any journey.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem online in the Inverness area?
Often within a week. We start with a free 15-minute consultation, then arrange your first secure video session. There is no long drive into Inverness and no waiting list, so you can begin from home, in the city or out in the glens, whenever you are ready.
What do sessions cost, and how does that compare to NHS help near Inverness?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Highland alcohol support is free but travel and waits are common across such a large area; paying privately brings a cost yet a sooner start.
Can I have evening online sessions about my drinking from a Highland village?
Yes. Secure video means we can meet in the evening from wherever you have privacy, however remote. Through the isolating winter months especially, a regular confidential hour reaches you without a drive to Inverness, which many people across the Highlands find far more manageable.
I live outside Inverness in the Highlands, can I still have sessions?
Yes. As long as you have a reasonable internet or phone connection and somewhere private, secure video reaches you wherever you are in the Highlands. That's often far easier than a long drive into the city, especially through the winter months.
Do you travel to the Highlands to see people?
No. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work entirely online with clients across the Highlands and the rest of the UK. For this part of Scotland especially, video sessions remove the distances that make in-person specialist help so hard to reach.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Inverness, 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 Scotland: Aberdeen, Perth. See all of Scotland.
All counselling & therapy in Inverness: Addiction · Substance Use · Anxiety · Depression · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling for drinking problems is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.