Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Oldham
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Oldham
Online counselling for drinking problems for Oldham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Oldham, from the town centre and the market to the streets around the old mills, 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 Oldham
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Oldham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Oldham: from the town centre and the market to Chadderton, Royton and Failsworth
- Known for
- The old mills, the Pennine edge and the tram into Manchester
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Oldham Council's drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Oldham
Why do people in Oldham reach out?
Drinking in Oldham is ordinary and largely unexamined, and the town's alcohol figures are worse than the country's. That gap between how normal it feels and how much harm it does is the whole difficulty. Nobody in Chadderton or Failsworth is going to raise an eyebrow at a few cans on a weeknight. The habit of coping without fuss, so useful in hard times, works against you here, because it turns a growing problem into something you simply get on with. The Royal Oldham Hospital sees the end of that road. Most people never get near it and still lose a great deal of life to the same slow pattern.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Oldham
the town centreChaddertonRoytonFailsworthShawLeesHollinwoodthe Saddleworth villages
Wherever you are in Oldham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Oldham
Official figures for Oldham, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 844.3 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 20.8 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the main counselling for drinking problems page for the methods, session lengths and fees for fees and session lengths, and professional standards and registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
What happens in 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 is based in Hove; there is no room in Oldham and none is required. Sessions run by secure video at a time you set. For drinking that matters in a straightforward way: there is no journey home to negotiate and no appointment to arrive at looking rough. Morning slots suit people who want to talk while the previous night is still clear. Evening ones suit those who need the day to be over first.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does counselling for drinking problems address?
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 Oldham
Why people in Oldham come for counselling for drinking problems
There is no requirement to have stopped, and no requirement to intend to. Oldham's alcohol-specific death rate was 20.8 per 100,000 in 2024, well above the England average of 13.8 per 100,000, and hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions were 527.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 504.1 per 100,000. Figures like that describe a town where drinking is doing serious damage while looking entirely normal from the street. The work starts small and specific: what the first drink of the evening is for, what happens if it does not arrive, and what would have to change for that to be bearable. Oldham Council's drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services and Turning Point's Rochdale and Oldham Active Recovery cover the medical side, and a GP should be involved before you alter 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 Oldham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Oldham, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Oldham Council's drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services.
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.
Oldham questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Oldham: common questions
My family does not drink and would not understand. Can I do this without telling them?
You can. Nothing arrives at the house, nothing appears on a calendar, and there is no local appointment to explain. Whether and when to tell anyone is a decision the counselling can help you think through rather than one it forces. Waiting until you know your own mind is a perfectly reasonable choice.
Do I have to stop drinking?
Not to begin, and possibly not at all. Reducing, taking a planned break, or understanding why the evening runs the way it does are all real aims. If you drink heavily every day, a GP needs to be involved before you change anything, because that is a medical matter rather than a counselling one.
Does the council service deal with alcohol as well as drugs?
Yes. Oldham Council's drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services covers both, and Turning Point's Rochdale and Oldham Active Recovery is the service behind it. That is where assessment and medical support live. TOG Mind is separate and covers wider mental health. Counselling can run alongside whichever of those you use.
What is the price and can I try one session?
One session is entirely possible, and before that there is a free 15-minute consultation. Fees run at £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min. Nothing is booked in advance beyond the next appointment, so trying it once and deciding it is not for you costs one session.
I only drink at home and nobody sees it. Is that less serious than drinking out?
It usually makes it easier to miss and harder to interrupt. Drinking at home has no closing time and no witnesses, so the amount is decided entirely by you at the point when you are least able to decide well. Bringing it into the open once a week changes that arithmetic.
Can I have counselling for drinking without stopping right away?
Yes. You don't have to be sober to begin, and we won't insist you stop before we start. We look honestly at your drinking and what you want from life, and change grows from there. Many people in Oldham start while still working out their goal.
How do I begin counselling for a drinking problem in Oldham?
Book a free 15-minute consultation, we talk through what is worrying you, and if it feels right we set a first session, usually within a week. It runs online from Hove, so wherever you are in Oldham, from Hollinwood to Lees, you can start from home.
What will drinking problem counselling cost compared with the NHS in Oldham?
Oldham's NHS alcohol support is free but can involve a wait. With me you get a free 15-minute consultation, then £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120 minutes, with nothing hidden in the fee.
Is online counselling for drinking as good as meeting in Oldham, and are evenings possible?
For many, home is the easier place to be honest about drinking, and online keeps that comfort. In a close-knit place, meeting privately from home helps too. My room is in Hove only, so it is video or phone, with evenings usually available.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Oldham, 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: Manchester, Rochdale, Stockport. See all of North West.
People who come for counselling for drinking problems in Oldham often also look at addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: why practice makes permanent and questioning “once an addict”.
For anyone near the coast, the same counselling for drinking problems runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.