Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Plymouth
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Plymouth
Online counselling for drinking problems for Plymouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Plymouth, from the Barbican and the Hoe to the streets around the Sound, 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 Plymouth
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Plymouth, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Plymouth: from the Barbican and the Hoe to Devonport, Stonehouse and Mutley
- Known for
- Plymouth Hoe, the Barbican and the Sound
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Plymouth City Council's substance misuse support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Plymouth
What brings people in Plymouth to counselling?
Drink is stitched into a great deal of Plymouth life: the end of a shift, a homecoming, a run ashore, a long weekend with nothing planned in it. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 497.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 611.7, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 13.7 per 100,000 in 2024, fractionally under the England average of 13.8. Unremarkable numbers, then, for a city where drinking is thoroughly normalised. Which is exactly what makes an individual problem hard to see. Nobody in Stoke or Efford remarks on a nightly habit that looks like everybody else's.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Plymouth
DevonportStonehouseMutleythe BarbicanPeverellMannameadPlymptonPlymstockSt BudeauxEffordStoke
Wherever you are in Plymouth, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Plymouth
Official figures for Plymouth, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 497.9 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 13.7 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 counselling for drinking problems in detail for the methods, how I work, sessions and fees for fees and session lengths, and my credentials and registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
All Plymouth work happens by secure video, because Bradley works from Hove. For drinking, the advantages are practical: no driving, no waiting room, and no need to be anywhere in particular at the end of a hard day. Slots can be early, before anything has been drunk, or late, once the house has gone quiet. Regularity helps most, one fixed hour a week for the drinking to be honest around.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Plymouth
Why people in Plymouth come for counselling for drinking problems
Nothing here requires abstinence and nothing requires a crisis first. You do not have to have been arrested, sacked or admitted to hospital to earn a place in this conversation, and waiting to qualify is how a decade passes. Plenty of those who come are doing demanding work and holding everything up, which is precisely why the drinking has gone unremarked on. We look at what alcohol does for you now, rather than what it did when it was still fun: the hour it fills, the edge it takes off, the sleep it pretends to help with. Some choose to stop altogether and others change the shape of it. If your drinking is daily and heavy, speak to a doctor before changing anything, because stopping abruptly can be medically dangerous. Plymouth City Council's substance misuse support is the free route and Harbour delivers it.
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 Plymouth
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Plymouth, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Plymouth City Council's substance misuse 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.
Plymouth questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Plymouth: common questions
I am not an alcoholic. Is this still for me?
It is. The word is not a threshold you have to cross before help is allowed, and many people find it unhelpful anyway. If drinking has become something you plan around, defend or conceal, that is enough to bring, whatever you choose to call it.
What is the cost, and how soon can I start?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, following a free 15-minute conversation. Most people begin weekly sessions a week or two after that call. There is no referral, no assessment, and nothing at all to wait for.
What if I need help to stop safely?
Then the medical route comes first. Speak to your GP, and to Plymouth City Council's substance misuse support, which leads to Harbour for supervised withdrawal and prescribing. Counselling does not do that part. Once it is arranged, this work fits alongside it naturally.
Can this fit around a rota that changes every few weeks?
Yes, though a fixed weekly slot works better wherever it is possible. Where a rota makes that impossible, sessions move with it. Because no travel is involved, an appointment needs an hour and a private space rather than a whole free evening.
Drinking is part of the culture where I work. How do I do this without standing out?
You do not have to announce anything. The work happens in a private hour with nobody else involved, and what you tell colleagues is entirely your choice. Plenty of people change their drinking long before they ever discuss it with anyone at work.
Can drinking counselling fit around shift work in Plymouth?
Yes. Because sessions are held online, they can be arranged around irregular dockyard, hospital or forces hours, with no commute to add. We meet by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Plymouth is served online.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Plymouth?
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 Plymouth, from Plymstock to St Budeaux, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Plymouth?
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 Plymouth, through your GP or Derriford 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 Plymouth?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Plymouth, including Efford or Stoke. 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 Plymouth, 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: Exeter, Torquay. See all of South West.
People who come for counselling for drinking problems in Plymouth often also look at 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.