Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Manchester
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Manchester
Online counselling for drinking problems for Manchester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Manchester, from the city centre and the Northern Quarter to the streets around the canals, 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 Manchester
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Manchester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Manchester: from the city centre and the Northern Quarter to Didsbury, Rusholme, Chorlton and Wythenshawe
- Known for
- The canals, the music venues and the two universities
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Manchester
What brings people in Manchester to counselling?
Manchester drinks the way it does everything, at pace. There is always somewhere open, always a reason, and always someone still out. In Ancoats and the Northern Quarter that is the point of the place; in Didsbury or Prestwich it is quieter and just as regular. The trouble is that a city like this gives you no natural stopping point. Nobody looks twice at a fourth night out, and working late then drinking late is treated as a lifestyle rather than a pattern. So the person whose drinking has genuinely changed goes on looking exactly like everyone else, including to themselves, for a very long time.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Manchester
the Northern QuarterAncoatsDidsburyChorltonRusholmeFallowfieldLevenshulmeWithingtonHulmeWythenshawePrestwich
Wherever you are in Manchester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Manchester
Official figures for Manchester, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 928.7 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 16.3 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 is counselling for drinking problems, in practice?
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 does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on everything on counselling for drinking problems, alongside the practical side and my credentials and registration.
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.
Bradley works from Hove and sees people across Manchester by video, so there is no room here and no journey to build into an already full day. For drinking that matters twice over: no drive to an appointment and no drive back. Slots can be early, before work starts making demands, or late once the day has finished. Whichever you choose, nothing about the arrangement is visible to anyone in the city.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling for drinking problems in Manchester 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 Manchester
Why people in Manchester come for counselling for drinking problems
Nothing here requires you to call it alcoholism or to promise to stop. Manchester's alcohol-related hospital admissions were 535.8 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 504.1 per 100,000, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 16.3 per 100,000 in 2024, above the England average of 13.8 per 100,000. Those are the visible end of it. The larger group is people holding down demanding work while drinking more than they intend to, most nights, for years. That is who this hour is for. The aim might be stopping, or reducing, or working out why the first drink after work has become the only part of the evening that reliably arrives. Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use support and Change Grow Live Manchester handle the medical side, and a GP should be involved before any change to heavy daily drinking.
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 Manchester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Manchester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use 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.
Manchester questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Manchester: common questions
Work drinks are basically compulsory in my industry. What then?
Then that is a practical problem to solve rather than a reason to give up on the idea. Deciding in advance what you will drink, how long you will stay and how you will get home turns an open-ended evening into a bounded one. It is not glamorous, but it is what actually works.
Do I need to stop drinking to come?
No, and you do not need to intend to. Some arrive wanting to stop, others want the amount down or the pattern broken, and some only want to understand it. All of those are real starting points. The exception is safety: heavy daily drinking should never be stopped suddenly without medical advice.
What can the council's alcohol support do for me?
Manchester City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance use support is the route to the city's drug and alcohol service, run by Change Grow Live Manchester. That covers assessment, prescribing and structured programmes for alcohol as well as drugs. Manchester Mind covers the wider mental health side. Counselling can sit alongside all of that.
What do sessions cost in total?
There is no total to quote, because nothing is sold as a package. Each session is £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, and the first 15-minute consultation is free. You decide week by week, and what you spend is simply what you have used.
I only really drink at home now. Is that worse?
It is different rather than worse, though drinking alone removes the natural limits that other people impose. Nobody is watching the pace, nobody is going home, and there is no last orders. Home drinking often needs a structure built deliberately, because the environment will not supply one.
How do I know if my drinking is a real problem?
If alcohol is affecting your sleep, mood, work or relationships, or you've tried to cut down and struggled, that's reason enough to talk. You don't need to hit a crisis first. We can look at it together, honestly and without pressure, from wherever you are in Manchester.
How do I start counselling for a drinking problem in Manchester?
You book a free 15-minute consultation, we talk over what is worrying you, and if it feels right we set a first session, usually within a week. It is all online from Hove, so wherever you are in Manchester, from Prestwich to Fallowfield, you can begin from home.
What are your fees for drinking problem counselling versus NHS help in Manchester?
Manchester's NHS alcohol services are free at the point of use but can involve a wait. With me there is a free 15-minute consultation, then £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with no hidden extras.
Is online as good as in person for a drinking problem in Manchester, and can it be evenings?
Many people find home the easier place to be honest about drinking, and online keeps that comfort. I do not have a Manchester room, only Hove, so it is video or phone either way. Evenings are usually available, which helps when the working day is full.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Manchester, 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 North West: Bolton, Stockport, Oldham. See all of North West.
Related work in Manchester: 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.
Within reach of Sussex? counselling for drinking problems is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.