Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Northampton
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Northampton
Online counselling for drinking problems for Northampton, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Northampton, from the town centre and the Market Square to the streets around the Guildhall, 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 Northampton
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Northampton, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Northampton: from the town centre and the Market Square to Far Cotton, Kingsthorpe and Weston Favell
- Known for
- The Guildhall, the lift tower and the river Nene
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- West Northamptonshire Council's alcohol and drug support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Northampton
What is going on for people in Northampton?
Drinking in Northampton is usually built into something else. It is the wind-down after a long shift, the round with the same faces in Far Cotton or Duston, the bottle opened when the drive home has taken twice as long as it should have. The town's alcohol figures look calm from any distance. Admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 435.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well below the England average of 611.7 per 100,000. None of that helps the person who has started hiding the recycling. Averages describe places rather than people. They say nothing about a Tuesday evening in one particular kitchen.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Northampton
Far CottonKingsthorpeWeston FavellAbingtonDustonKingsleySemilongSt JamesWoottonEcton Brook
Wherever you are in Northampton, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Northampton
Official figures for Northampton, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 435.3 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 11.1 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the full counselling for drinking problems page for the methods, how I work for fees and session lengths, and my BACP registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
Sessions for Northampton are held online by secure video, since the counselling room is in Hove. Alcohol work suits that arrangement well. There is no drive home to plan around, so an evening appointment does not force a choice between the session and a drink. Nobody sees you go in anywhere. If the house is busy, a car with the engine off is private enough, and an early slot lands before the drinking usually begins.
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 Northampton
Why people in Northampton come for counselling for drinking problems
You do not need to be ready to stop, and you do not need to have lost anything yet. The belief that help is reserved for people who have hit the bottom keeps a great many drinking quietly for years longer than they wanted. If you are drinking more than you intended, or the day now bends towards a particular hour, that is enough to bring here. What gets looked at is the function of it: what the alcohol does at that hour, what it holds off, and what could take its place. The local rate reads reassuringly on paper. The alcohol-specific death rate stood at 11.1 per 100,000 in 2024, below the England average of 13.8 per 100,000. Your own drinking is not measured against that. West Northamptonshire Council's alcohol and drug support is the route to treatment through STAR Northamptonshire.
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 Northampton
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Northampton, free local drug and alcohol support is available through West Northamptonshire 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.
Northampton questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Northampton: common questions
What is the first step, and how long does it take?
The first step is a free 15-minute call, usually arranged within a few days. It is a conversation rather than an assessment, and there is no form and no referral involved. If you want to go on from there, sessions typically start a week or two later.
What are the fees here?
An hour is £80 / 60 min, which is what most people use week to week. Ninety minutes is £100 / 90 min and two hours is £120 / 120 min when there is more to cover. Your first 15-minute consultation is free, and nothing is booked in blocks.
Where does STAR Northamptonshire come in if it is alcohol?
It covers alcohol as well as drugs, and it is reached through West Northamptonshire Council's alcohol and drug support. If you drink every day and are physically dependent, that medical route has to come first. Counselling then sits beside the treatment rather than replacing any of it.
Can I have a session before a night shift?
Yes, and for many people that proves the most reliable time. Late afternoon works well ahead of a night, and mornings work well after one. Since no journey is involved, the hour does not eat into the sleep you need on either side of a shift.
I drink to get to sleep after shifts. Does that count as a drinking problem?
It is a very common pattern and worth understanding rather than labelling. Alcohol brings sleep on quickly and then breaks it up a few hours later, so the tiredness that started the habit tends to get worse. We look at what else could do that job.
What if I do not know whether I want to stop or cut down?
That is a fine place to start. You do not need a fixed goal to come. Counselling is a space to look honestly at your drinking and work out what you actually want, whether that is stopping, cutting down or something else, at your own pace.
How soon can I get help for a drinking problem in Northampton?
Soon. Help for a drinking problem is offered online across Northampton from the Hove room, so there is no queue to join. A free 15-minute consultation lets us talk quietly first, and a full session usually follows within the same week, around your hours.
What are the fees for drinking problem counselling, and how does NHS alcohol help in Northampton compare?
Private sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation. Northampton's NHS alcohol services are free but can carry a wait, while private counselling begins more quickly and at hours that fit shift work.
Would drinking problem counselling be in person, and are evenings available for Northampton?
It is online, since the room is in Hove and Northampton is served by video, so no journey is added to your day. Evening appointments can often be arranged, helpful when a move for work and short roots have let drinking build with few people around.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Northampton, 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 Midlands: Milton Keynes, Kettering. See all of Midlands.
Related work in Northampton: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.
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.